i have a sulcata tortoise his shell is getting soft?

Question

my sulcata tortoise ive had for about 2 years now his shell is getting soft ive been feeding him lettuce from any supermarket and his shell slowly got soft so i just got him new stuff like vitamins and put him back on string beans but i dont know if he is getting better he is really lazy he just sits on his heat rock and when i put food in he slowly moves over there but doesnt drink the water i put in plz help me soon!/

yea i do have a heat lamp bulb is "Fluker labratories 75w and 120v it is on the same side of the heat lamp i started giving him choped up green beans and "Nature zone tortoise bites" it says catus pear flavor and i used to put him on t-rex tortoise calcuim powder so ill buy him some more of that thank you for all of you help really thank you!!

Answer 1

first you need to stop feeding your geochelone sulcata with lettuce, is not natural for them (there are not lettuce in the middle of african deserts); is not healthly to eat it because:
- doesnt contain the sufficient amount of fibers your sulcata needs
- doesn´t povides any kind of nutrients at all

the most important thing you need to do is provide her with a calcium and D3 vitamin supplement because these African tortoises tend to grow very fast, therefore it is very common that they have shell problems. These vitamins will make the shell stronger, but also you need to expose your tortoise to real sunlight (that has a wider spectrum than UV lamps) to make your tortoise absorb the calcium in her bones and shell, make it at least 3 or 4 hours daily so your tortoise gets better rapidly).

Check the temperature of her terrarium and if there is enough ventilation, dont let it to drop below 17°C because at this time (almost winter) your sulcata could hibernate. She is very weak to hibernate this season :S.

If your tortoise is not drinking or sinking in water is probably because she doesnt need it, just let her do it whenever she wants to, and make sure you are providing her with a high fiber diet.

hope your tortoise gets well very soon, and look for more information in the web, there are a lot of tips of how to take care of this tortoises.
Geochelone sulcata are amazing pets! good luck ;)

Answer 2

I agree with the last poster.. You need to get calcium into the diet asap. Powdered supplements are good, but foods high in calcium are better. Examples of these foods are: mustard greens, turnip greens, collard greens, scrambled eggs with small bits of the shell, etc. STOP THE LETTUCE. it's like drinking water.. Almost NO nutrition. You also need full spectrum lighting. Reptiles need exposure to UVA & UVB radiation (sunlight) to properly digest the calcium in their food. Also sunlight exposure generates Vitamin D. These lights look like small version of tanning bed lights.. They run about $30 in most chain pet stores. Depending on how bad the shell is, I would recommend I vet visit. They made give an injectable vitamin to help the little one along.

Answer 3

I agree with the last poster.. You need to get calcium into the diet asap. Powdered supplements are good, but foods high in calcium are better. Examples of these foods are: mustard greens, turnip greens, collard greens, scrambled eggs with small bits of the shell, etc. STOP THE LETTUCE. it's like drinking water.. Almost NO nutrition.

You also need full spectrum lighting. Reptiles need exposure to UVA & UVB radiation (sunlight) to properly digest the calcium in their food. Also sunlight exposure generates Vitamin D. These lights look like small version of tanning bed lights.. They run about $30 in most chain pet stores.

Depending on how bad the shell is, I would recommend I vet visit. They made give an injectable vitamin to help the little one along.

Answer 4

He isn't getting enough calcium. You can buy a calcium supplement to add to his food at the pet store, also try giving him a much wider variety of veggies/food. And he needs a sun lamp, not a heat rock. Both of these will help him.

Answer 5

I agree with these people above, your turtle needs more calcium, and not just calcium, it needs vitamin d3 to absorb the calcium. This comes from natural sunlight. You should also feed it a better diet with a larger variety of foods.