Tort death

[ShellyTortisen]

I am hoping for some answers/ suggestions. I received my tortoise from a very reputable breeder 11 days ago. I have read all of the care sheets and made sure his habitat was up and running before receiving him. He was doing great, gaining weight, eating like a champion and pooping multiple times in his daily warm soaks. However after his soak tonight he never moved from his rock and he died. I attached pictures of his habitat. He was eating a chopped up mixture of romaine lettuce, collard greens, Mazuri tortoise chow,and endive. He also had cactus one day but did not eat much of it. He has a cuttlebone. His basking spot was 98, warm side 90,s and cool side 79. He had a humid hide and I would pour warm water in his substrate and mix it around to maintain humidity. I guess I am just asking for suggestions of what went wrong. I did so much research and planning. I am devastated.


IMG]http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20160403/7272076ee0ec237bf32e69bd36ace53c.jpg[/IMG]

 

[dmmj]

first of all please accept my condolences on your loss. second sudden death in a tortoise is very very rare they usually have an underlying issue the causes of death. A sudden death in a tortoises is usually a result of eating something toxic.

 

[Jodie]

I am so sorry. Nothing jumps out at me That would cause this.

 

[Tom]

Your enclosure and set up looks and sounds good. The first thing I would consider is the source. Few people start them correctly, and if a baby has too dry of a dry start, it won't matter what anyone does after the damage is done.

So where did you get the tortoise? How was it started?

 

[Big Charlie]

I'm so sorry. Are you 100% sure he is dead?

 

[Speedy-1]

I am sorry to hear of this !

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Do not bury or toss away your tortoise untill you are certain that it is dead.
A tortoise can look dead and still be alive.

 

[ShellyTortisen]

I kept him in his humid hide last night with the CHE's on but he for sure is not alive.

He came from Lance, who was extremely supportive and nice, so I know he was started well.

In talking it through with Lance I can only think of the possibility of two things. Could he of eaten some of the substrate or were his soaks too warm?

Here is a little more history:
I noticed him not moving about a half hour after the soak. His soaks would only come up maybe a little over the bottom of his shell. He was always supervised during his soaks and he only was taken out of his habitat one today for his Soaks. I soaked him in a plastic tub just with hot/warm tap water. He was extremely active during his soaks and always pooped multiple times. I did not let anyone else touch him or play with him. I did 3 days ago pull out a string of substrate (I think ) from his poop.

He was eating organic Romain lettuce, collard greens, endive and Missouri tortoise Chow. I would feed him twice a day and he would go through the whole plate. The only thing new I added last week was cactus in which I peeled and fed him only the center. (He did not like it much)

His substraight was a mixture of Eco earth coco coir and repti bark. I poured about 2-3 gallons of warm water in it every 3 rd day and mixed it around to the bottom. It was always moist.

His weight on arrival 3/23 was 56g a week later on 3/30 he was 62 g

Here are some more pics of his enclosure and some pics from after he passed away (sorry if they are hard to look at) I am just searching for an answer I might never have.

 

[ShellyTortisen]

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Is he limp and are his eyes still shiny?

Has he become stiff with sunken eyes?

 

[wellington]

I am so very sorry. So sad seeing him in those pics. When you say the water was hot/warm, would it have been okay for a human baby to bathe in? Also, did you soak him under a heat lamp to keep him warm? I ask as it could be possible that if the water was too warm and then the heat of a light, maybe he got over heated.

 

[Rue]

I am very sorry. I hope you can figure it out.

I have been using my temp gun to check my water...I am worried about it being too warm too.

 

[ShellyTortisen]

No I was able to put my hand in the water and hold it in there. When I checked the temp it was around 85 degrees. He was never unattended during his soaks. I would put his plastic soak tub in the sink and fill the sink up with hot water so that his soak water would stay warm. I constantly checked it but mostly with my hand. After the soak I would put him back in his habitat under the lights.

 

[ShellyTortisen]

Last night and this morning he was limp. He is now stiff and has bubbles coming from side of mouth.

 

[Rue]

Did the breeder have any ideas?

I would also very much like to know...if at all possible...what could have happened.

Can it be too hot/humid? No cool side?

And of course...sometimes it just happens too...no reason.

But I hate not knowing.

 

[surfergirl]

I am so sorry for your loss. It looks and sounds like you were giving him the proper care so maybe it was just a condition from birth.

 

[dmmj]

I was wondering about the soaking tub. Could someone else have used it and put something toxic in there? I'm not trying to point fingers I'm just trying to think of different possible scenarios.

 

[Tank'sMom]

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/index.php?threads/Temporary-Diet.139043/#post-1303537

 

[teresaf]

He looks swollen. @Yvonne G isn't there something that causes that? Liver issue?

 

[Tom]

He is now stiff and has bubbles coming from side of mouth.

We can eliminate the poor start theory entirely if the baby was one of Lance's. He starts his babies very well. The weight and growth also eliminate this possibility.

My best guess is some sort of poisoning from fumes or direct ingestion, or over heating. When they over heat you will sometimes see foamy mouth bubbles like that. But you can also see it after they eat and get stung by a bee, or if they eat some toxic plant.

I'm sorry for you loss and I wish I could give you a more definitive answer about what happened.