I'm devastated...

Hello fellow tortoise friends

I had a 2 year old sulcata that I really loved.. Today as I checked on her I noticed that shes lifeless... the day before everything was perfectly fine no unusual behavior.
I changed the water and food daily
Temperature and humidity were fine
She lived in her setup for 2 years without a problem.. as I investigated I opened her mouth with tweezers and found a piece of opuntia stuck in her throat.. I think that she suffocated to death [emoji17]
I fed her spineless opuntia since day one...
It's from my own garden so I can 100% say it's pesticide free.
I always throwed in whole pieces so that she has to work a little harder to get it...
2 years no problems... and today..........
I'm heartbroken... she was already a family member...

If I think about all the money and hours of care + searching for the right information I thought I'm totally prepared for everything I guess sometimes u just cant do anything...
I don't know if I should get another tortoise
I don't think it would be the same...

I'm sorry to hear of your loss.

I feed whole opuntia pads to all of my tortoises. Every species and every age from tiny hatchlings to large adults. I feed whole pads because I've seen them choke on oddly shaped pieces that were cut too large. My theory has always been that they can't possibly choke on a piece that they bit off with their own mouth since it can never be too big or the wrong size. If the COD for your tortoise was choking, then my theory would be wrong. Still, given the number of tortoises eating opuntia daily, all over the world, I still think this is a one in a million freak accident kind of a thing.

The only thing I can think of is if the tortoise was eating, but was too cold. They will go through "normal" activities if cold, but everything is not working properly and is very slow. Was the tortoise colder than normal. I see PA is getting very cold temps right now.

My condolences.

Sam1993 said:

Hello fellow tortoise friends

I had a 2 year old sulcata that I really loved.. Today as I checked on her I noticed that shes lifeless... the day before everything was perfectly fine no unusual behavior.
I changed the water and food daily
Temperature and humidity were fine
She lived in her setup for 2 years without a problem.. as I investigated I opened her mouth with tweezers and found a piece of opuntia stuck in her throat.. I think that she suffocated to death [emoji17]
I fed her spineless opuntia since day one...
It's from my own garden so I can 100% say it's pesticide free.
I always throwed in whole pieces so that she has to work a little harder to get it...
2 years no problems... and today..........
I'm heartbroken... she was already a family member...

If I think about all the money and hours of care + searching for the right information I thought I'm totally prepared for everything I guess sometimes u just cant do anything...
I don't know if I should get another tortoise
I don't think it would be the same...

Click to expand...

So so sorry to hear such tragic news. Please don't blame yourself, tortoise care is difficult and complicated .

Markw84 said:

The only thing I can think of is if the tortoise was eating, but was too cold. They will go through "normal" activities if cold, but everything is not working properly and is very slow. Was the tortoise colder than normal. I see PA is getting very cold temps right now.

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The temperature were the same as always 95 f under the heatlamp 87 f on the hot side and 83 f on the cold side night temperature 80f I had all my lights on a timer with thermostat and they are still on and working properly... humidity was at 91 % in the enclosure a little less directly under the heatlamp and in the hide 97%
I had my arcadia lights on for 4 hours a day putting out 5 at the height of tortoise shell measured with the solarmeter 6.5
I think it was actually as Tom mentioned a one in a million freak accident... but I'm gonna try taking her to a specialist and gonna update if he can give a more specific answer on the death

I'm so sorry for ur loss I also have a 2 year old sulcata and I'm now a little bit scared of feeding him opuntia...

Aw geez. That's too bad, darn it! The only way to know for sure what cause the death is to have a necropsy.

So sorry to hear such news.

My condolences.

Sam1993 said:

The temperature were the same as always 95 f under the heatlamp 87 f on the hot side and 83 f on the cold side night temperature 80f I had all my lights on a timer with thermostat and they are still on and working properly... humidity was at 91 % in the enclosure a little less directly under the heatlamp and in the hide 97%
I had my arcadia lights on for 4 hours a day putting out 5 at the height of tortoise shell measured with the solarmeter 6.5
I think it was actually as Tom mentioned a one in a million freak accident... but I'm gonna try taking her to a specialist and gonna update if he can give a more specific answer on the death

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All that sounds perfect.

Please keep us updated. We can all learn from this sad day if we know what went wrong.

Sam1993 said:

I think it was actually as Tom mentioned a one in a million freak accident... but I'm gonna try taking her to a specialist and gonna update if he can give a more specific answer on the death

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I'm so sorry for your loss. Please keep us updated if you learn anything more about the cause.

I hope you can bring another tortoise into your life when the time is right.

So sorry for your loss.[emoji17]
Please remember that losing a pet tortoise DOES NOT mean you are a bad tort parent. Sometimes things just happen.[emoji173]️

So sorry to hear that. You had done everything right it was something you could never have foreseen. Sorry again x

I am so sorry for your loss.

Oh man I am so sorry. What a terrible freak thing.
Dont decide now about getting another. Too raw yet. But, you sound like a great tort parent and there are always plenty out there that needs just that.
It wont be the same but it can be just as good just with a different tort.
I never thought of a tort choking on food but I always do put my cactus in the food processor. I have a young leopard and two almost 8 year olds and they all get the processed cactus. So with your new tort? you can do the same to relieve the anxiety you might having feeding cactus again.

Update: i send my tortoise via next morning Express to the Pennsylvania Veterinarian Laboratory to let them perform a necropsy. I called them and made sure to follow there instructions on how to package the tort. It costs a total amount of 80$ without the delivery costs. They said it can take 2-3 days before they call me. I'm also gonna get an email with all the scientific stuff. I'm gonna post a picture of the results written in the email

Sam1993 said:

Update: i send my tortoise via next morning Express to the Pennsylvania Veterinarian Laboratory to let them perform a necropsy. I called them and made sure to follow there instructions on how to package the tort. It costs a total amount of 80$ without the delivery costs. They said it can take 2-3 days before they call me. I'm also gonna get an email with all the scientific stuff. I'm gonna post a picture of the results written in the email

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I think it's great that you're following up on this. I'm so sorry this happened but I hope we'll be able to learn something from this that can help other tortoises in the future.

thank you. I can't imagine how hard this must be.

Sam1993 said:

Update: i send my tortoise via next morning Express to the Pennsylvania Veterinarian Laboratory to let them perform a necropsy. I called them and made sure to follow there instructions on how to package the tort. It costs a total amount of 80$ without the delivery costs. They said it can take 2-3 days before they call me. I'm also gonna get an email with all the scientific stuff. I'm gonna post a picture of the results written in the email

Click to expand...

WOW!!! A brilliant response to a horrible, painful event: to create a source of information shared with others to prevent future animals from suffering! [emoji173]️ You have my greatest respect for choosing to have the necropsy done!!! Truly a loving gesture!

YOU TOTALLY ROCK!!![emoji173]️[emoji173]️[emoji173]️

Sam1993 said:

Update: i send my tortoise via next morning Express to the Pennsylvania Veterinarian Laboratory to let them perform a necropsy. I called them and made sure to follow there instructions on how to package the tort. It costs a total amount of 80$ without the delivery costs. They said it can take 2-3 days before they call me. I'm also gonna get an email with all the scientific stuff. I'm gonna post a picture of the results written in the email

Click to expand...

Thank you for doing this. We know it's a difficult and trying time emotionally. I am glad to know that something positive may come from this.

Your tortoise probably died cause u feed him wrong food cactus has spines do u eat cactus ofc that hurts