2 year old Sulcata breathing heavy. Please help.

bsstovel

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Hello All,

I've noticed Frankie has been breathing a bit louder than usual tonight. I didn't notice it all day while I was watching him, but now that he is asleep his breathing became more noticeable. I'm not sure if it is concerning or not though. He isn't showing any signs of mucous around his nose, there's no discharge anywhere, and he is eating well and is still very active. He has been defecting normally also.

I soak the little guy every day for 30 minutes, but tonight he decided to sleep outside of his little den and I noticed his breathing. The ambient temperature is always about 77°f+, and he has 3 different basking spots where the temperatures reach 95°f - 105°f. Does his breathing sound concerning to you all? Should I take him to the vet? I've been very cautious with the little buddy, but I know how detrimental RI can be and it makes me nervous if he is getting sick.

I'm not sure if this is normal or not. Are sulcatas generally loud breathers? This is my first tortoise and reptile in general, so I have zero experience with these situations. The link to the video is below. He is sleeping with his head tucked into his shell, so I'm not sure if that makes him breathe louder or not. Is this a situation where I closely monitor him for a few days to see if it continues/gets worse? Or do I take immediate action and take him to his vet?

He just had his annual check up a few months ago and the vet said he was in outstanding condition.

Frankie's Breathing
 
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Make sure you follow this care sheet to a tee and your tortoise will have the best health possible. I would suggest raising the ambient temperature to where the minimum is at least 80 degrees night and day, I personally shoot for mid-80's. I couldn't tell around how old your tortoise is from the video but if it is still young I would highly suggest monitoring humidity as well as temperature, aiming for humidity in the 80's also. If you are worried about RI definitely raise temperatures to help Frankie fight off infection or stop it from progressing any further.

I hope Frankie nothing but the best!
 

bsstovel

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Location (City and/or State)
Tustin, CA

Make sure you follow this care sheet to a tee and your tortoise will have the best health possible. I would suggest raising the ambient temperature to where the minimum is at least 80 degrees night and day, I personally shoot for mid-80's. I couldn't tell around how old your tortoise is from the video but if it is still young I would highly suggest monitoring humidity as well as temperature, aiming for humidity in the 80's also. If you are worried about RI definitely raise temperatures to help Frankie fight off infection or stop it from progressing any further.

I hope Frankie nothing but the best!

Frankie is about 1.5 - 2 years old. The place where I got him from was spotty on when he was hatched. I've gotten all of my specifics on how to raise him from the threads on here including Tom's. I live close to the beach in Southern California, so there is always naturally high humidity, but I ensure that he has decent humidity. His carapace is actually almost perfectly smooth and domed shaped and no pyramiding at all.

That being said, what about his breathing? Is that normal for a 2 year old sulcata? He wasn't breathing like that at all during the day, and typically he retreats to his little den/hide when he sleeps, but for some reason he wanted to sleep in a different corner tonight, and that is how I was able to hear his breathing. I'm not sure if he always breathes like this when he sleeps or if it just started tonight/recently.
 
Joined
May 6, 2021
Messages
27
Location (City and/or State)
San Diego
Frankie is about 1.5 - 2 years old. The place where I got him from was spotty on when he was hatched. I've gotten all of my specifics on how to raise him from the threads on here including Tom's. I live close to the beach in Southern California, so there is always naturally high humidity, but I ensure that he has decent humidity. His carapace is actually almost perfectly smooth and domed shaped and no pyramiding at all.

That being said, what about his breathing? Is that normal for a 2 year old sulcata? He wasn't breathing like that at all during the day, and typically he retreats to his little den/hide when he sleeps, but for some reason he wanted to sleep in a different corner tonight, and that is how I was able to hear his breathing. I'm not sure if he always breathes like this when he sleeps or if it just started tonight/recently.
@Tom can help you more when he has the chance, he's much more knowledgeable about the species and tortoises in general. I'm not the most knowledgeable but Frankie's nose does sound clogged either with debris or RI related.
 

Blackdog1714

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What are the temps in his enclosure- basking, hide & overall. High humidity and low temps are no good for a tort
 

Tom

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Hello All,

I've noticed Frankie has been breathing a bit louder than usual tonight. I didn't notice it all day while I was watching him, but now that he is asleep his breathing became more noticeable. I'm not sure if it is concerning or not though. He isn't showing any signs of mucous around his nose, there's no discharge anywhere, and he is eating well and is still very active. He has been defecting normally also.

I soak the little guy every day for 30 minutes, but tonight he decided to sleep outside of his little den and I noticed his breathing. The ambient temperature is always about 77°f+, and he has 3 different basking spots where the temperatures reach 95°f - 105°f. Does his breathing sound concerning to you all? Should I take him to the vet? I've been very cautious with the little buddy, but I know how detrimental RI can be and it makes me nervous if he is getting sick.

I'm not sure if this is normal or not. Are sulcatas generally loud breathers? This is my first tortoise and reptile in general, so I have zero experience with these situations. The link to the video is below. He is sleeping with his head tucked into his shell, so I'm not sure if that makes him breathe louder or not. Is this a situation where I closely monitor him for a few days to see if it continues/gets worse? Or do I take immediate action and take him to his vet?

He just had his annual check up a few months ago and the vet said he was in outstanding condition.

Frankie's Breathing
Its not unusual to hear them breathing. It can sound even more pronounced indoors at night when its dead quiet. To be safe, I'd bring the night temps up to 80 or more and leave it that way.
 

bsstovel

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Tustin, CA
Its not unusual to hear them breathing. It can sound even more pronounced indoors at night when its dead quiet. To be safe, I'd bring the night temps up to 80 or more and leave it that way.
Thanks Tom! I'll make the proper adjustments moving forward
 
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vladimir

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Just saw the video - Vlad breathes loudly sometimes when he's sleeping, that seems normal to me. But you can never go wrong following Tom's advice :)
 
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