Russian Tortoise One Eye Closed

[Clizaola]

Hi everyone. I am new to the forum and a new tortoise owner. My 18 year old son brought home 3 Russian tortoises last October and was told they were extremely low maintenance. He followed the previous owners instructions for their care and did little of his own research. About a month after they came out of hibernation, 2 of the turtles had eye infections and one clearly had a respiratory infection. I took over their care and moved them into a warmer area of the house, changed their diet and began giving them zoo med eye drops. Almost immediately, the female with the respiratory infection got better. The male has one closed eye and has always been active and a very good eater. After a week of the zoo med drops he is now able to open his eye but not fully and I can not see his eyeball. He eats a variety of green leaf lettuce, mustard or turnip greens, and Romain daily, and the occasional carrots or bell peppers to help with possible vitamin a deficiency. I also include kale, zucchini and dandelions when they are available. All of the turtles now soak at least once a week in warm water for 15 minutes each. There is 2 uv bulbs in their enclosure and I use organic garden soil for their substrate as that’s what the previous owner used. I am not sure if I should continue the zoo med eye drops or try something different? I have not been able to get an appointment with an exotic vet for at least another 3 weeks and his eye has been like this for at least a month now, but has progressed. Please help!

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Hello!
I'm glad you've stepped in to care for them.

You doing great with soaks. For a week or so you can soak them daily - they are usually dehydrated after coming out of brumation.

As they are sick - keep them warm all the time. Raise up temperatures in the enclosure to 80F.

Can you post some photos of the tortoises (with eye close-up photos) and their enclosure? And tell more details - what lightning/heating lamps do you use, what are temperatures (ambient day/night, under the basking lamp) and humidity now?

As of treatment - you can get Neomycin eye ointment (from a human drug store). And apply it according to instructions. This helps in mild cases of bacterial eye infections.

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

Warm soaks with baby carrot food usually help with vitamin A deficiency. Do you keep the three together?

 

[Clizaola]

Warm soaks with baby carrot food usually help with vitamin A deficiency. Do you keep the three together?

Yes, the 3 of them are together. I just recently discovered the carrot soaks but I haven’t tried it yet. I will definitely be giving this a try today. How often do people usually give carrot soaks? I haven’t found too much info on them.

 

[Clizaola]

Hello!
I'm glad you've stepped in to care for them.

You doing great with soaks. For a week or so you can soak them daily - they are usually dehydrated after coming out of brumation.

As they are sick - keep them warm all the time. Raise up temperatures in the enclosure to 80F.

Can you post some photos of the tortoises (with eye close-up photos) and their enclosure? And tell more details - what lightning/heating lamps do you use, what are temperatures (ambient day/night, under the basking lamp) and humidity now?

As of treatment - you can get Neomycin eye ointment (from a human drug store). And apply it according to instructions. This helps in mild cases of bacterial eye infections.

At night it runs about 60 degrees and during the day it gets about 80-90 under their lamp. This is the enclosure I inherited from the previous owner. I had a feeling it wasn’t nearly big enough for 3 tortoises as the females are nearly twice as big as the male pictured here so my husband is currently working on building them something a little bigger. I have not measured humidity in their enclosure. I have seen some owners run humidifiers and others say it is not necessary. But I welcome all opinions. I have also seen heating pads for their enclosure I was considering buying if anyone believes their tank needs to be warmer.

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

Yes, the 3 of them are together. I just recently discovered the carrot soaks but I haven’t tried it yet. I will definitely be giving this a try today. How often do people usually give carrot soaks? I haven’t found too much info on them.

Do you know the gender of your tortoises? Groups usually only work when there is just one male tortoise and multiple female tortoises. With a group a big enclosure with lots of sight barriers is important to avoid bullying. Could you send pictures of the undersides of the tortoises?

Once a day is good for when the tortoise is sick. Once he has opened his eyes you can return to only soaking with water.

I would quarantine the sick tortoise....

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

At night it runs about 60 degrees and during the day it gets about 80-90 under their lamp. This is the enclosure I inherited from the previous owner. I had a feeling it wasn’t nearly big enough for 3 tortoises as the females are nearly twice as big as the male pictured here so my husband is currently working on building them something a little bigger. I have not measured humidity in their enclosure. I have seen some owners run humidifiers and others say it is not necessary. But I welcome all opinions. I have also seen heating pads for their enclosure I was considering buying if anyone believes their tank needs to be warmer.

Yes, that is way too small. I wouldn't let the night time temp drop under 75 F. Ceramic heat emitters are a better option compared to heat mats. What kind of heat and uv bulbs are you using?

Get something to measure the humidity. 40-60% is a good range for adults. "Watering" and compressing the substrate is the best way to get humidity up in a closed chamber. Humidifiers aren't that great for Russians in my opinion.

Read this before building a new enclousure:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

8 feet by 4 feet is recommended as a minimum for a single Russian tortoise, but the bigger the better. I don't have experience housing multiples, but I have read that you need to add at least 10-20 square feet per tortoise when housing multiples. I hope someone more experienced can comment on your female to male ratio. @Tom

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

I wouldn't let the night time temp drop under 75 F.

Forgot to add that for sick tortoises I would keep the night temps over 82 F.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

At night it runs about 60 degrees and during the day it gets about 80-90 under their lamp. This is the enclosure I inherited from the previous owner. I had a feeling it wasn’t nearly big enough for 3 tortoises as the females are nearly twice as big as the male pictured here so my husband is currently working on building them something a little bigger. I have not measured humidity in their enclosure. I have seen some owners run humidifiers and others say it is not necessary. But I welcome all opinions. I have also seen heating pads for their enclosure I was considering buying if anyone believes their tank needs to be warmer.

1. Carrot soaks won't help in this case. Eyes aren't swollen and shut and they eat on their own. It should be treated with topic antibiotic.
2. Night temperatures of 60F are fine for healthy adult tortoises, but for the sick ones - it's too low. I would get a ceramic heat emitter and put it in the larger dome for the night as a quick solution. Thermostat is highly desirable.
3. Humidity of 50-70% is optimal. You don't need a humidifier to achieve that. Pour a cup of water in substrate in the warmer area of the enclosure. And wrap the mesh top with a tin foil, precisely cut around light fixtures. This will help to retain heat and humidity).
4. Heat mats are bad choice for tortoises. They are programmed to burrow to escape heat and with a heat mat this works just the opposite way. This may result in plastron (belly) burns. Ceramic heat emitters are better for ambient heat.
5. You are right, that enclosure is too small. Even a single tortoise needs something closer to 32 sq.ft. Unlike many other reptiles, they walk a lot and their digestion depends on movement (just like horses).

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

Carrot soaks won't help in this case. Eyes aren't swollen and shut and they eat on their own. It should be treated with topic antibiotic.

Yeah, some only recommend carrot soaks if the tortoise is not eating, but it won't do any harm either. Bell pepper is not a good food for Russians since it contains too much sugar. In anycase you will probably need the antibiotics.

 

[Clizaola]

Do you know the gender of your tortoises? Groups usually only work when there is just one male tortoise and multiple female tortoises. With a group a big enclosure with lots of sight barriers is important to avoid bullying. Could you send pictures of the undersides of the tortoises?

Once a day is good for when the tortoise is sick. Once he has opened his eyes you can return to only soaking with water.

I would quarantine the sick tortoise....

Yes it’s 1 male and 2 females. His eye is slightly opened but I can’t see his eyeball.

 

[Clizaola]

1. Carrot soaks won't help in this case. Eyes aren't swollen and shut and they eat on their own. It should be treated with topic antibiotic.
2. Night temperatures of 60F are fine for healthy adult tortoises, but for the sick ones - it's too low. I would get a ceramic heat emitter and put it in the larger dome for the night as a quick solution. Thermostat is highly desirable.
3. Humidity of 50-70% is optimal. You don't need a humidifier to achieve that. Pour a cup of water in substrate in the warmer area of the enclosure. And wrap the mesh top with a tin foil, precisely cut around light fixtures. This will help to retain heat and humidity).
4. Heat mats are bad choice for tortoises. They are programmed to burrow to escape heat and with a heat mat this works just the opposite way. This may result in plastron (belly) burns. Ceramic heat emitters are better for ambient heat.
5. You are right, that enclosure is too small. Even a single tortoise needs something closer to 32 sq.ft. Unlike many other reptiles, they walk a lot and their digestion depends on movement (just like horses).

Thank you! This was very helpful information! I have thermostats and I was considering the heat emitting bulbs but I wasn’t sure. I will definitely work on this now.

 

[Clizaola]

Yes, that is way too small. I wouldn't let the night time temp drop under 75 F. Ceramic heat emitters are a better option compared to heat mats. What kind of heat and uv bulbs are you using?

Get something to measure the humidity. 40-60% is a good range for adults. "Watering" and compressing the substrate is the best way to get humidity up in a closed chamber. Humidifiers aren't that great for Russians in my opinion.

Read this before building a new enclousure:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

8 feet by 4 feet is recommended as a minimum for a single Russian tortoise, but the bigger the better. I don't have experience housing multiples, but I have read that you need to add at least 10-20 square feet per tortoise when housing multiples. I hope someone more experienced can comment on your female to male ratio. @Tom

Thank you!

 

[Clizaola]

Yes, that is way too small. I wouldn't let the night time temp drop under 75 F. Ceramic heat emitters are a better option compared to heat mats. What kind of heat and uv bulbs are you using?

Get something to measure the humidity. 40-60% is a good range for adults. "Watering" and compressing the substrate is the best way to get humidity up in a closed chamber. Humidifiers aren't that great for Russians in my opinion.

Read this before building a new enclousure:

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

8 feet by 4 feet is recommended as a minimum for a single Russian tortoise, but the bigger the better. I don't have experience housing multiples, but I have read that you need to add at least 10-20 square feet per tortoise when housing multiples. I hope someone more experienced can comment on your female to male ratio. @Tom

Should I replace one of the uv bulbs with a heat emitting bulb or add another lamp?

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Yes it’s 1 male and 2 females. His eye is slightly opened but I can’t see his eyeball.

Try Neomycin eye ointment. If you won't see any improvements in a couple of days - bring him to the vet to assess his eye. This won't resolve on its own.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Should I replace one of the uv bulbs with a heat emitting bulb or add another lamp?

If you keep them inside all the time, you will need:
1. Incandescent flood type lamp for the basking zone. I'll check if the one you have found is suitable. UPD: the lamp looks like the right one, but no technical details are provided, so I'm not sure. Flukers and ExoTerra have Daylight heat bulbs (usual, pear shaped) - they can be used with a dome. Also you can check if Petsmart still carries Arcadia Solar Basking *Flood*light
2. UVB lamp, T5 HO (straight tube fluorescent) type.
3. Ceramic heat emitter to keep correct temperatures at night
4. Ambient LED lights to provide enough brightness in the enclosure.

You can find more detailed description under this link (the one that The Four Toed Edward posted above):
https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/info-for-new-people-please-read-this-first.202363/ (look for the word breakdown near the end of the post).

 

[Tom]

Hi everyone. I am new to the forum and a new tortoise owner. My 18 year old son brought home 3 Russian tortoises last October and was told they were extremely low maintenance. He followed the previous owners instructions for their care and did little of his own research. About a month after they came out of hibernation, 2 of the turtles had eye infections and one clearly had a respiratory infection. I took over their care and moved them into a warmer area of the house, changed their diet and began giving them zoo med eye drops. Almost immediately, the female with the respiratory infection got better. The male has one closed eye and has always been active and a very good eater. After a week of the zoo med drops he is now able to open his eye but not fully and I can not see his eyeball. He eats a variety of green leaf lettuce, mustard or turnip greens, and Romain daily, and the occasional carrots or bell peppers to help with possible vitamin a deficiency. I also include kale, zucchini and dandelions when they are available. All of the turtles now soak at least once a week in warm water for 15 minutes each. There is 2 uv bulbs in their enclosure and I use organic garden soil for their substrate as that’s what the previous owner used. I am not sure if I should continue the zoo med eye drops or try something different? I have not been able to get an appointment with an exotic vet for at least another 3 weeks and his eye has been like this for at least a month now, but has progressed. Please help!

Its clear that these tortoises have not been cared for correctly. It also seems like you've found the usual wrong info that everyone finds. Don't feel bad, and don't take any of this as a slight against you. Its obvious that you are trying to do what is best for them. Its just difficult because so much of the care info online and from all sources is just plain wrong. We will try to help.

How and where were they hibernating? Russians need consistent cold temps of around 38-39 degrees to brumate properly. If they were kept indoors, or outdoors here in CA with our warm winter weather, that is a likely reason for their current problems. Correct care should help to fix it.

Where in CA are you? Very different advice for Big Bear vs. Palm Springs.

To get them back to health the first three big priorities are going to be enclosure size, temperatures, and hydration.
1. Enclosure size: As has been said, they need at least 4x8 feet. More would be better. Depending on where you are in CA, its better to house them outdoors with the proper enclosure and shelter. I'll leave a link showing how to do that.
2. Temperatures should drop to the 70s at night, and low 80s during the day with a basking area around 100 directly under the bulb. Humidifiers are fine in the room, but not blowing directly into the enclosure.
3. Dehydration is probably the number one killer of captive tortoises. Russian are prone to forming bladder stones when they are not well hydrated. I would soak them in warm water for at least 30-40 minutes daily for two weeks. Then another two weeks of every other day, and then cut to a maintenance routine of twice a week here in our dry climate. Be sure to have at least two terra cotta saucers sunk into the substrate or the ground outside, and also two food bowls since you are housing multiple tortoises together. You may as well buy extra bowls too so you have them on hand when one breaks. Good thing they are cheap.

What type of UV bulbs are you using? The cfl types can sometimes burn their eyes, and they are not effective UV sources either.

Read the thread that Edward left for you in post number 7, and here is the care sheet specifically for your species:

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

If possible get them into a large outdoor enclosure that is escape proof ASAP. At the very least do this for nice weather and bring them inside at night. Once you have the right shelter built for them where you can control the temperature, they can and should live outside full time. Here is one way to do it and keep them safe from predators:


This is an 8x8 foot "chicken" coop from Tractor Supply. Make a visual barrier around the bottom and attach a heated shelter, and your trio should thrive outside. You can attach two of these side by side and make it 8x16 feet and that is even better.

Questions are welcome.

 

[Clizaola]

Its clear that these tortoises have not been cared for correctly. It also seems like you've found the usual wrong info that everyone finds. Don't feel bad, and don't take any of this as a slight against you. Its obvious that you are trying to do what is best for them. Its just difficult because so much of the care info online and from all sources is just plain wrong. We will try to help.

How and where were they hibernating? Russians need consistent cold temps of around 38-39 degrees to brumate properly. If they were kept indoors, or outdoors here in CA with our warm winter weather, that is a likely reason for their current problems. Correct care should help to fix it.

Where in CA are you? Very different advice for Big Bear vs. Palm Springs.

To get them back to health the first three big priorities are going to be enclosure size, temperatures, and hydration.
1. Enclosure size: As has been said, they need at least 4x8 feet. More would be better. Depending on where you are in CA, its better to house them outdoors with the proper enclosure and shelter. I'll leave a link showing how to do that.
2. Temperatures should drop to the 70s at night, and low 80s during the day with a basking area around 100 directly under the bulb. Humidifiers are fine in the room, but not blowing directly into the enclosure.
3. Dehydration is probably the number one killer of captive tortoises. Russian are prone to forming bladder stones when they are not well hydrated. I would soak them in warm water for at least 30-40 minutes daily for two weeks. Then another two weeks of every other day, and then cut to a maintenance routine of twice a week here in our dry climate. Be sure to have at least two terra cotta saucers sunk into the substrate or the ground outside, and also two food bowls since you are housing multiple tortoises together. You may as well buy extra bowls too so you have them on hand when one breaks. Good thing they are cheap.

What type of UV bulbs are you using? The cfl types can sometimes burn their eyes, and they are not effective UV sources either.

Read the thread that Edward left for you in post number 7, and here is the care sheet specifically for your species:

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

If possible get them into a large outdoor enclosure that is escape proof ASAP. At the very least do this for nice weather and bring them inside at night. Once you have the right shelter built for them where you can control the temperature, they can and should live outside full time. Here is one way to do it and keep them safe from predators:
View attachment 370116
View attachment 370117
This is an 8x8 foot "chicken" coop from Tractor Supply. Make a visual barrier around the bottom and attach a heated shelter, and your trio should thrive outside. You can attach two of these side by side and make it 8x16 feet and that is even better.

Questions are welcome.

Hi Tom,
Thank you for all the advice. So we live in the Frazier park mountains. So housing them outside isn’t an option and unfortunately I think our cold winter might have been what caused them to get sick. From what I have been told from their previous owners, I am their third owner, they are close to 10 years old and have been housed in this enclosure for the majority of their life. So my son trusted their instruction. They did brumate for close to a month in the enclosure, in doors. However my son’s room was very cold and was about 40 degrees constantly. The male woke up first and I was told to wake them all up for his safety. The temperature in the room however did not increase and I believe this is why they got sick and I moved them into a well heated room in our house. The female was instantly better and I am no longer concerned about her. The previous owner only had one 100w UV bulb on them but I added another.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Should I replace one of the uv bulbs with a heat emitting bulb or add another lamp?

@Clizaola It looks like you are a bit confused about heat and UV lamps (I'm looking at your latest message). No problem here as lightning and heating are not easy to get right from the start.

On the picture from Amazon is an incandescent lamp. It provides visible light and heat. It's not a UV lamp (first - UVA output is neglible, no matter what advertisement says, second - it doesn't output UVB at all). UVA is a part of UV spectrum invisible to humans, but tortoises see it as another basic color, UVB is another part of UV spectrum which is required to synthesize vitamin D3 in skin to absorb calcium.

 

[Clizaola]

@Clizaola It looks like you are a bit confused about heat and UV lamps (I'm looking at your latest message). No problem here as lightning and heating are not easy to get right from the start.

On the picture from Amazon is an incandescent lamp. It provides visible light and heat. It's not a UV lamp (first - UVA output is neglible, no matter what advertisement says, second - it doesn't output UVB at all). UVA is a part of UV spectrum invisible to humans, but tortoises see it as another basic color, UVB is another part of UV spectrum which is required to synthesize vitamin D3 in skin to absorb calcium.

Oh my gosh. Thank u. I will pick up some new bulbs today!