Rorschach287
New Member
So my boyfriend and I are brand new tortoise owners! We just got our 5 year old Dalmatian Hermann a couple days ago and we already love him to bits! He's the coolest! We got him from a breeder in Florida but seeing as we live in Southern California I was already worried about the little guy being shipped from so far and the amount of stress that would put on him. We had his table all set up when he arrived and at temp so that he wouldn't have to wait any longer than necessary to relax and get accustomed. We researched before hand what type of substrate we should use and eventually decided on organic topsoil, but I very quickly noticed our little guy had a runny nose and he's sneezing plus he hasn't eaten at all for the past 2 days except a tiny nibble of a hibiscus leaf and a dandelion green (literally one bite out of each) =.( I was worried because of what I had read on the internet about runny nose syndrome and when we contacted the breeder to let him know our concerns he told us that topsoil was too dusty and we needed to use cypress mulch and thats what he used for them. So we plan on switching over to that soon even though our little guy seems to like the topsoil and buries himself all the time. We are scheduled to go see the vet tomorrow morning to find out for sure if he has an infection but I guess what I'd like to know is if anyone on here would know whether this discharge from his nose could just be caused from the stress of his travel or if it is indeed the topsoil causing it? We try to keep it at the right humidity so that it's not too dry but I don't want him burrowing and sleeping in mud! If it is an infection which antibiotics should we use and how should we treat him? I feel so badly that we only just got him and already he seems sick!
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Beth
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Beth