Tort death

Nibs

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Dec 15, 2015
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I'm afraid I cant add anything helpful here, but just wanted to say I'm very sorry for your loss.
 

Dantheman364

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I kept him in his humid hide last night with the CHE's on but he for sure is not alive.

He came from Lance, who was extremely supportive and nice, so I know he was started well.

In talking it through with Lance I can only think of the possibility of two things. Could he of eaten some of the substrate or were his soaks too warm?

Here is a little more history:
I noticed him not moving about a half hour after the soak. His soaks would only come up maybe a little over the bottom of his shell. He was always supervised during his soaks and he only was taken out of his habitat one today for his Soaks. I soaked him in a plastic tub just with hot/warm tap water. He was extremely active during his soaks and always pooped multiple times. I did not let anyone else touch him or play with him. I did 3 days ago pull out a string of substrate (I think ) from his poop.

He was eating organic Romain lettuce, collard greens, endive and Missouri tortoise Chow. I would feed him twice a day and he would go through the whole plate. The only thing new I added last week was cactus in which I peeled and fed him only the center. (He did not like it much)

His substraight was a mixture of Eco earth coco coir and repti bark. I poured about 2-3 gallons of warm water in it every 3 rd day and mixed it around to the bottom. It was always moist.

His weight on arrival 3/23 was 56g a week later on 3/30 he was 62 g

Here are some more pics of his enclosure and some pics from after he passed away (sorry if they are hard to look at) I am just searching for an answer I might never have.
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. IT MIGHT BE THAT U ADDED TO MUCH MOISTER? Because adding 2-3 gallons of warm water might be too much. I know many keep the substrate moist by spraying a bit of water over it but drenching it with gallons of water might not be the best choice. Maybe.
 

Yvonne G

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. IT MIGHT BE THAT U ADDED TO MUCH MOISTER? Because adding 2-3 gallons of warm water might be too much. I know many keep the substrate moist by spraying a bit of water over it but drenching it with gallons of water might not be the best choice. Maybe.
No, that's 'old school' thinking. The new thought process for raising baby tortoises is lots of moisture and plenty of humidity.
 

Dantheman364

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Is there such things as too much humidity? Like what causes tortoise the get a respiratory infection?
 

teresaf

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. IT MIGHT BE THAT U ADDED TO MUCH MOISTER? Because adding 2-3 gallons of warm water might be too much. I know many keep the substrate moist by spraying a bit of water over it but drenching it with gallons of water might not be the best choice. Maybe.
I didn't read the original post recently but depending on the substrate and size of enclosure the water wouldn't be out of line. High humidity high heat above 80 in all corners is totally acceptable here. Leads to a very healthy smooth tortoise shell. When you keep high humidity you have to keep high heat about 80 everywhere in the enclosure though to keep them from getting RI. Just the top layer of substrate needs to be dry...
 

Tom

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Is there such things as too much humidity? Like what causes tortoise the get a respiratory infection?
If there is, none of us have found it. Are you aware that sulcatas hatch at the start of the rainy season over there. Puddles and marshes form and humidity rivals that of south Florida according to the man who lives 6 months of each year in South Florida and the other 6 in Senegal working with sulcatas and other chelonians.

Also, this thread is three and a half years old. The OP doesn't post anymore.
 

shawnateerow

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Last night and this morning he was limp. He is now stiff and has bubbles coming from side of mouth.
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I am so sorry for your loss!!! But I might be able to help. I buried 1 of my baby sulcatas a week ago. Found him dead out of the blue. Less than 18 hours prior he was active and always eating. We only had him about 3 weeks. I have searched high and low to find answers and none until today. I fed him nothing but healthy greens, and he lived in an indoor tortoise table with a uvb light and a heat lamp. When i found him, he was completely swollen and stiff, almost looked like a blowup toy. Even the vet I tLked to was puzzled.

Fast forward..i have 3 more babies in the same box now. I started dissecting every inch of the box today. I saw 1 or 2 TINY red ants when I moved the substrate around. Too small and too fast to get a good look. I finally caught 1 and put it in a ziploc and took a super zoomed in picture. I googled it, and showed my exterminator and now we are almost certain its little fireants. These are deadly to baby tortoises. I got my other babies out immediately and started digging around more. Finally, I lifted their fake tree tunnel and found the mother load of them. I have never seen them anywhere else in my house. The substrate is plain, fertilizer free, dirt from a bag at lowes. Its mixed with a bag of cypress mulch. I did not put sand because I have heard it could hurt if they ingest it. The exterminator said that these fire ants could have easily came from either source..inside the bag. I will be getting rid of both, and all the substrate left and get something new. Thought u might have the same issue since that last picture looks similar to what my bowser looked like when I found him. I pray this might help you, and please let me know if you start looking for ants!!!!
 

shawnateerow

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I am so sorry for your loss!!! But I might be able to help. I buried 1 of my baby sulcatas a week ago. Found him dead out of the blue. Less than 18 hours prior he was active and always eating. We only had him about 3 weeks. I have searched high and low to find answers and none until today. I fed him nothing but healthy greens, and he lived in an indoor tortoise table with a uvb light and a heat lamp. When i found him, he was completely swollen and stiff, almost looked like a blowup toy. Even the vet I tLked to was puzzled.

Fast forward..i have 3 more babies in the same box now. I started dissecting every inch of the box today. I saw 1 or 2 TINY red ants when I moved the substrate around. Too small and too fast to get a good look. I finally caught 1 and put it in a ziploc and took a super zoomed in picture. I googled it, and showed my exterminator and now we are almost certain its little fireants. These are deadly to baby tortoises. I got my other babies out immediately and started digging around more. Finally, I lifted their fake tree tunnel and found the mother load of them. I have never seen them anywhere else in my house. The substrate is plain, fertilizer free, dirt from a bag at lowes. Its mixed with a bag of cypress mulch. I did not put sand because I have heard it could hurt if they ingest it. The exterminator said that these fire ants could have easily came from either source..inside the bag. I will be getting rid of both, and all the substrate left and get something new. Thought u might have the same issue since that last picture looks similar to what my bowser looked like when I found him. I pray this might help you, and please let me know if you start looking for ants!!!!
 

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Nlarocca

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I am so sorry for your loss!!! But I might be able to help. I buried 1 of my baby sulcatas a week ago. Found him dead out of the blue. Less than 18 hours prior he was active and always eating. We only had him about 3 weeks. I have searched high and low to find answers and none until today. I fed him nothing but healthy greens, and he lived in an indoor tortoise table with a uvb light and a heat lamp. When i found him, he was completely swollen and stiff, almost looked like a blowup toy. Even the vet I tLked to was puzzled.

Fast forward..i have 3 more babies in the same box now. I started dissecting every inch of the box today. I saw 1 or 2 TINY red ants when I moved the substrate around. Too small and too fast to get a good look. I finally caught 1 and put it in a ziploc and took a super zoomed in picture. I googled it, and showed my exterminator and now we are almost certain its little fireants. These are deadly to baby tortoises. I got my other babies out immediately and started digging around more. Finally, I lifted their fake tree tunnel and found the mother load of them. I have never seen them anywhere else in my house. The substrate is plain, fertilizer free, dirt from a bag at lowes. Its mixed with a bag of cypress mulch. I did not put sand because I have heard it could hurt if they ingest it. The exterminator said that these fire ants could have easily came from either source..inside the bag. I will be getting rid of both, and all the substrate left and get something new. Thought u might have the same issue since that last picture looks similar to what my bowser looked like when I found him. I pray this might help you, and please let me know if you start looking for ants!!!!

I am sorry for you loss and thank you for posting this. I am going to check our outdoor enclosure for these ants. Long story short, I just filled it a couple days ago with Cypress Mulch from Home Depot. I put out a little bit of basil from our garden and I saw tiny ants attracted to it. I quickly threw them out. Not sure if they were fire ants or not. Definitely don’t want Torchy to get bit if so. I will look a little closer and take precautions.
 

shawnateerow

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Super tiny and I had to catch one and super zoom my camera but this is them
 

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crimson_lotus

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I was thinking he looks swollen/puffy too on the legs, neck and body, like edema... renal failure maybe?
 
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