I just received my baby leopard tortoise about one hour ago via mail... from tortoise supply. It seems to be dead. When I removed it from the bowl.. his legs were out and his head deep in it shell. I did put him in a warm bowl of water about ten minutes with no movement. I have him under the basking light right now bc he was cold when arrived. Is this normal or does it sounds DOA to yall?
Baby tortoise dead??
- Thread starter Nachole
- Start date
It has no response to being touched at all. It's not stiff. I can still move it's legs and tail.
Not normal at all. Show him the picture. Tell him to look at the forum
from your description it sounds like your tortoise is dead but to be honest the picture it doesn't look like a dead tortoise to me most dead tortoises I've seen are usually limp and hanging out of the shell. But I would follow Tyler's advice keep it for a few hours under or near a heat lamp and see what happens if it went into a cold stupor it may be a little slow to respond of course if it's stiffens up then you know for sure. My condolences
Look at the picture. Look at the left side (our right) of the tortoise's head. Looks like an injury or discharge.
I was thinking there's a piece of debris stuck in there, and it makes him keep his head inside because he doesn't know what's poking him.
See if you can grab that piece of brown stuff next to his head with the tweezers and pull it out.
Tyler at tortoise supply is good people. He'll take good care of you.
How sad. Any updates? From my experience, the tortoise should have been excited to come out of the box and have water, heat, food...
By this point you clearly know its fate. Not a fun way to start, but don't give up.
Best wishes.
They don't normally pull and hold their head in like that when dead.
I think he might just be temporarily traumatized from the journey.
Leave him under the heat lamp for a while and see what happens.
I think he might just be temporarily traumatized from the journey.
Leave him under the heat lamp for a while and see what happens.
What's the word? Do you have a live baby? Did he make it?
My first tortoise did not make it unfortunately... but Tyler hooked me up with a new one. Just received her today. She seems healthy and active... amazing customer service at tortoise supply! Thank you @TylerStewart
Sorry to hear about your experience. I kind of assumed that was the case when there were no replies from you after a day or so. At least you didn't have time to get attached, that'd make it even harder.
Best of luck with your new baby. Glad she arrived well.
I've been having these discussions with a fellow keeper about her refusal to have/buy a tort shipped. The reality is without shipping, I don't know how many keepers would be able to get any.
I am interested to know the mortality rate via shipped reptiles. I digress.
