Got my son a redfoot tort help!

[Savanna86]

Ok real quick update!!!! Just had him soaking and my son was thinging outside the box cause he wasnt drinking water with that medicine in it we went out bought fresh fig and my son kept putting it in the water and feeding him in the bath....he pooped!!! It was huge for this little guy but i definitely starting to thing the food we were told to feed him was binding him he went one really big one and a normal sized one! Now he started soaking in his water bowl again and somewhat active now for the white spots....

 

[Savanna86]

The clicking sounds COULD be from a misaligned beak, but could be normal too IF the beak formation is normal.

How can i tell if normal or not? It started when this white stuff came all around his mouth

 

[Savanna86]

How would I be able to tell if its normal? Also since first day talking with you seems to turn this little guy around already wondering am I really suppose to shut down lighting and stuff at night? We have a heating pad at the bottom of tank that runs all the time but the uvb and heating light do i turn them off or leave on?

 

[Savanna86]

Have you tried to lightly brush/scrub it off?

Even with a respiratory infection, they need high humidity. Just make sure the temp stays up. You could even just spray under the heat lamp, so it evaporates rather quickly. But again, we don't really know if he has a respiratory infection. Could be like what you said, his mouth is irritated.

Good thing is he's eating and somewhat active. There seems to be a lot going on here (lots of changes) so its hard to tell what the problem is. The first step is for you to get him in the proper environment.

Have you tried to lightly brush/scrub it off?

Even with a respiratory infection, they need high humidity. Just make sure the temp stays up. You could even just spray under the heat lamp, so it evaporates rather quickly. But again, we don't really know if he has a respiratory infection. Could be like what you said, his mouth is irritated.

Good thing is he's eating and somewhat active. There seems to be a lot going on here (lots of changes) so its hard to tell what the problem is. The first step is for you to get him in the proper environment.

I have tried to scrub it off with a soft baby tooth brush but it doesnt come off, he seems alot more energetic from him hoing to the bath room finally and we put everything back hes digging and hidding and watching us put his food in and water he seems sooo happy!!! Compared to what he was....

 

[Anyfoot]

Here's what is needed for these guys and yours in particular.

1- They must have a pen 75-90% covered with vegetation in order to hide (they dig in the substrate under leaf matter in the wild), which they do 23 out of 24 hours a day at this age. Plastic plants work best to do this as they can hide under them, they can't eat them, and they'll dig into the substrate under the leaves.
2- Get the temp where they spend 23 hours a day between 83-88 degrees. A 60 to 100 watt heat emitter is the best way to accomplish this temp range.
3- Get the humidity where they spend 23 hours a day at 80-90%. Use coconut fiber bricks (find at PetSmart or Petco) soak them until they break up and are soaked. Squeeze out the excess water and put it 2 inches thick across the pen and cover with 1 inch of cypress mulch. This wil go a long way to keeping the ambient humidity at 65-85% at tortoise level across the entire pen.
4- Soak it everyday for 10-15 minutes in warm (80 degree or so water chin deep to the tortoise) to make sure its well hydrated.
5- Feed it the right diet of 50/50 fruit greens. Fruit should be Papaya, Mango, fresh figs, cactus fruit, maybe a little pineapple. NO banana, tomato, or vegetables including beans. The greens should be hibiscus leaves and flowers, dandelion greens, turnip greens, endive or escarole and well chopped up cactus pads if you can find it.

1-5 will get it less stressed, hydrated, and fed the right stuff.

Lastly, if it has a respiratory infection it needs antibiotics and a "qualified" reptile can determine the right amounts and how ling a course is needed.

Do all of this and it will get better and start to recover from what its been through and be on its way to being healthy and acting like a normal tort. MAke sure you know "normal" is hiding 23 out of 24 hours a day.

These are dense tropical forest tortoises that at his age DO NOT spend any time in open areas or in direct sunlight. A 13 watt tropical UVB bulb is all that's needed as they live in muted forest light and until they get to be 5-6 inches long (5-7 years old).

@Ernie Johnson.
If torts hide away for a big part of their first few yrs in the wild then where do you think they get vitamin D from?

 

[Ernie Johnson]

How would I be able to tell if its normal? Also since first day talking with you seems to turn this little guy around already wondering am I really suppose to shut down lighting and stuff at night? We have a heating pad at the bottom of tank that runs all the time but the uvb and heating light do i turn them off or leave on?

The heat should be on 24 hours a day, the light 12 hours a day, say 7AM to 7PM.

 

[Ernie Johnson]

@Ernie Johnson.
If torts hide away for a big part of their first few yrs in the wild then where do you think they get vitamin D from?

Forest tortoises get Vitamin D the same way as arid species, but the limited sunlight in their environment forced them to develop a alternative strategy. They eat carrion, mammal feces, and mushrooms. All contain calcium and D3 (except mushrooms which contain D2, which they - like us - convert to D3.

It's why once they get to 6 months old adding low fat cat food or earthworms or pinkie mice (my least favorite) sprinkled with fine calcium powder to their diet twice a month gets them not only the D3 they need to trigger calcium uptake, but the amino acids in animal protein. If they don't get animal protein at least once a month over time they can develop locomotion issues as those amino acids are critical to their "walking" ability.

 

[Savanna86]

Og wow but I can add fat free cat food insread of the worms and pinkie mice correct? Lol i dont think i can do all that lol. He keeps waking up and rubbing his face his eyes i took a picture just in case...

 

[Ernie Johnson]

Og wow but I can add fat free cat food insread of the worms and pinkie mice correct? Lol i dont think i can do all that lol. He keeps waking up and rubbing his face his eyes i took a picture just in case...

Yes, you can use low fat dry cat food and soak it. What I do is mix it with some chopped up papaya or mango and some greens and lightly sprinkle it all with the calcium/D3 powder. Been doing this for 17+ years with my, now adults (raised from hatchlings) and the dozens of hatchlings we've had so far and it works like a charm. My breeding pair of now 17+ year old adults are the two in my profile pic. No pyramiding at all and never been ill in any way.

 

[Bee62]

Forest tortoises get Vitamin D the same way as arid species, but the limited sunlight in their environment forced them to develop a alternative strategy. They eat carrion, mammal feces, and mushrooms. All contain calcium and D3 (except mushrooms which contain D2, which they - like us - convert to D3.

It's why once they get to 6 months old adding low fat cat food or earthworms or pinkie mice (my least favorite) sprinkled with fine calcium powder to their diet twice a month gets them not only the D3 they need to trigger calcium uptake, but the amino acids in animal protein. If they don't get animal protein at least once a month over time they can develop locomotion issues as those amino acids are critical to their "walking" ability.

Can I ask you a question too ? I have a young redfoot ( 2 years old ) that I got from craiglist. His previous owner kept him too dry and fed him no animal protein. The little guy don`t grow and has walking issues. He also held his head crooked. Are these symptoms of the lack of animal protein ?

 

[theguy67]

How would I be able to tell if its normal? Also since first day talking with you seems to turn this little guy around already wondering am I really suppose to shut down lighting and stuff at night? We have a heating pad at the bottom of tank that runs all the time but the uvb and heating light do i turn them off or leave on?

The white stuff could be fungus. Here's another situation and how they treated it - https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/regarding-shell-rot-fungus.10278/

Yes, turn the light off at night. If the temp drops below 80 at night, replace the heat bulb with a ceramic heat emitter.

How is the humidity doing?

 

[Ernie Johnson]

Can I ask you a question too ? I have a young redfoot ( 2 years old ) that I got from craiglist. His previous owner kept him too dry and fed him no animal protein. The little guy don`t grow and has walking issues. He also held his head crooked. Are these symptoms of the lack of animal protein ?

The walking issue is probably related to no animal protein, but could also be that it's never had enough calcium in its diet (and no way to uptake it which requires D3, so it's leg bone structure could be weak and causing the walking issues. As for the holding its head crooked I can't say.

These guys thrive in a 83-90 degree (using heat emitters for the heat and leaving them on 24/7 year round) - 70-90% humidity environment with 3/4 of their pen covered with plastic plants to simulate a tropical forest and its because that's how their DNA is wired. Add to that a 50-55% fruit, 35% greens, 5% animal protein diet and you'll have a pet who's never sick and will outlast you.

Keep them in an open 70-90 degree - 30-50% humidity environment with a 100watt UVB/UVA bulb and feed them 100% greens and they suffer and go off the rails rather quickly.

 

[Bee62]

The walking issue is probably related to no animal protein, but could also be that it's never had enough calcium in its diet (and no way to uptake it which requires D3, so it's leg bone structure could be weak and causing the walking issues. As for the holding its head crooked I can't say.

These guys thrive in a 83-90 degree (using heat emitters for the heat and leaving them on 24/7 year round) - 70-90% humidity environment with 3/4 of their pen covered with plastic plants to simulate a tropical forest and its because that's how their DNA is wired. Add to that a 50-55% fruit, 35% greens, 5% animal protein diet and you'll have a pet who's never sick and will outlast you.

Keep them in an open 70-90 degree - 30-50% humidity environment with a 100watt UVB/UVA bulb and feed them 100% greens and they suffer and go off the rails rather quickly.

Thank you for your answer.

 

[Ernie Johnson]

You're welcome. Please don't take this a a shameless plug, but I have a one hour video husbandry course on RF/Yf's that goes into where they come from and what they eat (and why) in order to give the RF/YF newbie exactly what they need to have a healthy long lived tort.

 

[crimson_lotus]

Can I ask you a question too ? I have a young redfoot ( 2 years old ) that I got from craiglist. His previous owner kept him too dry and fed him no animal protein. The little guy don`t grow and has walking issues. He also held his head crooked. Are these symptoms of the lack of animal protein ?

Sounds like metabolic bone disease to me. Guy from Craigslist probably did not provide the correct lighting, or never changed the bulb once the UV output became negligible.

You do need vitamin d, absolutely. But you need both the UV and the vit d to absorb calcium. They work in tandem.

 

[Savanna86]

The heat should be on 24 hours a day, the light 12 hours a day, say 7AM to 7PM.

Ok thank you!!

 

[Savanna86]

The white stuff could be fungus. Here's another situation and how they treated it - https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/regarding-shell-rot-fungus.10278/

Yes, turn the light off at night. If the temp drops below 80 at night, replace the heat bulb with a ceramic heat emitter.

How is the humidity doing?

Humidity is finally back at 70%-80% the heat i was kinda worried about, but i will leave the heating bulb on and get the heat emitter, im wondering though if something wrong he went to bathroom last night (scary big amount) them today nothing again, he seems so puffy his shell is getting fat, maybe im just being nervous but the guy at pet store wouldnt listen when i said he wasnt going at all and his response was if he wasnt he would explode but he hasnt went except for last night...

 

[Ernie Johnson]

They don't defecate everyday, so don't worry if its only 1-2 times a week. Its dictated by the health of the GI Tract (meaning the right type of food and its fiber content). Humidity is great, so just keep the temp at 83-88 and have plenty of places it can hide in and you'll be a long way to getting it back to health and acting "normal."

 

[theguy67]

Humidity is finally back at 70%-80% the heat i was kinda worried about, but i will leave the heating bulb on and get the heat emitter, im wondering though if something wrong he went to bathroom last night (scary big amount) them today nothing again, he seems so puffy his shell is getting fat, maybe im just being nervous but the guy at pet store wouldnt listen when i said he wasnt going at all and his response was if he wasnt he would explode but he hasnt went except for last night...

I wouldn't worry too much if he hasn't gone today. When you find feces in the cage, remove them so you can tell if he has gone again, for next time you check (an it helps to keep the cage clean lol).

Also, you will want a thermostat to go with your CHE (ceramic heat emitter). It will act as a fail safe, in the event the cage gets too hot (or too cold).

 

[Savanna86]

Ok so the lady Ive been talking to from pet store told me that the vet said I should bring this lil guy in, because of the fact that hes bloating, the white stuff is now on his back legs going up his body Ill post a picture, she said that she doesnt know what else to do and that we can bring him in and she will keep his body but not responsible for his passing no refunds or exchange, I dont get it around the bottom half of his shell is getting darker he did go to the bathroom again today but by the time I went to get it he ate it!!! Thats bad isnt it?! I have spent so much money on this little guy and my son has not had a chance to enjoy him! Hes always wanted a tortoise and we have been doing every thing we have been told one minute he seems normal like hiding, sleeping eating going to the bathroom next his very sluggish very dried out looking no wheezing or anything coming out the nose, his shell is soft on bottom and he is getting very bloated Im so confused! Heat and moistures are good hes eating, but hes not growing mine is tiny compare to the ladys at the store and they from the same batch...