HELP! Redfoot soft tissue VERY SWOLLEN!!

RedfootApril

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I soaked my Red-Foot last night in our tub, she hasn't been eating a whole lot lately, but poops very regularly, urine doesn't smell. I got her when she was 3, she was kept in a small 40-gal aquarium. I made a MUCH larger enclosure for her and she used to be very active. She has never used her back legs much, I have UVA & UVB T5 Bulbs, heat lamps, with soil/coconut choir as substrate. Her temps are in the low 90's during the day, low 80's at night. I keep her enclosure between 60 & 90% humidity. I thought it was just that its been cold outside (I live in Colorado, and have read that torts do slow down in winter) though I am getting concerned with lack of appetite, and now this!!

She was not swollen until I took her out of the tub. She breathes fine, eats a few bites of food every other day (significantly less than she used to eat) and has been very lethargic. 20170314_114642.jpg 20170314_114642.jpg 20170314_114648.jpg 20170314_114648.jpg 20170314_114657.jpg 20170314_114657.jpg 20170314_114659.jpg 20170314_114703.jpg 20170314_114712.jpg
 

RedfootApril

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Also, she had the pyramiding before I received her.

The swollen pockets are very soft to the touch, almost as if they're filled with air.
 

Redstrike

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It looks like fat to me.
Is your redfoot inside most of the time receiving grocery store foods? How often do you feed your tortoise? Do you provide a lot of variety? Does s/he receive protein (lack of animal protein can result in rear-leg mobility issues)? If so, how often?

Just trying to get some more information, don't take offense.
 

RedfootApril

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Yes she spends pretty much all of her life inside. In the summer months I try to get her outside to play in the grass on nice days. Grocery produce (Kroger store) romaine lettuce, broccoli, tomatoes, and sometimes strawberries/bananas, once a week I give her dried crickets and have sprinkled some "national geographic tortoise entree", "tortoise salad dressing", and flukers calcium powder. I typically feed her around twice a week, though as I said earlier, her appetite has significantly dwindled in the last few months.

Its very soft to the touch, which is why I was under the impression its filled with air/very viscus liquid as opposed to fat, which I feel would have given more resistance when touching the swollen areas.

No offense taken whatsoever!!! Just trying to make sure she's alright :)
 

Redstrike

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Is she fed 7 days per week? How much at a serving?

Pictures of your setup and more of your tortoise might be helpful.
 

RedfootApril

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She gets about 1 big romaine lettuce leaf, usually 2 or 3 cherry tomatoes, a small head of broccoli, one or two strawberries (when they are on the menu lol), less than a 1/4 of a banana, and 4 or 5 of the national geographic pellets, and 4 or 5 dried crickets. Not fed every day, every other day or every three days though.

Lately she has only taken 4 or 5 bites at the most off a plate of food though.
 

RedfootApril

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Here are some more pictures of my setup, and of April.

The tank I made is 6' long, 3' wide, and 18" tall. 3 lids for access to each section, plenty of plants growing from seeds (bought at home depot, vegetable seeds like squash/peppers/tomatoes & flowers) which she usually keeps mowed down, until her recent lethargic spell.
 

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Redstrike

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Please take what I'm saying at face value and do not get offended. I have a 16 month old and I have little time to filter my points - so they may come across as callous, just know I'm trying to help - I'm not trying to be an a-hole.

I think your tortoise could benefit from more variety in the diet. I don't feed broccoli to my redfoot and I wouldn't recommend you continue providing that as a staple in the diet (perhaps occasionally). This is a great resource for variety:http://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/
Here are some grocery store greens I've found and feed:
Collard greens, mustard greens, kale, escarole, dandelion greens, redleaf/greenleaf lettuce, opuntia cacuts pads (when in season), spring mix (bags/plastic containers), arugula, etc.

Mine receive mushrooms 1-2/week, fruit 1/week, protein 1/week, and are fed 4-5 days/week. When they receive fruit or protein, it's in moderation (size of their heads...perhaps a bit more on lucky days for them).

The larger the enclosure, the better. It will help your tortoise exercise and use those back legs. Without current pictures of your setup, I can't say much regarding it.

If you can spring $30 I would firmly recommend you purchase and read Mike Pingleton's Redfoot Manual cover-to-cover:
(https://www.amazon.com/dp/1441494030/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20).

If you don't have the cash to front, http://www.tortoiselibrary.com/ is an excellent resource. It's a bit buggy and needs some work, but the information is good. Dig into that website. Redfoot care from there(http://www.tortoiselibrary.com/species-information-2/chelonoidis/).

I would drop your day temperatures to the mid 80's and maintain 80 degrees at night. I would maintain minimum humidity at 70% (not an easy charge in CO) with little variance. You can accomplish this with deep substrate (4-6 inches) and purchasing hardwood or cypress mulch from hardware stores is cheaper. Don't buy the stuff at a pet store, it's grossly over priced. Landscape supply companies will also sell you a good mulch at a fair price. I've done this via trash bag and shovel when I needed to. I wrote this thread years ago I hope it helps:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread...-enclosure-via-heat-ropes-lots-of-pics.45960/
If you have the cash, spyder robotics makes some advanced husbandry thermostats that will also regulate humidity. It's a large investment that I made and am happy with. Otherwise stick with other ideas like the one I proposed above (there are many others ways to up your humidity, I've given you two).

I'm currently running a different setup than this, but I can't find the thread. I use closed chambers as I'm in the Northeast and humidity and heat are an issue:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/new-redfoot-enclosure.79728/

Getting your tortoise outside in good weather is critical. Colorado is dry and hot for a redfoot, do the best you can. That UVB is good stuff and weeds are a fantastic diet (dandelion, chicory, clover, opuntia cacti, etc. - see link to tortoise table UK above).

More images of your setup would be helpful for myself and others (please someone else jump in here) to assist.
 

Redstrike

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I wrote while you posted the enclosure images - that enclosure looks great!

Coconut coir/soil for substrate is great. I simply prefer mulch, hence the previous recommendation.
 

Redstrike

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ImageUploadedByTortoise Forum1489520286.842199.jpgImageUploadedByTortoise Forum1489520307.605716.jpg
Here is my group eating dandelion greens. The humidity is via herpstat and humidifier.

I just changed their water, they muck it up in hours.
 

RedfootApril

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Thanks for all the info!! I will cut back on broccoli and get more variety in her diet! I'm hoping that the swelling goes back to normal soon.
I'll turn off one of the ceramic heat lamps and drop the temps a bit as well.

Thanks! The tank took quite awhile to build!

Don't worry, I'm very difficult to offend!!

Your reds look happy & in good company!!

Thanks again for all the help!
 

ZEROPILOT

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Two things that seem to distress my Redfoot I can see here.
1 Redfoot like to retreat from very bright light.
2 Redfoot retreat from temperatures much over, say 84 degrees.
In fact, mine come out at dawn and then retreat untill late afternoon unless it rains and cools down.
Neither of these explain that swelling.
I've never encountered that in my 25 ish years of keeping Redfoot.
Mine eat every day. Eat a lot. But it's a varied diet.
 

Redstrike

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I used to run my Ceramic Heat Emitters (CHE's) on Zoo Med thermostats, are you using any thermostats for your CHE's? I assume you are with such a spectacular setup, just throwing some more information at you.

Here's what I used to run and now use only as a backup:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002AQD9A/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20.

I liked their affordability (< $30) and 500 watt rating - more than enough for a couple CHE's. The only drawback was I couldn't set a temperature, I had to spin the ungraduated dial and wait a few hours to see what the temps were. It wasn't that bad but it was kind of a pain. It also is an on/off setting so your temperatures are held within 2-3ºF tolerances. Lastly, I believe the paired outlets (for CHE's) had ungrounded connections. Not a huge deal and at a $27 price point, not too shabby..

Similar thermostats that could be good but I have no experience with:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000NZZG3S/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B016L7J2A4/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20


Back to the swelling, I'm fairly certain that's fat storage as Cdmay has also said (he and Zeropilot have decades of experience). I would add variety and cut back a bit on quantity. Keep feeding 4-5 days per week and see what happens with the swollen tissue.

I'm more concerned with the lack of eating (could be rectified with more diverse diet) and infrequent/strained use of rear legs. Dial those day temps down and over the next week or two keep track of how often the tortoise soaks itself. It could be an indication of illness if the tortoise is constantly in the water and not eating but the high temperatures (90ºF) may confuse this issue if she's seeking water due to heat. There is plenty of fat on that tortoise, so if it turns its nose up at some of the new foods, don't panic!!! The tortoise will eventually start eating the new stuff, she is simply being picky. she can go a few days without eating and be fine! Leave the food out for her most of the day, she'll nibble at it.

Crickets are a great protein source. I've also found sardines (in water!), frozen pinky mice (bit pricey and messy but good), wax worms (fatty, wait on those!), and phoenix/super/calci- worms, to be great protein sources that mine receive 1/week. If they don't get enough protein they can have rear locomotor issues but it sounds like you're already on top of this...

Can't stress Mike Pingleton's book enough...

Keep us updated!
 
Last edited:

Loni

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Please take what I'm saying at face value and do not get offended. I have a 16 month old and I have little time to filter my points - so they may come across as callous, just know I'm trying to help - I'm not trying to be an a-hole.

I think your tortoise could benefit from more variety in the diet. I don't feed broccoli to my redfoot and I wouldn't recommend you continue providing that as a staple in the diet (perhaps occasionally). This is a great resource for variety:http://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/
Here are some grocery store greens I've found and feed:
Collard greens, mustard greens, kale, escarole, dandelion greens, redleaf/greenleaf lettuce, opuntia cacuts pads (when in season), spring mix (bags/plastic containers), arugula, etc.

Mine receive mushrooms 1-2/week, fruit 1/week, protein 1/week, and are fed 4-5 days/week. When they receive fruit or protein, it's in moderation (size of their heads...perhaps a bit more on lucky days for them).

The larger the enclosure, the better. It will help your tortoise exercise and use those back legs. Without current pictures of your setup, I can't say much regarding it.

If you can spring $30 I would firmly recommend you purchase and read Mike Pingleton's Redfoot Manual cover-to-cover:
(https://www.amazon.com/dp/1441494030/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20). Thank you for the Spyder Robotics info!

If you don't have the cash to front, http://www.tortoiselibrary.com/ is an excellent resource. It's a bit buggy and needs some work, but the information is good. Dig into that website. Redfoot care from there(http://www.tortoiselibrary.com/species-information-2/chelonoidis/).

I would drop your day temperatures to the mid 80's and maintain 80 degrees at night. I would maintain minimum humidity at 70% (not an easy charge in CO) with little variance. You can accomplish this with deep substrate (4-6 inches) and purchasing hardwood or cypress mulch from hardware stores is cheaper. Don't buy the stuff at a pet store, it's grossly over priced. Landscape supply companies will also sell you a good mulch at a fair price. I've done this via trash bag and shovel when I needed to. I wrote this thread years ago I hope it helps:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread...-enclosure-via-heat-ropes-lots-of-pics.45960/
If you have the cash, spyder robotics makes some advanced husbandry thermostats that will also regulate humidity. It's a large investment that I made and am happy with. Otherwise stick with other ideas like the one I proposed above (there are many others ways to up your humidity, I've given you two).

I'm currently running a different setup than this, but I can't find the thread. I use closed chambers as I'm in the Northeast and humidity and heat are an issue:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/new-redfoot-enclosure.79728/

Getting your tortoise outside in good weather is critical. Colorado is dry and hot for a redfoot, do the best you can. That UVB is good stuff and weeds are a fantastic diet (dandelion, chicory, clover, opuntia cacti, etc. - see link to tortoise table UK above).

More images of your setup would be helpful for myself and others (please someone else jump in here) to assist.
 
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