Baby red foot clicking, making noises and worms in soak dish!!

Meaghan4

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Jul 6, 2020
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4
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Dover, NH
I received my baby red foot Marley last Thursday 7-23 and his vet appointment is Monday 8-3
Marley has not eaten anything since he arrived. I soak him twice a day and give him 20 min of outdoor sunshine every other to third day.
As I was soaking him on the 30th I noticed cotton like mucous in the container and then at closer examination I noticed a whole lotta tiny white wrigglers down at the bottom. (I forgot to take pics, it freaked me out and I did not want him in that water any longer) I quickly dumped it out and gave him fresh water for the remainder of his soak. I did take a short video of a few wrigglers in his soak container this morning as well as some of him clicking, drinking, making noises and gulping.
I am hoping to hear that he will be okay and to see if this has happened with any other red foots.

Long drink
Drinking
Close up
Making noises
Worms
Marley poop 7-30-2020.jpgMarley poo 7-30-2020.jpg

Marley 3.jpgMarley 2.jpg
 

Toddrickfl1

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The first video he is drinking. That's how they drink they stick their whole head under water. Even though he's not eating that's a good sign he's drinking. The opening the mouth looks a little concerning too. In any case he will probably need to be treated for the worms at the Vet. Tortoises don't like change. Sometimes they won't eat if their not comfortable. The best thing you can do is leave him in his enclosure for now and leave him be to get settled in. When you go to the Vet avoid any vitamin shots. If it were me I'd treat the worms first.
 

Meaghan4

New Member
Joined
Jul 6, 2020
Messages
4
Location (City and/or State)
Dover, NH
The first video he is drinking. That's how they drink they stick their whole head under water. Even though he's not eating that's a good sign he's drinking. The opening the mouth looks a little concerning too. In any case he will probably need to be treated for the worms at the Vet. Tortoises don't like change. Sometimes they won't eat if their not comfortable. The best thing you can do is leave him in his enclosure for now and leave him be to get settled in. When you go to the Vet avoid any vitamin shots. If it were me I'd treat the worms first.

Thank you!!
 

saleena.lewis

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Apr 20, 2020
Messages
232
Location (City and/or State)
Massachusetts
I am not an expert by any means but I would see if you could get a vet appointment sooner. If a tortoise doesn't eat for probably about a week after you get him it's one thing but if it goes any longer than that there may be a problem, probably a job for a veterinarian. Your tort is adorable! I wish you the best of luck.
 

willee638

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Joined
Feb 16, 2020
Messages
283
Location (City and/or State)
HK
I received my baby red foot Marley last Thursday 7-23 and his vet appointment is Monday 8-3
Marley has not eaten anything since he arrived. I soak him twice a day and give him 20 min of outdoor sunshine every other to third day.
As I was soaking him on the 30th I noticed cotton like mucous in the container and then at closer examination I noticed a whole lotta tiny white wrigglers down at the bottom. (I forgot to take pics, it freaked me out and I did not want him in that water any longer) I quickly dumped it out and gave him fresh water for the remainder of his soak. I did take a short video of a few wrigglers in his soak container this morning as well as some of him clicking, drinking, making noises and gulping.
I am hoping to hear that he will be okay and to see if this has happened with any other red foots.

Long drink
Drinking
Close up
Making noises
Worms
View attachment 301940View attachment 301941

View attachment 301942View attachment 301943
I was googling in search of treatment for parasite infections of tortoises & found your upload, I received a little red footed yearling tortoise less than a month ago & notice immediately he/she was extremely under weight at first only 65 grams compared to my previous RF at similar size of 87 grams. But mine was eating almost immediately after arriving home, as days went by I discovered a very pungent odour emitting from it's shell & the enclosure also was tainted with a stink. I started to administer my own treatment of applying a fungal cream on it's plastron & carapace thinking there was a possible shell rot & Epsom salts in water soaks. the tortoise up to this point was feeding regularly & poop daily with noticeable weight gains after almost a month in my care. But just today with the same reaction as yours to my horror after it's morning soak I noticed 2 pieces of excrement in the water was wiggling rapidly like worms, before flushing it away I too took a short video clip of it in action. The similarity ends here as the parasites appeared to be black worms of one each inside of each feces partially protruding, I suspected the pungent ordour was a direct result of the worm infestation & the Epsom salts soak in the water the tortoise may have ingested would have flashed out the parasites which was plaguing it. As you mention of a clicking sound was present with mine too along with restlessness & some aggressions toward others, but since the excrement of the worms "maybe more" has help reduce unusual behaviors.
 

MEEJogja

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Jan 18, 2021
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160
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Indonesia
I was googling in search of treatment for parasite infections of tortoises & found your upload, I received a little red footed yearling tortoise less than a month ago & notice immediately he/she was extremely under weight at first only 65 grams compared to my previous RF at similar size of 87 grams. But mine was eating almost immediately after arriving home, as days went by I discovered a very pungent odour emitting from it's shell & the enclosure also was tainted with a stink. I started to administer my own treatment of applying a fungal cream on it's plastron & carapace thinking there was a possible shell rot & Epsom salts in water soaks. the tortoise up to this point was feeding regularly & poop daily with noticeable weight gains after almost a month in my care. But just today with the same reaction as yours to my horror after it's morning soak I noticed 2 pieces of excrement in the water was wiggling rapidly like worms, before flushing it away I too took a short video clip of it in action. The similarity ends here as the parasites appeared to be black worms of one each inside of each feces partially protruding, I suspected the pungent ordour was a direct result of the worm infestation & the Epsom salts soak in the water the tortoise may have ingested would have flashed out the parasites which was plaguing it. As you mention of a clicking sound was present with mine too along with restlessness & some aggressions toward others, but since the excrement of the worms "maybe more" has help reduce unusual behaviors.

Here's an alternate theory, ingesting Epsom salts has made your tort dehydrated and feeling unwell. As a result he is less active and less inclined to show aggression towards others. It has not fixed your problem, but created one.

I have seen others on this forum suggest Epsom salts during soaks, I'm not saying it's not good for external use, but I suspect it is harmful when ingested by torts, like it's harmful when ingested by humans.

If you want to treat for worms, use whatever your vet recommends. The Epsom salts probably just got your torts bowels moving quicker than normal and a couple of worms were swept away. The medical options instantly kills all adult parasites on contact through an interesting biological process.
 
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