Does my redfoot have a RI, or did he drink too much water?

[pockets]

My tortoise is being taken care of by family. I'm not anywhere near my home and I am very worried about him.

When I left, I had a fresh water bowl sitting out for him. I also told my family to mist him daily. They misted him, but forgot about the water. They also forgot to soak him. When I found out they didn't soak him or give him water for over a week, I asked them to get him and soak him immediately. They described him as being very sedentary, which made me panic because he has always been an extremely active tortoise. They said he drank nonstop while being soaked, and that they picked him up repeatedly to make sure he could breathe because he was barely moving before. They said he pooped out some grey-ish clumps with a "weird stringy consistency", they described it as looking like melted cheese in water. I'm assuming the clumps were urates, but I've never seen him pass urates before, and they dumped it without taking a picture for me to see.

He was drinking water for about ten minutes or more. I called again and they said he was basking, but then he started making noises and was vomiting water. They say they're certain it's water and not any type of discharge, and that they're positive he was not vomiting or sneezing before they soaked him.

He's reportedly eating normally and being active, but they say he's occasionally sneezing and water/discharge is coming out of his nose. I asked if he was breathing rapidly or with his mouth open, they said no.

I don't know what to do! Is it possible he drank too much water too fast? Could it be a respiratory infection? I'm beginning to panic.

 

[lkwagner]

Is there anyway they could boost his temps 5 degrees?

 

[pockets]

I told them to do so immediately after learning he was vomiting. I told them to raise the humidity as well as leave him some clean drinking water. They say he isn't vomiting/sneezing anymore, they're periodically asking me if they can let him out so they can play with him, which is an obvious NO considering what he's been through today. He finally fell asleep in the past hour or so.

I'll be seeing him tomorrow, they say he's behaving normally but they don't know him like I do. I'm worried sick.

 

[wellington]

Sounds like he may be okay now. I hope he is. I also hope the family has learned from this how important water is to living things. Keep us updated.

 

[pockets]

Got home! He seems a little tired, but that's probably because he was up so late last night. His skin and shell seemed pretty dry. I soaked him again and gave him some food, his appetite seems normal. He's very alert and affectionate, as always.

I'm a bit ticked off because I spent an hour telling them how to properly care for him, they're not perfect but they're the best I have right now. The first person that watched him while I was gone soaked him outside in a plastic tub and forgot about him, he spent at least two days in cold water freezing outside in the winter and when we brought him inside, his nose was running, he was breathing with his mouth open, making clicking noises in his lungs, wheezing, etc. I begged three vets to make time for him and one gave me their earliest slot, but he kicked the illness all by himself before the appointment. That's my boy!

Anyway, he seems like he's doing fine. I'm keeping him in his sick tub until I know for sure, then he can go back to roaming about.