Hello, I am hoping someone can help me. I purchased a baby tortoise approx. a month and a half ago. I owned a happy sulcata with no problem for years (who remains in Texas healthy), but this time purchased a Hermanns baby when I moved to NJ.
A few days ago, upon taking her to the vet, they called me and told me she was dead. It has made me question whether I should even bother obtaining a new tort, and after the death of this one, my boyfriend and I are both leery and devastated. We question what exactly we did wrong. I don't want this to happen again and need some more advice on what could have caused this so we do not make the same mistake in the future. I suspect she died of a respiratory infection or pneumonia. Here is the history and housing....
24" x 22" x 14" Vision Cage
Red Mercury Heat Bulb 75 watt
PowerSun Zoo Med 100 Watt Bulb
Zoo Med Reptile Bark Substrate
Hideaway Box & some fake plants in enclosure.
Diet: once a day sprinkled with fluker's calcium and vit. D. mostly romaine, spinach, kale (once in awhile), fruit once in awhile as a treat, parsley. When it was warm (few days) took her outside to graze on grass (cold here still in NJ outside)
Air temp. was approx 80-85 during the day with the powersun left on 13 hours. Temp. read 90-95 directly below the powersun but she seemed to avoid being directly under it. At night, the temp. dropped to about 70-75 in enclosure.
Soaked her 2-3x week in warm bath. We also left access to a shallow bowl of fresh water.
Sprayed enclosure with water bottle for humidity within cage 1x per day.
3-4 days ago she was lethargic and her eyes seemed slightly puffy. She also did not open them much. No mucus or bubbles from her nostrils. Her appetite was still great, but we were concerned and planned on taking her to the vet the next morning immediately when they opened.
The next morning I was shocked as she was back to her normal self, great appetite, active and her eyes were swelling down. You would never suspect anything was wrong with her. One day after that (day she died), she became severely lethargic, stopped eating and at times was moving around erratically in her enclosure. I don't know how to explain it, but it was not normal movement for a tortoise. She was running around bumping into things and constantly flipping over on her back. Her mouth would open and close constantly. We immediately took her to the vet where they said they could monitor her until the reptile vet was available on Mon.
Before they could examine her, she died (almost immediately after we dropped her off to the vet).
I would appreciate any advice on what could be done next time to prevent this. (if we even decide to ever get another tort). Also, would it be a wiser decision to consider adopting an older tortoise? Is the death rate in babies higher? Could the water we sprayed in enclosure for humidity have killed her or the soaks?
Also, I know this may seem silly, but my boyfriend and I have been sick with a cough and cold for over a week. Is it possible that we could have transferred our sickness to her? I didn't think this was possible, but thought I would ask.
Sorry for so many questions. I just keep going over this in my mind.
Thanks so much for your input.
A few days ago, upon taking her to the vet, they called me and told me she was dead. It has made me question whether I should even bother obtaining a new tort, and after the death of this one, my boyfriend and I are both leery and devastated. We question what exactly we did wrong. I don't want this to happen again and need some more advice on what could have caused this so we do not make the same mistake in the future. I suspect she died of a respiratory infection or pneumonia. Here is the history and housing....
24" x 22" x 14" Vision Cage
Red Mercury Heat Bulb 75 watt
PowerSun Zoo Med 100 Watt Bulb
Zoo Med Reptile Bark Substrate
Hideaway Box & some fake plants in enclosure.
Diet: once a day sprinkled with fluker's calcium and vit. D. mostly romaine, spinach, kale (once in awhile), fruit once in awhile as a treat, parsley. When it was warm (few days) took her outside to graze on grass (cold here still in NJ outside)
Air temp. was approx 80-85 during the day with the powersun left on 13 hours. Temp. read 90-95 directly below the powersun but she seemed to avoid being directly under it. At night, the temp. dropped to about 70-75 in enclosure.
Soaked her 2-3x week in warm bath. We also left access to a shallow bowl of fresh water.
Sprayed enclosure with water bottle for humidity within cage 1x per day.
3-4 days ago she was lethargic and her eyes seemed slightly puffy. She also did not open them much. No mucus or bubbles from her nostrils. Her appetite was still great, but we were concerned and planned on taking her to the vet the next morning immediately when they opened.
The next morning I was shocked as she was back to her normal self, great appetite, active and her eyes were swelling down. You would never suspect anything was wrong with her. One day after that (day she died), she became severely lethargic, stopped eating and at times was moving around erratically in her enclosure. I don't know how to explain it, but it was not normal movement for a tortoise. She was running around bumping into things and constantly flipping over on her back. Her mouth would open and close constantly. We immediately took her to the vet where they said they could monitor her until the reptile vet was available on Mon.
Before they could examine her, she died (almost immediately after we dropped her off to the vet).
I would appreciate any advice on what could be done next time to prevent this. (if we even decide to ever get another tort). Also, would it be a wiser decision to consider adopting an older tortoise? Is the death rate in babies higher? Could the water we sprayed in enclosure for humidity have killed her or the soaks?
Also, I know this may seem silly, but my boyfriend and I have been sick with a cough and cold for over a week. Is it possible that we could have transferred our sickness to her? I didn't think this was possible, but thought I would ask.
Sorry for so many questions. I just keep going over this in my mind.
Thanks so much for your input.