Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was wondering how much your baby sulcata slept. Also, does yours ever eat a lot for 2-3 days straight and then not eat anything for 12 hours? Mine has been a little pig but I woke up today expecting his chunk of food to be gone and it wasn't touched. The heat lamp had dried it out a bit. Then I replaced it on his dish and he took one bite and left it alone. He's feeling real heavy today though. Every day he seems to gain weight. He also made two big (for him) poopies yesterday.

Kevin

I read your brief post earlier, I don't quite get it, is he
at room temperature and just has a UV light - which doesn't
produce much heat? What exactly are your temperatures at the
basking (hot) side and cool side of the tank? Mine never slept
during the day with the exception of a nap or too briefly. He
slept the night through though. If it's too cold they won't
eat and will be lethargic sleeping a lot and deteriorate.
A sulcata that isn't interested in food is not normal unless
he just finished eating a LOT and is full. Don't leave food
under the heat lamp, it should be on the cool side as well as
the water. They've got to have at least mid nineties to warm
up more like 100 but that's got to be in a big enough cage
that you STILL also have a cool area about 70. Then they can
thermoregulate themselves and chose the temp they want at that
particular time.

what foods are you offering? Are you soaking him in shallow
warm water daily?

I got him on Saturday. I was told to soak him once per week. Thus far I've soaked him once. I will start to saok him daily if that is better. The food that came with him is some type of dry chunk food. I've been soaking each chunk in water and he seems to like it. He is in a 40 gallon long tank. Its in a house kept at around 72-74. He has a 100 watt full spectrum lamp on in the day and 150 watt night lamp on in the evenings. He has a fake cave in his tank on the cool side. He seems to sleep about 3-4 hours at a time in the day and then wakes up and (until last night) chows down, walks around a bit and then goes back to sleep. He does seem to sleep at night also. He is normally up very early in the AM. I did see that he's eaten some of the food offered today but not the usual volume. Thus far, I don't know the temps at any part of his tank. I've been hoping he'd regulate himself by moving towards or away from the lamp as needed.

Kevin

I forgot to add that we've put some mixed salad bits in along with some weeds and grass from the yard. He hasn't eaten any of that as far as I can tell. I just soaked him again and put a food chunk in the water he took a couple of bites but didn't seem to tear much, if any off. The water depth was right at his jaw/ mouth level but below his nostrils. Is that the right depth for soaking? The sleeping thing woories me most. He hasn't been awake for more than 2 hours at a stretch since I got him home. Though he was awake for about 4-5 hours straight on the day we picked him up.

Kevin

Your water level should just be to his bottom shell.

Is this the hatchling failure sydrome? I guess I need to call a vet. I soaked him again today and offered some mixed salad stuff still no eating. He just goes back to sleep in his cave.

Kevin

Make sure you see a reptile vet, even if it means driving a long way, it will be worth your money in the long run. Try running the day and night bulb at the same time to bring the temperature up at his basking spot, a 100 watt UVB bulb(I assume thats what you mean by full spectrum) isn't really enough to give you good basking temp(at least it wasn't enough for my sulcata - I went with a 160watt). My sulcata that is now a year old, is spends a lot more time moving than sleeping. He's always wandering around his cage. He also eats just about anything put in front of him.

HTH
-----
Adam
http://anraviary.cjb.net
0.0 African Sidenecked, 0.0 Northern Diamondback Terrapin, 0.1 Redfoot, 0.1 Sulcatta, 1.0 Western Hognose, 1.0 Crested Gecko, 0.1 Mali Uromastyx

I just put a thermometer under the basking spot. It was probably still rising but the highest I saw was 100.2 with 34% humidity. That seems okay except that all the way at the other end of the tank is 79.9 degrees with 44% humidity. That temp. is too high for the cool end right?

Kevin

what are you using in his cage that the humidity is so high?
Does he have a way to hide while backing - maybe behind a
log/rock so he can warm up. Something doesn't sound right
I wish I could see your set up to help you out. Can you
explain it somehow, I don't even know the tank size. If it's
40 gallons or more you should be able to get a gradient.
If he's in a glass tank then add some construction paper to the
outside of the three walls for less "glass stress". 80 is not
too warm, though 75 would be a bit better. But I think yours
sounds like it's hiding in the cold side. Put a pile of timothy
hay in there, big and fluffy for him to hide in, and maybe get
rid of the cave (that's a joke any ways for a sulcata, mine could
probably eat that thing and not notice) 100-105 would be OK in
the basking area, I really don't think he's too hot (sounds too
cold to me the way he's hiding in the cave all the time).

Well he was eating like crazy for a couple of days. He then stopped eating completely for 24 hrs. He woke up about 2 hours ago. I put him in for a soak. He made two big poops. The dish he was in had little plant graphics on the edge. He ignored the chow chunk in the dish and started trying to bite the plate. I went out and grabbed a few weeds and some grass out of the yard and dumped it in. He ignored it but then went back to the chow chunk food he's been ignoring for the last day and took a few big bites. The thermometer now says 77 in the cool part. Anyway, I feel a little better now. I'll keep you guys posted. Thanks for all of your feedback.

Kevin