dark circle under eyes?
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That could possibly be a sign of dehydration. Tortoises eyes will start to cave in if not hydrated properly. What kind of set up do you have? Do you soak him regularly or does he have access to his water bowl?
-Matt
-Matt
that was my thought based on other animals- I'm sure the experts will weigh in shortlymatt41gb said:
Have no idea what you are talking about...
How about.. that's the colors?
Terry K
How about.. that's the colors?
Terry K
I don't think the color is anything to worry about, however the eye does seem to be slightly sunken in. Like Matt said, this is a sign of the tortoise being dehydrated.
Hmmm...
There's plenty of humidity going around and there's a water bowl I refill with clean water every night. Every night I come home from work I see lots of moss/mulch in the water, which are signs someone has been walking through there.
I've also caught this tortoise drinking water on several occasions, and everytime s/he pees, it's liquid as opposed to white urates, which leads me to believe hydration isn't amongst the animal's concern. For whatever it's worth, right after I took these pictures and placed the tortoise back in its enclosure, s/he walked over to take two drinks of water, walked through the water dish, and promptly went back to sleep.
Assuming it is a hydration issue though, is there anything I can do differently? I'd rather not force soak as my tortoises seem to only like being in water when it's on their own terms--and I don't blame them.
There's plenty of humidity going around and there's a water bowl I refill with clean water every night. Every night I come home from work I see lots of moss/mulch in the water, which are signs someone has been walking through there.
I've also caught this tortoise drinking water on several occasions, and everytime s/he pees, it's liquid as opposed to white urates, which leads me to believe hydration isn't amongst the animal's concern. For whatever it's worth, right after I took these pictures and placed the tortoise back in its enclosure, s/he walked over to take two drinks of water, walked through the water dish, and promptly went back to sleep.
Assuming it is a hydration issue though, is there anything I can do differently? I'd rather not force soak as my tortoises seem to only like being in water when it's on their own terms--and I don't blame them.
O.K. if you insist.. is there a possibility that there has been too much light on the situation? As I recall I believe so. The temps may be too high which would/could cause the 'ambient' humidity to drop some also.
My personal experience has been that the Brazilian locale are always the first to come out of and last to go into their hide outside during the 'cooler' seasons! Meaning they seem to be more cold tolerant.
Food for thought...
NERD
"That's the colors" meant.. those aren't dark circles...
NERD
My personal experience has been that the Brazilian locale are always the first to come out of and last to go into their hide outside during the 'cooler' seasons! Meaning they seem to be more cold tolerant.
Food for thought...
NERD
emysemys said:
"That's the colors" meant.. those aren't dark circles...
NERD
Have you noticed him urinating more frequently? He could be drinking, but losing more fluids that he's taking in. His eye is obviously sunken in. Has it always been like this, or did you just notice it recently? What kind of diet are you feeding?
-Matt
-Matt
Then if you don't think its a hydration issue, I'd listen to what Terry said about the lights. Hydration, lights and dusty substrate are usually the culprit when talking about eye problems. Since your habitat is moist and not dusty, then next look at your lights.
Hydration and humidity are two different, but related issues.
The best test for hydration is Dr. Susan Donoghue's Ratio- take the length of the tortoise in centimeters to the third power, then multiply by 0.191 to get a weight in grams. Your tortoise should weigh more than that (unless it is very young, but even then it should not be too far off.)
Low humidities will still bother a well-hydrated Red-foot, especially with pyramiding. These guys exhale a lot of their body moisture 24/7- unlike grassland species. Humidity keeps the respiratory system properly moistened.
The dark arc under the eye MAY be a sign of poor humidity or dehydration. If the humidity is about 90% in the hide and nice and high in the rest of the habitat, and the tortoise has a healthy body weight, then those are probably OK.
It MAY also be a sign of eye irritation- bright lights, too much UV, dust, etc. Easily enough identified and fixed.
My eyes are not great and I don't have Terry's or the others experience, but I really don't see anything to be too concerned with.
The best test for hydration is Dr. Susan Donoghue's Ratio- take the length of the tortoise in centimeters to the third power, then multiply by 0.191 to get a weight in grams. Your tortoise should weigh more than that (unless it is very young, but even then it should not be too far off.)
Low humidities will still bother a well-hydrated Red-foot, especially with pyramiding. These guys exhale a lot of their body moisture 24/7- unlike grassland species. Humidity keeps the respiratory system properly moistened.
The dark arc under the eye MAY be a sign of poor humidity or dehydration. If the humidity is about 90% in the hide and nice and high in the rest of the habitat, and the tortoise has a healthy body weight, then those are probably OK.
It MAY also be a sign of eye irritation- bright lights, too much UV, dust, etc. Easily enough identified and fixed.
My eyes are not great and I don't have Terry's or the others experience, but I really don't see anything to be too concerned with.
I don't know about anything that Mark said but I do agree with the last part of the last sentence.. "I really don't see anything to be too concerned with."!
Be sure of course that you "Keep-the-lights-low.......".
Terry K
Be sure of course that you "Keep-the-lights-low.......".
Terry K
Hi all,
I've since ditched the 5.0 UVB fluorescent tube and placed a spot lamp pointing down on the far end where its cool. It's about 2ft from the substrate.
I put my 100W CHE on the same timer as the spot lamp (9AM on, 7PM off) and the 150W CHE is on a thermostat set at 90F during the day and 85F at night.
To answer some questions:
- I received the tortoise about a month ago. The eyes were already like this.
- The tortoise is on a diet of greens (escarole/endive/collard) 5 days out of the week. Twice a week it gets fruit (cantaloupe, blueberry, strawberry). This tortoise really loves cuttlebone (I dust fruit with calcium only once a week). This tortoise will start getting protein mixed into the rotation in about a month.
- I don't get to monitor my tortoises as much as I'd like since I work a lot, but it seems this tortoise will urinate once every day and it always happens in the middle of feeding.
One thing I should point out, is that unlike my other redfoot who will go into her hide and spend nearly the whole day there (after coming out to eat), this tortoise tends to stay out in the open. And not just anywhere in the open, but apparently the hottest spot in the enclosure (90-92F).
I've since ditched the 5.0 UVB fluorescent tube and placed a spot lamp pointing down on the far end where its cool. It's about 2ft from the substrate.
I put my 100W CHE on the same timer as the spot lamp (9AM on, 7PM off) and the 150W CHE is on a thermostat set at 90F during the day and 85F at night.
To answer some questions:
- I received the tortoise about a month ago. The eyes were already like this.
- The tortoise is on a diet of greens (escarole/endive/collard) 5 days out of the week. Twice a week it gets fruit (cantaloupe, blueberry, strawberry). This tortoise really loves cuttlebone (I dust fruit with calcium only once a week). This tortoise will start getting protein mixed into the rotation in about a month.
- I don't get to monitor my tortoises as much as I'd like since I work a lot, but it seems this tortoise will urinate once every day and it always happens in the middle of feeding.
One thing I should point out, is that unlike my other redfoot who will go into her hide and spend nearly the whole day there (after coming out to eat), this tortoise tends to stay out in the open. And not just anywhere in the open, but apparently the hottest spot in the enclosure (90-92F).
I bet if the hide were that temp it would be there and not out. maybe.
Turn the temps DOWN.. to low to mid-80's max! Please!
The warmest spot should be the hide.. 24/7...
Terry K
The warmest spot should be the hide.. 24/7...
Terry K
Agreed.
O.K. ----- I'll try it this way..
Why are you " cooking " your redfoots???
Terry K
Why are you " cooking " your redfoots???
Terry K
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