Re: Nah, that couldn't be it...

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Posted by EJ on April 29, 2001 at 10:36:52:

In Reply to: Re: Nah, that couldn't be it... posted by DHogan78 on April 29, 2001 at 02:19:40:

For both sulcatas and leopards a temperature range of 75 to 100 is important. On the sick sulcata get to a vet and get a fecal done. More times than not there is something wrong internally that can easily be corrected. Email me off list.
Ed

: The tortoise in question has been kept in both an aqarium and a large rubbermaid box, with both mulched cypress and crushed walnut substrates, although i highly doubt that ingested substrate compaction is the problem. I initially thought that he/she seemed to sleep a lot, but as this was my first tortoise (my experience had been mainly with aquatic turtles up to that point) I didn't have anything to compare it with. About 5 months later I purchased a second leopard tortoise. Initially it was smaller than the first (both had been purchased as hatchlings), but is now quite a bit larger, eats far more, and is much more active. In fact, the "sick" tortoise rarely wakes except when i soak it or offer food, and has almost zero growth. I have ruled out environment and diet as the problem, as they both live in the same enclosure and eat the same foods. Now that it's warming up (I live in NJ) i hope to give them a lot more outside time and see if that has any effect.

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: For both sulcatas and leopards a temperature range of 75 to 100 is important. On the sick sulcata get to a vet and get a fecal done. More times than not there is something wrong internally that can easily be corrected. Email me off list. : Ed : : The tortoise in question has been kept in both an aqarium and a large rubbermaid box, with both mulched cypress and crushed walnut substrates, although i highly doubt that ingested substrate compaction is the problem. I initially thought that he/she seemed to sleep a lot, but as this was my first tortoise (my experience had been mainly with aquatic turtles up to that point) I didn't have anything to compare it with. About 5 months later I purchased a second leopard tortoise. Initially it was smaller than the first (both had been purchased as hatchlings), but is now quite a bit larger, eats far more, and is much more active. In fact, the "sick" tortoise rarely wakes except when i soak it or offer food, and has almost zero growth. I have ruled out environment and diet as the problem, as they both live in the same enclosure and eat the same foods. Now that it's warming up (I live in NJ) i hope to give them a lot more outside time and see if that has any effect.

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