need help with my 1 and half yrs old Leopard Tortoise

[bentley]

two days ago I notice my leopard tortoise's nose has bubbles when he breath, this doesn't happen all the time but it happen quite often. anther thing I notice is he has been peeing everyday since couple days ago. I'm thinking he has Upper Respiratory Infection at this point. should I take him to a vet Monday or get some terramycin powder to treat him myself? he is not eating as much as before.

I also have a question for the heating light, I'm using a Zoo Med Repti Basking Reptile Spot Lamp right now how, will the heating light make your tortoise blind if you put it too close? thank you for all your help.

 

[Pearly]

What are the temps in his enclosure?I don't think you can treat RI yourself without a vet prescribing antibiotics. As for the bulbs that are being blamed for eye problems, it's those coil types. Be sure your temps don't drop below 80F at night, I'd keep it at 85F until he gets over this. Again, bubles in nose= typically bad news- RI. How about everything else? Activity level? Appetite? What his urates look like? You mention "peeing". How about poop? How often do you soak? And again: we need to know temps throughout the enclosure and what do you use to measure those temps (very important!)

 

[Yvonne G]

Double check the temperature all over the whole enclosure. It should be upwards of 80F degrees. I wouldn't treat for an R.I. unless you had a smear checked under the microscope and you actually see infection.

Are you using a UVB bulb too? If you have a few plants, either real or fake, it causes a bunch of shade around the habitat and helps to diffuse the light. It shouldn't be any closer than 12" from the light to the top of the shell.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Hello, Bentley, and a very warm welcome to Tortoise Forum.
Have you read http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
and http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/ ?
Lots of great info and things to check here.

 

[bentley]

thank you all for your fast reply! I keep the temps around 85-90F at all time. and yes I'm also using a UVB light. I will take him to a local vet as soon as I can. He is not active as before and lost his appetite a lot( he still eats but not as much as before). I soak him twice a month and I just soak him yesterday and he pee last night. I haven't see him poop for like two days.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

i would soak him daily in nice warm water for a bit, it should be more often than twice monthly anyway,

 

[bentley]

What are the temps in his enclosure?I don't think you can treat RI yourself without a vet prescribing antibiotics. As for the bulbs that are being blamed for eye problems, it's those coil types. Be sure your temps don't drop below 80F at night, I'd keep it at 85F until he gets over this. Again, bubles in nose= typically bad news- RI. How about everything else? Activity level? Appetite? What his urates look like? You mention "peeing". How about poop? How often do you soak? And again: we need to know temps throughout the enclosure and what do you use to measure those temps (very important!)

I been closely observed him today and I do not see the buddies anymore and he is eating but sleeps a lot. and he did Pee again in clear liquid form. I never see him pee this often before. should I take him to a vet now or should I keep close look of him for couple more days? I used those temp measure device I got online to measure the temp and I put it where the heat lamp is. I also use the temp control thing to control the heat lamp so it will kick in when temp is below 88F.

 

[wellington]

The basking spot should be 95-100 raise the basking temp. Soak him every day at least until he reaches 2 years old and then every other day for another year or two. Then it can be cut back to less. What's the humidity? You didn't mention any. It needs to be 80%.

 

[wellington]

What are the temps in his enclosure?I don't think you can treat RI yourself without a vet prescribing antibiotics. As for the bulbs that are being blamed for eye problems, it's those coil types. Be sure your temps don't drop below 80F at night, I'd keep it at 85F until he gets over this. Again, bubles in nose= typically bad news- RI. How about everything else? Activity level? Appetite? What his urates look like? You mention "peeing". How about poop? How often do you soak? And again: we need to know temps throughout the enclosure and what do you use to measure those temps (very important!)

Leopards normally do not pass Urates. At least not any noticeable ones like a lot of the other tortoises.

 

[Yvonne G]

thank you all for your fast reply! I keep the temps around 85-90F at all time. and yes I'm also using a UVB light. I will take him to a local vet as soon as I can. He is not active as before and lost his appetite a lot( he still eats but not as much as before). I soak him twice a month and I just soak him yesterday and he pee last night. I haven't see him poop for like two days.

Twice a month is not nearly enough. He needs to be placed into a bowl of warm water DAILY!!! for 15 minutes or more each time. Use a bowl he can't get out of. He's probably terribly dehydrated. The poop hardens and is hard for them to pass it when they get that dehydrated.

 

[Neal]

I been closely observed him today and I do not see the buddies anymore and he is eating but sleeps a lot. and he did Pee again in clear liquid form. I never see him pee this often before. should I take him to a vet now or should I keep close look of him for couple more days? I used those temp measure device I got online to measure the temp and I put it where the heat lamp is. I also use the temp control thing to control the heat lamp so it will kick in when temp is below 88F.

Where do you place the probe that activates the heat lamp? Ideally, it should be in an area that is furthest away from the lamp so that there are no cool spots in your enclosure.

 

[bentley]

Where do you place the probe that activates the heat lamp? Ideally, it should be in an area that is furthest away from the lamp so that there are no cool spots in your enclosure.

I put the probe right under the heat lamp. I have another heat pad under the hide area which is always warm. for the heat pad I did not connect it to the temp controller. for humidity I'm going to change him into a bigger container then I will put a water blow in it.

 

[bentley]

Twice a month is not nearly enough. He needs to be placed into a bowl of warm water DAILY!!! for 15 minutes or more each time. Use a bowl he can't get out of. He's probably terribly dehydrated. The poop hardens and is hard for them to pass it when they get that dehydrated.

I notice I should soak him more often, but he is peeing everyday for the past 5 days now. is it related to Upper Respiratory Infection? because he never does that before. also for the nose bubbles I hardly see it anymore. am i been worries too much or he is really sick right now. what should I do at this point? thank you for all your help!

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

My tortoise pees virtually everyday.
I think it's normal.
If I were you I would read the care sheets I linked for you, check everything in your enclosure is correct and most of all ensure your temps and humidity are right, then see how he gets on over the next couple of days.
If you are still worried you could take him to a vet for a check up, but ensure it is a recognized herp vet, ordinary cat and dog type vets can be worse than useless and can do more harm than good.

 

[bentley]

My tortoise pees virtually everyday.
I think it's normal.
If I were you I would read the care sheets I linked for you, check everything in your enclosure is correct and most of all ensure your temps and humidity are right, then see how he gets on over the next couple of days.
If you are still worried you could take him to a vet for a check up, but ensure it is a recognized herp vet, ordinary cat and dog type vets can be worse than useless and can do more harm than good.

got it, thank you for your help!

 

[Tom]

What size and age leopard tortoise are we talking about?

What size and type of enclosure and is it indoors or out?

What is the overnight low temp when the heat lamp is off?

What is the coolest temp in the far corner away from the heat lamp at night?

What type of UV bulb are you using? Long tube or coil type?

 

[bentley]

What size and age leopard tortoise are we talking about?

What size and type of enclosure and is it indoors or out?

What is the overnight low temp when the heat lamp is off?

What is the coolest temp in the far corner away from the heat lamp at night?

What type of UV bulb are you using? Long tube or coil type?

he weights about 530g and its a indoor enclosure, a plastic tubs about 25X17X8 that I got from lows. I don't turn off heat lamp at night so the temp is always around 90F. and for UV bulb I use zoo med 10.0 UVB mini compact fluorescent.

 

[Tom]

You need to make a lot of changes. All of the following is meant to help you and your tortoise. Constructive criticism.

• That tub is too small to start a brand new hatchling. Its WAAAAAAAAAYY too small for a 530 gram tortoise. There is no way to make a thermal gradient in something that small, and there is no way to keep temperatures warm and stable with an open top. You need a large closed chamber. You can buy one or build one. Like this: http://www.apcages.com/home/terrestrial/terrestrial.htm or this: http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/closed-chambers.32333/
• They need it dark at night. It messes with their heads when the sun stays up 24 hours a day. To maintain night heat, you need a ceramic heating element controlled by a thermostat.
• compact florescent sometimes burn their eyes and should not be used. If you need indoor UV, use a long tube type.

All of this and much more is explained here:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

 

[bentley]

You need to make a lot of changes. All of the following is meant to help you and your tortoise. Constructive criticism.

• That tub is too small to start a brand new hatchling. Its WAAAAAAAAAYY too small for a 530 gram tortoise. There is no way to make a thermal gradient in something that small, and there is no way to keep temperatures warm and stable with an open top. You need a large closed chamber. You can buy one or build one. Like this: http://www.apcages.com/home/terrestrial/terrestrial.htm or this: http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/closed-chambers.32333/
• They need it dark at night. It messes with their heads when the sun stays up 24 hours a day. To maintain night heat, you need a ceramic heating element controlled by a thermostat.
• compact florescent sometimes burn their eyes and should not be used. If you need indoor UV, use a long tube type.

All of this and much more is explained here:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.79895/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

hi Tom thank you for all the suggestions! I already asked a friend to help me build a bigger enclosure now and for UVB light can you give me a link where to buy it? also using a ceramic heating right now.

 

[Tom]

hi Tom thank you for all the suggestions! I already asked a friend to help me build a bigger enclosure now and for UVB light can you give me a link where to buy it? also using a ceramic heating right now.

I get my UV bulbs here: http://www.lightyourreptiles.com