A little concern? (wheezing?)

Hello everyone, it’s been awhile since I’ve been on here! We’ve just been going through life with a 3 year old and a 1 year old!

I’ve noticed Spur’s breathing has been a little different lately, I can hear him blowing air through his nose. This is something that has recently come about. He doesn’t breathe with his mouth open or gasp, he doesn’t have wet nostrils. It’s just something that I’ve noticed is different than before... he is in his heated shed for the winter, his shed stays in the 80’s at the minimum. I just wanted to check and see if there are any red flags anyone notices?


Here’s a recent picture of him on a warm day we had.

You could always take the first steps in treating him for a respiratory infection just in case. The first steps are to increase temps a bit and give extra soaks in warm water. Maybe it's not an RI but there'd be no harm done and if it is you'd be catching it early.
I saw my tort blow one snot bubble once and this is what I did. I figured it's better safe than sorry.

It's not harmful to flush out his nostrils. Buy some sterile saline at the pharmacy in the contact lens department. You can buy the one in a squeeze bottle. Then, with a good hard squeeze, firmly squirt saline up each nostril. this will help to dislodge anything that may be stuck in there. The other end of the nostrils end up in the roof of the mouth, so you don't have to worry about getting water in his lungs.

Hearing them breathe as they get larger is not unusual.

Just watch out for the signs of RI. Lethargy, lack of appetite, wheezing or whistling sounds, excessive yawning, nasal discharge.

Are you sure it is in the 80s down of the floor of the shed? Are you checking floor temps with a temp gun and a thermometer?

Tom said:

Hearing them breathe as they get larger is not unusual.

Just watch out for the signs of RI. Lethargy, lack of appetite, wheezing or whistling sounds, excessive yawning, nasal discharge.

Are you sure it is in the 80s down of the floor of the shed? Are you checking floor temps with a temp gun and a thermometer?

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Hey Tom, my apologies for the late response. I appreciate the tips!

I honestly think I may have been over thinking it. I’m still keeping a close eye on him but he’s had no lack of appetite, no wheezing, or yawning. I do check the floor temps with a temp gun and they do stay in the low 80’s, on cold cold days it does dip into the 70s but I crank up the thermostat. I also have been cleaning out his shed much more often than I was before and that has seemed to help as well.

Yvonne G said:

It's not harmful to flush out his nostrils. Buy some sterile saline at the pharmacy in the contact lens department. You can buy the one in a squeeze bottle. Then, with a good hard squeeze, firmly squirt saline up each nostril. this will help to dislodge anything that may be stuck in there. The other end of the nostrils end up in the roof of the mouth, so you don't have to worry about getting water in his lungs.

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Thanks Yvonne! I will pick some up!

the same thing happened to my sulcata, no discharge from the nose, no lethargy, no wheezing sound. but he breaths now with noticeable sound like pushing the air out of his nose. before i was never aware of this. I'm kinda worried too. hope you share some news and i will keep updated if i find out anything

RecklessCyanide said:

the same thing happened to my sulcata, no discharge from the nose, no lethargy, no wheezing sound. but he breaths now with noticeable sound like pushing the air out of his nose. before i was never aware of this. I'm kinda worried too. hope you share some news and i will keep updated if i find out anything

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My tortoise is doing great! I raised his temps, cleaned out his shed and increased his soaks and he seems a lot better. I honestly think it was just the temps. How’s yours doing?