Q: Is he sick?

Answered by MANDM on 12/6/2006, 9:58 am

A: Is he sick?

> I have a Sulcotta Tortoise. From the research I've done I'd
> say he's about 2 years old. I've had him a couple of months
> now. He lives in a large plastic tub on my kitchen counter.
> I feed him a ''small tortoise'' food from the pet store. He
> normally has a very big appetite and is very active during
> the day and sleeps in the corner at night. The last two days
> he seems to not be eating or moving around much at all. He
> also holds his head stretched out and up as high as he can.
> His face seems to be wet even when he has not been drinking.
> I'm afraid he might be ill but tortioses are not indigenous
> to this area so I don't think we have any vets other than at
> the zoo that I can take him too. We live in Hawaii so I
> don't think it's temperature or seasonal related.
> I love my little ''Dude'' and don't want to be a bad pet
> owner.
> Please email me at megawheels99@hotmail.com
> My little Dude is desparate.






I think you mean sulcata…?? Sulcatas are not easy torts to raise they have a high demand for calcium/sunlight and space, their diet is a ton of work too. The watery eyes are normal. Do you have a full spectrum light with UVB ray out put of no less than 7%%? The need to be came warm at all times! Keep the temp No less than 85 degrees at night and up to 100 degrees during the day.
You most use a heat bulb or heat pad to keep the heat.
Their diet needs to have little to no protein, they are grazing torts needing fresh grown weeds and grass. I buy seeds on line for my three guy’s at http://www.turtlecafe.com/temp/sulcata_leopard_care.htm
They need a calcium supplement daily as well. You can get pure cuttlebone on the same site, sprinkle his food with it once a day.
These torts will grow to be over 100 lbs and need to have a lot of space, they will go “crazy” if kept indoors and develop metabolic bone disease and deformities! You need to take the baby out side for an hour or more a day to bask in the sun. light bulbs are ok but natural sun is best.
I have three myself, Dumbledore is 3 and weighs over 40 lbs, Godzilla was abused by his first owner, kept in a 200 gallon glass tank, feed the wrong diet with out the proper lights. Him weighs only 12 lbs. My baby Ozzie was treated the same by his first owner. He had a long hard battle for his life, he was near death, barely able to move the day I got him. His medical costs were will over a thousand bucks. I had to inject Ozzie and Godzilla with meds once a day for over a moth. Ozzie weighed only 4 oz when I got him and is now almost two lbs. Neither one will ever fully over come the damage done to them, they will possible have a shortened life span as well.
Their owners did not mean too hurt them but they did not do all they could have for them.
I’m glad you are seeking advise now before there is long term damage. A site with a lot of info is http://www.sulcstatn.addr.com/index.html
Trust me you will be over whiled with all the requirements of their care but I encourage you to read as much as possible and make slow and steady improvements every day!
In order to keep him long term you must have a secure yard for him.
My back yard is dedicated to my guy’s, forget my kids and the dog!!! The dog is not aloud in the back…lol! Dog waste is toxic to them.
I had to get a 6’X4’ shed for them, I have heat bulbs and basking lights, along with a heat pad and that’s only the start of it all.
Things you need to do today: make sure his warm, get Tommy hay from wal-mart for his bedding and snacking needs. Get cuttlebone, if you have to buy his food until you can grow it, stick with roman lettuce, mustard greens, dandelion greens, curd greens, red leaf, green leaf, and I know I’m forget a few but you understand. NO spinach, broccoli, ice burg kale or fruit.
Give him a dish big enough to sit in, you may need to force him to soak the babies don’t like to take baths. Soak him for 15 minutes in Luke warm water every other day.
They like to have a place to hide like under a log.
Give him as much space as you can give! You may need to make a tort table, you’ll find instructions for that on the sulcata station site given above.
Please check back I will post any more information I can find at a later time.



>