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#2262956
Milan
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 Question for Temptestborn and Really
ok this ones for my other sulcata lovers...Zinders sick! he is going to the vet in the AM but i am wondering what i can do for him in the meantime! he is showing every sign of dehydration...which makes no sense to me because he gets soaked at least once a day and his table is always misted 2-4 times a day. he usually eats like a piggy but lately he hasnt eaten squat!i even bought those tortoise treats and pellet food (yes i know, i know, but i figured its better then nothing!) and he wont even touch those! he just lays with his eyes closed most of the time and only gets active if i pick him up. i have soaked him in warm water and even pedialyte and nothing! his shell feels soft and his eyes LOOKED sunken but better now, and he just wont eat! im so worried!!! idk whats going on, with the amount of soaking ive been doing there should have been SOME improvement but it seems like im just keeping it from getting worse! any ideas? tomorrow mornig cant come soon enough...and i would have posted this on the tortoise forum....but well...its dead lol and i knew i would get ahold of you guys sooner this way!!!!
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04/16/12 05:32pm
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#2262974
Tempestborn
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Message To: Milan In reference to Message Id: 2262956
Question for Temptestborn and Really
oh, milan, i hardly know anything yet. it’s actually susan’s hub, mike, who knows more about the sucatas--ricochet is actually his. maybe susan will pm you her number; you could call and maybe he could give you some advice. he’s really nice; i talked to him for a while the day i bought penelope. susan was out, but he knew who i was and we had a nice conversation.
his shell is soft? you’ve been keeping up his calcium supplements? and he has UVB, right? i’m so worried for you both--please keep me posted on the vet. i know susan will be on sometime this evening. baby zinder is in my prayers.
jesse
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04/16/12 06:46pm
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#2262979
Milan
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Message To: Tempestborn In reference to Message Id: 2262974
Question for Temptestborn and Really
Thanks Jesse. It’s so weird. Yes he does get calcium and he has his UVB and everything. But soft shell is a sigh of dehydration. It’s not like squishy or anything but it does give a little. He’s just so tiny and I’ve only had him about 2.5 months I would hate to loose him! He’s the baby of the bunch! I hope the vet can give me some answers. My gut is telling me it is dehydration and he will prob need IV fluids or something but I’m just worried it may be too late and there’s irreversible damage to his kidneys. It just doesn’t make sense to me because I always always always have soaked him and misted his greens for added moisture and kept his table and humid hide...well humid. So idk what’s the problem unless the breeder I got him from didnt keep him hydrated and like all reptiles it took a while to show he was sick?
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04/16/12 07:08pm
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#2262984
Milan
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Message To: Milan In reference to Message Id: 2262979
Question for Temptestborn and Really
Here’s a pic of him when I first got him
And this is from today
He just looks so pathetic and he Seems like all he wants to do is sleep!!
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04/16/12 07:20pm
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#2263072
May92
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Message To: Milan In reference to Message Id: 2262984
Question for Temptestborn and Really
We have 2 sulcatas that we got as hatchlings and they are 7 yrs old now. (i’m usually on the bearded dragon side of this)
Sorry to say, but that little one does not look well at all.
Take a look at this page, it has a lot of good information
http://www.sulcata-station.org/links.html
Unfortunately failure to thrive can happen. A friend of ours had a baby out of the same clutch as our sulcata babies, and hers didn’t make it.
Take a look at this page http://sulcata-station.org/hatchfail.html
Have you checked her UV lamp? What kind of substrate do you have her on? Do you feed her nice fresh weeds from your yard or garden? (without chemicals on them?)
When you soak her, do you ever see her actually drink? And does she ever get to go outside in the sun and wander around? (we built a small enclosure and put chicken wire on top so nothing could get in so the babies could be outside for a few hours a day on the grass to munch weeds)
Sorry so many questions, just trying to help if I can. Glad you are taking her to the vet, I will be keeping you both in my thoughts. Let us know what happens.
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04/17/12 10:59am
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#2263085
Milan
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Message To: May92 In reference to Message Id: 2263072
Question for Temptestborn and Really
thank you and yes his uv lamp is only 2 months old and has shown no signs of hving a problem, he gets weeds and greens and is offered hay which he ignores!/ to me it looks like he drinks and he does go outside to graze and soak up the sun. i had him on a mixture of soil, sand, and coconut fiber until today i just switched to carpet because....my vet said i am keeping him TOO hydrated!!!! that doesnt sound right to me. they also are ordering me meds for a possible RI so he will start those hopefully tomorrow if they come in....idk it sounds to me like the vet isnt taking into consideration that hes a htchling...arnt hatchlings supposed to stay humid???
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04/17/12 12:51pm
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#2263088
Really
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Message To: Milan In reference to Message Id: 2263085
Question for Temptestborn and Really
I am sorry to just be getting this now. I’ll check with Mike, but I have indeed heard of keeping them too wet and this causing RIs. They do need to be hydrated, but if I remember correctly they should not be kept wet ALL the time.
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04/17/12 01:02pm
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#2263091
Tempestborn
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Message To: Really In reference to Message Id: 2263088
Question for Temptestborn and Really
oh, hurry and ask him, susan! i’m so worried about her little boy!
jesse
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04/17/12 01:08pm
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#2263094
Milan
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Message To: Tempestborn In reference to Message Id: 2263091
Question for Temptestborn and Really
i usually soak him once or twice a day...this is what the breeder did so i just kept up with it...im going to try my best not to mist or soak him for a few days and i really really hope those meds come in soon...naturally they wouldnt have them in stock and of coarse the vets 45 min away...ugh. he did well at the vets though and was fawned over by everyone there...and i even got a new customer for my grooming salon so it wasnt all bad!)heres what i did with his table for the time being...thank you Busy BEaver for being on my way home AND having outdoor carpeting lol!
and i even picked up this guy for joe there haha! He buys me a tortoise staue every week on payday and since blackbeard is technically his i actyally found a bearded dragon one...at Busy Beaver! Who knew!!
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04/17/12 01:29pm
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#2263097
Milan
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Message To: Tempestborn In reference to Message Id: 2263091
Question for Temptestborn and Really
i usually soak him once or twice a day...this is what the breeder did so i just kept up with it...im going to try my best not to mist or soak him for a few days and i really really hope those meds come in soon...naturally they wouldnt have them in stock and of coarse the vets 45 min away...ugh. he did well at the vets though and was fawned over by everyone there...and i even got a new customer for my grooming salon so it wasnt all bad!)heres what i did with his table for the time being...thank you Busy BEaver for being on my way home AND having outdoor carpeting lol!
and i even picked up this guy for joe there haha! He buys me a tortoise staue every week on payday and since blackbeard is technically his i actyally found a bearded dragon one...at Busy Beaver! Who knew!!
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04/17/12 01:36pm
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#2263106
Pedroyanna
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Message To: Milan In reference to Message Id: 2263097
Question for Temptestborn and Really
i think that might actually be a horny toad statue.
they look pretty similar though
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04/17/12 02:18pm
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#2263130
May92
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Message To: Milan In reference to Message Id: 2263097
Question for Temptestborn and Really
What we used for ours for the bottom of his cage was Bed A Beast. It comes in sort of a brick and you wet it to get it to open and while it’s wet you fluff it up. Then you let it dry and once it’s dry you put it in the cage.
It worked great for ours, and they loved digging themselves into it.
In my opinion only, you shouldn’t be soaking him twice a day, that’s to much soaking actually. He should be soaked about 3 times a week (or every other day) for about 20 min each time. (again, my opinion only)
Does he poo regularly? Is this vet a vet for reptiles? Does the baby have any kind of nasal discharge or eye discharge?
Boy, I hope he gets better.
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04/17/12 03:15pm
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#2263133
May92
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Message To: May92 In reference to Message Id: 2263130
Question for Temptestborn and Really
Oh and yes, babies should be kept moist (like soaking) but humidity levels to high is not good for them at all, this is why they also say not to keep them in a glass tank, to humid.
This is an excellent care sheet, tells you how they like to have something to burrow in, and how they do not need to high of a humidity.
Also, not to have the hot side of the tank to high as to high is actually not good for them.
http://home.earthlink.net/~rednine/sulcatacare.html
We did not do everything perfect when we first got ours either. The pet store we bought them at said to feed them this that and the other, so we did. Found out later that a lot of the food we were giving them was wrong, to many pees, etc, and all around wrong stuff. Unfortunately ours started pyramiding before they were even a year old. Even though they are 7 yrs old now and have the roam of more than 1/2 acre, they still have pyramiding. It may never go away, but it’s not bad.
So don’t kick yourself if something goes wrong, unfortunately it happens and there is sometimes nothing we can do about it. You are doing all you can.
Again, keeping the little one in my thoughts.
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04/17/12 03:23pm
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#2263198
Milan
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Message To: May92 In reference to Message Id: 2263133
Question for Temptestborn and Really
Thank you and darn it I think that is a horny toad haha I was wondering why the tail looked weir haha. I do use Eco earth(same as bed a beast) mixed in with his substrate and he gets it in his humid hides. Idl I’m at worn and I’m so afraid he will be dead when I go home!(
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04/17/12 08:52pm
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#2263270
May92
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Message To: Milan In reference to Message Id: 2263198
Question for Temptestborn and Really
Sooooo, how’s the baby doing?
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04/18/12 12:02pm
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#2263343
Really
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Message To: May92 In reference to Message Id: 2263270
Question for Temptestborn and Really
I checked with Mike and he concurred with your vet. If a baby Sulcatta is kept moist continuously that can indeed cause a respiratory infection. Mike said one or two soaks a week is plenty. But, if you provide a shallow dish of water that the Sulcatta can go in and out of, it will regulate itself as far as hydration. He said that you are definitely keeping the baby too wet without an opportunity to fully dry out.
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04/18/12 07:18pm
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#2263399
Tempestborn
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Message To: Really In reference to Message Id: 2263343
Question for Temptestborn and Really
come on, milan! tell us how zinder is doing. here, i’ve been worried that penelope isn’t damp enough, because she really doesn’t like to soak, and she goes straight under her lamp when she’s wet and stays there till she’s dry. i guess her instincts are better than mine!
jesse
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04/19/12 09:04am
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#2263442
Mich_01
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Message To: Tempestborn In reference to Message Id: 2263399
Question for Temptestborn and Really
I agree with Susan and May about reducing the soaking time. I know you said your UV light is only a few months old but I wonder if perhaps its defective? I had that issue with a soft shelled painted turtle long ago. I can see the frequent soaking causing RI for sure but the soft shell is usually primarily caused by a vitamin deficiency. If he’s eating and being supplemented right then perhaps the UV the light isn’t putting out sufficient UV to allow for calcium absorption? You can buy UV guns that will measure the amount of UV output, I’ve seen them but never bought one. Some people use them to gage when their UV bulbs need replacing but I think most of us just toss automatically every 6 months. What percentage is your UV light?
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04/19/12 03:17pm
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