I think my tortoise died last night, what happened?

jdw6

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I think my tortoise is dead, when I first brought him home in March he was very active, crawling and climbing and eating a lot, but in May he began sleeping a lot and had his eyes constantly closed, and his shell began to soften. In reply I began to give him more calcium supplements. In June he refused to eat anything, even his favourite red lettuce. Yesterday he began moving around more after his bath but this morning I found him in the same place he had been last night, not moving or reacting. I think he may be dead. When I pressed on his shell a watery substance came bubbling out of his right nostril. I don't know what to do, can someone tell me how he died(if he is dead) and what to do next?

He is a Hermanns, just under 1 year old, I have been giving him water and food almost every day and calcium supplements often as well. His diet was mostly dandelion leaves and red lettuce occasionally.
 
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method89

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Sorry for your loss. There could be so many factors that caused this. We would need to know what temperatures you were keeping him. Did he make noises when he was breathing? What type of lights you were using, etc... Pictures would be best.

He also might not have been started right and just never had a chance. Like I said, many factors could have caused this
 
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GBtortoises

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Based on your explanation of your tortoises current condition it is dead, or very soon will be. There could be any number of reasons that your tortoise died. Not knowing the details of how you were maintaining him such as temperatures, humidity, whole diet, lighting, etc... there is no way telling what caused your tortoise's death.
If you decide to try raising a tortoise again I would suggest that you gather as much information about the species that you want to keep, it's captive care requirements and advice from experienced keepers that you can here on TFO and other credible sources before purchase the animal so that you are better prepared.
 

jdw6

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Can't send pics unfortunately but enclosure is a 3ft terrarium with uv and heat lamp, heat lamp was on from 8 am to 8 pm, with a log sawn in half and hollowed out for shelter, a basking rock, water dish and some other rocks scattered around.

I'm not actually sure if he is dead, he is unresponsive and not moving but is limp, not stiff, and one of his eyes is half-open and still bright. He doesn't smell. These seem to go against what they should be if he is dead
 
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Shaunold

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Boy that sucks. Sorry to hear... I myself have gotten into having tortoises as pets... I have 2 Russian girls... I think the other fella had it right and maybe do some extensive research on the breed. I also watched a video and the guy had a link to something called the tortoise table. Basically breaks down every type of plant whether wild or indoors and explains whether it is an all the time food, a sometimes food, or a never food. I was giving my babies lots of Kale and tomatoes and dandelions and lettuce. After doing homework I should have done prior I found what I was giving them was not cutting it.
 

jdw6

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There was one extra detail I forgot to add in the initial post, yesterday he kept opening his mouth, like he was yawning. That and the bubbly nose and closed eyes makes us think it was pneumonia that killed him, or some kind of respiratory disease
 

method89

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agreed, which was probably caused by being to cold.
 

bonnieyuhagen

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I'm sorry for your loss. We lost our Russian last week and only had him for less than 5 months. It was my daughter's. He stopped eating regularly and was either taking in very little or not at all. He was sleeping alot which she thought it was normal. She finally took him to emergency vet at 10pm and they told him he was lacking vitamins and other nutrients and that he was in critical condition and may not make it through the night. They gave him an injection in his leg and gave her more to take home. He also was opening his mouth like yawning and was restless, burying, making circles like he was itchy and tried to bite his own front leg (only noticed this the last 24 hours of his life) When he died, his legs were stiff and eyes closed. We buried him in a box, we are all still very sad since he was so cute but my daughter didn't research on care, temp, UV, diet before she got him. RIP. I also think he wasn't warm enough and not enough UV light either, we live in Washington state and lack of sun didn't help. There was also fluids that came out of his nose so most likely yours died from the same. Sorry:(
 

Maggie3fan

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Can't send pics unfortunately but enclosure is a 3ft terrarium with uv and heat lamp, heat lamp was on from 8 am to 8 pm, with a log sawn in half and hollowed out for shelter, a basking rock, water dish and some other rocks scattered around.

I'm not actually sure if he is dead, he is unresponsive and not moving but is limp, not stiff, and one of his eyes is half-open and still bright. He doesn't smell. These seem to go against what they should be if he is dead
I am experienced with tortoises, yet just a few weeks ago one of my tortoises (20 yrs) was not responding and I also couldn't tell if he was dead or dying. Generally if you barely tap an eyeball or pull on a leg, you can get some kind of reaction. But frankly it sounds to me like your guy is gone or going. I am sorry for that.
 
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Can't send pics unfortunately but enclosure is a 3ft terrarium with uv and heat lamp, heat lamp was on from 8 am to 8 pm, with a log sawn in half and hollowed out for shelter, a basking rock, water dish and some other rocks scattered around.

I'm not actually sure if he is dead, he is unresponsive and not moving but is limp, not stiff, and one of his eyes is half-open and still bright. He doesn't smell. These seem to go against what they should be if he is dead
Soak him in very warm water & see if that stirs him awake or soak him in baby carrot food - warmed for vitamin A & D - see if that changes things
 
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