Baby Golden Greek Tortoise Sick PLEASE HELP

bibibeo7

New Member
Joined
Feb 24, 2019
Messages
3
Location (City and/or State)
Knoxville
Hi, I got a golden greek tortoise about 2 or 3 months ago and the first month or two she was fine. She ate everyday and was more or less active compared to what she is now. I recently went on a month long trip out of the country and I gave her to my brother to take care of her while I was gone. She was not taken care of though. I believe that she was not given very much water/food throughout this time nor was her lighting taken care of either. Its been a little over a week now and she now no longer eats much at all and she only really drinks water when I soak her every morning. After I soak her every morning, I lay out some collard greens for her but she rarely every eats and and just goes to sleep under her enclosure. When I try to take her out and put her under her basking light because I fear that she doesnt bask enough, she just walks away. Calcium c is probably also an issue as im pretty sure my brother didnt give her any also. She also seems to have red spots underneath her shell which I will attach images to the post. I did research why this happens and there are multiple reasons why this could happen. I am hoping that it is an issue that I can fix without going to the vet. I am not sure what to do. I understand the best option would be to take her to a vet but I am a student and have no money to go through with this option. I will also post images of her enclosure. The only difference to her enclosure now is that I put a bag of top soil on top of the coconut husk because I feared that the edges of the husk would hurt her since she is a baby. I understand that I should have found a better caretaker for her and I feel so awful..
Please help...

tort 1.jpg tort2.jpg tort3.jpg tort4.jpg tort5.jpg tort6.jpg
 

Yvonne G

Old Timer
TFO Admin
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
93,405
Location (City and/or State)
Clovis, CA
We hear this story SO OFTEN!!! I guess it's just a case of the caretaker saying, "It's just a turtle, how hard can it be?"

But, as you know, you can't just set the enclosure over there and let it be. . . It's not hard, but it's detailed, and daily

So let's let that aspect go and get on with getting this baby well.

I don't think the red on the plastron is septicemia. Looks more like a bruise.
First things first - carrot baby food soaks. I'm told it shouldn't work, it can't work, but, gosh darn it, IT DOES WORK!!!

Take a small bowl with tall sides and mix a half jar of Gerber strained carrots with warm water (50/50). Place the bowl containing carrots and tortoise back into the enclosure NEXT TO where the light shines down on the substrate. Leave him soaking for at least a half hour and longer is even better.

While he's soaking double check the enclosure temperature to make sure it's 80-85F degrees all over the whole enclosure, day and night. After he's back healthy again you can go back to hot side, cool side with a slight drop at night, but for now 80-85f degrees all over, day and night.

I know it's a handy way to place the lights, but the screen is filtering out a good portion of the necessary UVB rays. You need to HANG the lights with no screen.

Good luck with getting your baby well. If you are industrious with it, you should see an improvement in three days.
 
Last edited:

bibibeo7

New Member
Joined
Feb 24, 2019
Messages
3
Location (City and/or State)
Knoxville
Thank you so much for such a detailed and helpful response. It makes me so happy to know that there is atleast something i can do to make her feel better and get her back on track to becoming healthy again. I never actually thought about the screen taking away most of the uv rays. I will definitely fix that. I just have some questions about the steps to take. The first question is if its a bruise, how do i go about avoiding that. As far as i know, there is no way of her getting a bruise. Unless she got it when not im my care. My last question is when you tell me to place the bowl with the carrot food, water and tortoise back into the enclosure NEXT TO where the light shines down, this means placing it close to and to the side of the light and not directly under the light correct?
 

bibibeo7

New Member
Joined
Feb 24, 2019
Messages
3
Location (City and/or State)
Knoxville
Also, when im doing the carrot water soak, after a couple days, the best case scenario is she is healthy and starts eating and drinking and basking everyday. but what if even after doing the carrot soak for a few days but she still refuses to eat.
 

Yvonne G

Old Timer
TFO Admin
10 Year Member!
Platinum Tortoise Club
Joined
Jan 23, 2008
Messages
93,405
Location (City and/or State)
Clovis, CA
Thank you so much for such a detailed and helpful response. It makes me so happy to know that there is atleast something i can do to make her feel better and get her back on track to becoming healthy again. I never actually thought about the screen taking away most of the uv rays. I will definitely fix that. I just have some questions about the steps to take. The first question is if its a bruise, how do i go about avoiding that. As far as i know, there is no way of her getting a bruise. Unless she got it when not im my care. My last question is when you tell me to place the bowl with the carrot food, water and tortoise back into the enclosure NEXT TO where the light shines down, this means placing it close to and to the side of the light and not directly under the light correct?


The bruise should go away by itself. If it spreads, then we know it isn't a bruise and might be septicemia - a vet is required.

Yes, don't place the carrot soaking bowl directly under the light, you'll cook him.

If, after three days, and after you've gone over your care and the enclosure, and everything you're doing, and all the parameters in the enclosure are within our guidelines, he's still not doing well, all you can do besides going to a vet, is give him the best you know how and hope. I've been doing this for over 30 years, and I haven't had a problem with the carrot soak not working, so I don't know what to say about that. You can still soak daily, then place the tortoise in front of the food after the soak. With a shy tortoise I put the food tile right at the mouth of the hiding place and put the tortoise back in the hide, facing the food. Then throughout the day, when I walk by the enclosure, I put the baby in front of the food again.
 

New Posts

Top