Help. Something is wrong with our female Russian Tortoise

[NormanandPriscilla1]

Our tortoise Priscilla, has been acting weird the last 2-3 days. Squeaking sounds and now, today, she just lays there. No blinking. We thought she died, and then she springs back to life and moves around, and then goes back to just laying there. Any idea what can be wrong with her?

 

[Linhdan Nguyen]

Im no expert so I wont know what could be wrong.
But when a tortoise is sick, daily soaks and rechecking the temperatures as well as UVB is needed.

 

[NormanandPriscilla1]

Im no expert so I wont know what could be wrong.
But when a tortoise is sick, daily soaks and rechecking the temperatures as well as UVB is needed.

Thank you. We've been doing all that.

 

[Linhdan Nguyen]

Thank you. We've been doing all that.

Great! Hopefully someone will come along and help!

 

[wellington]

Can you give us some more info. Temps, lighting and heating being used, substrate, diet, anyone in the enclosure with her? Is she with a male, where she could be egg bound? Eating? I would put her your bath tub with warm water and let her stay there for about an hour, keep her warm the whole time. This is incase she is constipated, egg bound or has a blockage of some sort.

 

[dmmj]

what are your 4 temperatures? Basking, warm side cool side & overall?

 

[SarahChelonoidis]

Squeaking sounds - is she gasping for breath? Respiratory infection would be my thought there.

Tell us about how you are keeping her. What temperatures, day and night, is she exposed to? Does she live with another tortoise? What about diet? How long have you had her?

 

[JoesMum]

Pictures are worth a thousand words. Pictures of your tort, enclosure and lighting.

The temperatures are important as they are most frequently the cause of problems

 

[NormanandPriscilla1]

We bought her from a place in Florida and had her over nighted to us. She had worms when we got her. We've only had her for 3 months. She was being treated for them. She wasn't doing well when we got her, my husband is the one that mainly cares for them and their habitat.

Unfortunately she passed away in the night. We moved her to another box. My husband was up with her the majority of the night. We are absolutely devastated. My daughter is 3 and she's so upset, she loved her "cilla" (she's the one on the right in the picture)

 

[SarahChelonoidis]

I am so sorry for your loss.

Did you get your other Russian with her? If they were cohabiting, he very likely has the same parasites.

 

[NormanandPriscilla1]

I am so sorry for your loss.

Did you get your other Russian with her? If they were cohabiting, he very likely has the same parasites.

Thank you.

Yes we did. My husband checks his poop, so far no signs.

 

[Yvonne G]

Pairs hardly ever work out. Tortoises are territorial and don't want other tortoises in their territory. You may not see it, but the male tortoise was telling the female to get out of his territory. She had no way to get out. This type of stress opens the tortoise up for sickness and sometimes death.

 

[JoesMum]

It is very important to separate these two. The last thing you need is for one sick tort to infect the other.

It is possible, probable even, that the problem has started with bullying. Pairs are never recommended.

 

[NormanandPriscilla1]

Pairs hardly ever work out. Tortoises are territorial and don't want other tortoises in their territory. You may not see it, but the male tortoise was telling the female to get out of his territory. She had no way to get out. This type of stress opens the tortoise up for sickness and sometimes death.

Oh man, really? We've had our male tortoise for a year. There are things we are still learning. They seemed so close. Norman is so chill. They'd rest their heads on each other and sleep together. We thought we got lucky because he didn't seem to be mean to her.

 

[SarahChelonoidis]

So you had your male for seven months before adding the female? She was in his territory - the head resting was likely a sign of intimidation rather than affection. Solitary animals like tortoises don't cuddle, they bully. It's very hard for us to read tortoise interactions since they are so different from the social animals we are used to.

Hopefully your male stays healthy. Quarantine of 6~ months or longer is typically recommended before introducing new tortoises to existing herds. Russians- generally wild caught in the States - are notorious for carrying parasites and other pathogens. Keep a close eye on your male over the next several months.

Again, I'm so sorry.

 

[Yvonne G]

Oh man, really? We've had our male tortoise for a year. There are things we are still learning. They seemed so close. Norman is so chill. They'd rest their heads on each other and sleep together. We thought we got lucky because he didn't seem to be mean to her.

Those were subtle signs of domination, not friendliness.

 

[NormanandPriscilla1]

So you had your male for seven months before adding the female? She was in his territory - the head resting was likely a sign of intimidation rather than affection. Solitary animals like tortoises don't cuddle, they bully. It's very hard for us to read tortoise interactions since they are so different from the social animals we are used to.

Hopefully your male stays healthy. Quarantine of 6~ months or longer is typically recommended before introducing new tortoises to existing herds. Russians- generally wild caught in the States - are notorious for carrying parasites and other pathogens. Keep a close eye on your male over the next several months.

Again, I'm so sorry.

Omg. We had no idea. I'll be sure to pass this information along to my husband.

Thank you

 

[Pearly]

I am so sorry for your loss and truly hope that you guys give yourselves a little break from the guilt. Most of us myself included) went into tortoise keeping hobby being clueless about their solitary habits. I got 2 RF babies myself! I'm sorry you've lost "Cilla" (how cute!!!) chances are she came to you already sick. Focus on your male now. Maybe try to collect couple of poo samples and bring them to your vet see if there are any eggs in there. Tell the vet what has happened. Whatever illness killed her has likely been passed onto him. Keep an eye on his eating/drinking, pee/poo, keep him warm, give daily bath and good nutricious food. Consider probiotic. That's all I can think of for now. Keep us posted

 

[surfergirl]

I am so sorry for you and your Family's loss of Cilla.

 

[Kori5]

I'm so sorry for your loss. Is there a chance you take her body for a necropsy? Considering you have another tortoise maybe it would be a smart thing to do.