i think Fuego is sick

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toydle**luv

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i have a red footed tortoise that i got from petsmart like 1 year and 1/2 ago he seemed fine at the store but when i took him home his eyes were really watery and his skin is always dry. when he sleeps his eyes get stuck together. i took him out of the tank and put him in a bigger wooden cage with different bedding and it doesnt take him as long to open his eyes but it still worrys me. i put vita shell on him and it helps some but he has these things on the corners of his mouth that seem like skin or somthing and i have never seen torts with that.. i wanted to get another but im worried thats out of the question.. whats wrong with him? my vet knows absolutly nothing. itss in a 2ft by 3ft tort table its 85 deg. on one side and a sad 65 on the other. somone mentioned to me that it could be bad humidity. another sad thing is about 3 months after i got it my dog got ahold of it. the cage was on the floor and i forgot to close my door just one time... its ok now by hes going to have some scars. :(
 

Redstrike

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What is your humidity within the enclosure? Pictures of your setup would be very helpful!

How old is the tortoise? If you don't know, how big is it? (Or both if you do know!).

I'd guess the humidity is much too low as well, but I don't know. We need a bit more information.
 

JoesMum

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Please could you describe your enclosure and your tortoise,

For the tortoise, How long is his undershell and what does he weigh?
What do you feed your tortoise and how often?
Is your tortoise eating?

For your enclosure:
How big is it?
Do you have a heat lamp? What is the temperature underneath it?
Do you have a UV lamp?
What is the substrate (The earth, soil or flooring of the enclosure)?
Do you mist the tortoise and/or the substrate with water?

Make a point of soaking him daily while he is unwell. This makes sure he is drinking enough and does not become dehydrated:
1. Bath first thing in the morning before your tort has warmed up properly. Your tort won't be ready for instant escape.
2. Bath in a deep box or bowl with sides he can't see through. Again this reduces escape attempts.
3. Make sure the water is warm (not hot) and your cool tort is likely to enjoy absorbing the heat. It should be deep enough to come up over your tort's plastron (undershell)
4. Try to keep bathing to part of a regular routine. Knowing what to expect and when reduces stress in animals just like humans!
5. Feed straight after the bath... it becomes part of the routine.
6. Your tort will probably wee and or poop in the water. It will worry you more than him... and it does encourage appetite. If it's truly disgusting, change the water. Don't worry if he tries to eat his poop, it's said to improve gut flora.
 

DanaLachney

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I also bought a redfoot from Petsmart and part of the reason I went ahead and got her was I knew she was being kept too dry in there. But otherwise looked good no pyramiding. Her eyes were closed in the store and she wouldn't open them till they put some eye drops on them. Since they day I brought her home I've not had this problem because I keep my humidity up. I agree with the advice above :) and like they said pictures of the tort an enclosure would help. Good luck :D
 

toydle**luv

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Redstrike said:
What is your humidity within the enclosure? Pictures of your setup would be very helpful!

How old is the tortoise? If you don't know, how big is it? (Or both if you do know!).

I'd guess the humidity is much too low as well, but I don't know. We need a bit more information.

i cant put pictures up yet.. but Fuego is still 4in used to be my little sisters and she hardly fed it it seemed so i took him and have been trying to make it better it hasnt grown at all.. poor thing has been through so much.. but im trying. the table is 3ft by 2ft i just figgured out how to get it a constant 85 deg. it was 80 but on the other side its only like 70 tops more like 65. i have no idea how old he is. i think i should get a heating pad to put under the uv light because it is on the 65 deg side and Fuego never gos over there. i have to have my daytime and night lamp on at the same time to make it 85 degrees.. hes really active when hes not in his cage but when he is he just sits in the heated corner. he looves food. loves to go out side and eat tons of dandylions. somtimes he seems to drag himself rather than walk. i have to admidt i have failed at misting the cage but will the humidity even stay? the heat hardly does..
 

toydle**luv

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JoesMum said:
Please could you describe your enclosure and your tortoise,

For the tortoise, How long is his undershell and what does he weigh?
What do you feed your tortoise and how often?
Is your tortoise eating?

For your enclosure:
How big is it?
Do you have a heat lamp? What is the temperature underneath it?
Do you have a UV lamp?
What is the substrate (The earth, soil or flooring of the enclosure)?
Do you mist the tortoise and/or the substrate with water?

Make a point of soaking him daily while he is unwell. This makes sure he is drinking enough and does not become dehydrated:
1. Bath first thing in the morning before your tort has warmed up properly. Your tort won't be ready for instant escape.
2. Bath in a deep box or bowl with sides he can't see through. Again this reduces escape attempts.
3. Make sure the water is warm (not hot) and your cool tort is likely to enjoy absorbing the heat. It should be deep enough to come up over your tort's plastron (undershell)
4. Try to keep bathing to part of a regular routine. Knowing what to expect and when reduces stress in animals just like humans!
5. Feed straight after the bath... it becomes part of the routine.
6. Your tort will probably wee and or poop in the water. It will worry you more than him... and it does encourage appetite. If it's truly disgusting, change the water. Don't worry if he tries to eat his poop, it's said to improve gut flora.
i forgot to mension he does have a bit of pyramiding.. that was the way he was when i got him.. i thought that was due to to much protien but i learned to have a healthy diet they need a little protien like a little boiled egg. im going to be really sad if i cant get another.. either know i knew almost nothing wheni got him i have researched them to death and this guy cracks me up. and the fact they get so big appeals to me. ;)
 

Redstrike

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toydle**luv said:
Redstrike said:
What is your humidity within the enclosure? Pictures of your setup would be very helpful!

How old is the tortoise? If you don't know, how big is it? (Or both if you do know!).

I'd guess the humidity is much too low as well, but I don't know. We need a bit more information.

i cant put pictures up yet.. but Fuego is still 4in used to be my little sisters and she hardly fed it it seemed so i took him and have been trying to make it better it hasnt grown at all.. poor thing has been through so much.. but im trying. the table is 3ft by 2ft i just figgured out how to get it a constant 85 deg. it was 80 but on the other side its only like 70 tops more like 65. i have no idea how old he is. i think i should get a heating pad to put under the uv light because it is on the 65 deg side and Fuego never gos over there. i have to have my daytime and night lamp on at the same time to make it 85 degrees.. hes really active when hes not in his cage but when he is he just sits in the heated corner. he looves food. loves to go out side and eat tons of dandylions. somtimes he seems to drag himself rather than walk. i have to admidt i have failed at misting the cage but will the humidity even stay? the heat hardly does..

You may consider getting a Ceramic Heat Emitter to bring the cold temps up a bit? Amazon has affordable ones (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001F9CV7K/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20). Usually dragging their back legs is not a good sign, but again, we could learn a lot about your tortoise and provide a lot more insight if we had pictures. I use tinypic.com to upload them onto the forum, it works very well. You upload the image at tinypic and it gives you a URL to copy into the forum thread - simple as that! No user names or passwords. If you get the time and have access to a camera?

I had to top my enclosure with plexiglass to keep humidity and heat in for my redfoots. The bright, warm side is 87-90ºF, cool, dark side is 78-80ºF. Sounds like Fuego (love the name!) is a bit too cool in there if he/she remains exclusively in the warm corner.
 

toydle**luv

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thanks for all the help guys! i just bought a water mister and another heat lamp with a lower heat out put so far all the temps are perfact! i will just have to wait and see it fuego gets better.. so far its much happier! :)
 
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