Star Tortoise Health

Riddhesh

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I've a male baby star tortoise .
He was actively moving till now , but now he's very slow and weak .
 

Gillian M

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Welcome to the forum, @Riddhesh .

Sorry to hear your tort is sick.

Please post pics of him/her ASAP so as to enable us to help you.

What has he/she been eating? Is he/she warm enough?

Wishes for a speedy recovery to your tort and good luck!
 

JoesMum

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Riddhesh

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I took him to a veterinary clinic
And
The doctor said that he has pneumonia
 

JoesMum

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If your tortoise has a respiratory infection then it needs a course of antibiotic injections from the vet. Even with antibiotics, recovery is very slow.

It needs to be kept warm.

You need to have 35C/95-100F directly under a basking lamp (a reflector bulb of around 100 Watts) like this
ImageUploadedByTortoise Forum1487253457.460153.jpg

The temperature of the air away from the lamp must not drop below 80F /26C day or night.

Your tortoise needs to be soaked twice a day for at least 30 minutes each time to prevent dehydration.
- Use a high sided, flat-bottomed bowl that your tort can't see over or through
- The water needs to be warm, not hot, like a baby's bath. Change the water if it goes cold during the 30 minutes.
- The water needs to be deep enough to come just up over the line between the shell and the plastron (undershell) of your tortoise

You also need to source a UVB lamp for your tortoise; reptile UVB can be bought online from Amazon. If you cannot get a UVB lamp, your tortoise will need to go outside for an hour on 3-4 days a week, every week.
 

Tom

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Please Suggest ,
What to do .???

We need to know how you are housing, heating and lighting your tortoise. What are your four temps? Warm side, cool side, basking area and overnight low? What heating and lighting equipment are you using to achieve these temps? What sort of enclosure? Open top or closed chamber?

Stars need warm temps day and night. When they get sick it is usually due to cool night temps, or cool temps over all.
 

Riddhesh

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I'm from Surat, Gujarat ,India.
We live in an Apartment.
This tortoise is my first pet .
I keep him in a plastic container , at night I cover him with cotton cloth .
Everyday I keep him in direct morning sunlight for 10-20 minutes.
I feed him veggies like lady finger and cucumber.
I don't know how to keep him and what place .
The vet doctor gave him two injections.
I've attached a picture while he's sleeping and x-ray of my tortoise.
I need some guidance please help.

1487267701547.jpg 1487267726829.jpg 1487267745706.jpg
 

Yvonne G

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Hi:

Your tortoise needs to be in a container like this:

baby habitat 11-26-14.jpg

Because your tortoise gets a bit of real sunshine daily, you don't need a UVB light, but you DO need a heat light, like this:

375r40-1.jpg


Yes, I know, it's warm in India. But you need to have a light that simulates the sun for him. He will sit under the light and warm up his inner core. Being warm all the way through is what helps him know it's ok to eat. A cold-on-the-inside tortoise will not eat.

When you turn off the lights at night, you will need something like this to keep him warm at night:

ceramic heat emitter.jpg
 
Last edited:

Yvonne G

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Another thing to think about. Yes, the weather in India is warm, but warm to you (a 98.6F creature) and warm to a cold blooded creature (like a tortoise) are two different things. If your house is in the 80'sF that means your tortoise's body temperature is also in the 80'sF. That's not warm enough for him.
 

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