Is Baby Alroy Sick?

[Amberlove.jean]

So I was watching him as he walked toward me and I saw a bubble form out of his nose, very small, and didn't linger. But I notice he rubs his eyes alot and sometimes they water. He does that frogging neck thing, and makes a clicking type noise when he does. He eats really well but I've only seen his leavings a few times, none the last two days. I have him in a rubbermate tub with a towel for the bottom that I keep damp. There is a soak dish and water dish and a hide that he loves. Also a uvb light.

I've also notice when I take him to play outside that he much rather literally sit down (his backlegs almost inside his shell) and spin around to see the word, and it takes so encouragement to get him to walk, being amonth old him walking is super cute as he wobbles around. He's acually crawling on my keyboard right now. Isnt he sweet? Ohh he just made a random his noise and hid in his shell for no reason 0.o

I'm worried about my little one.

But please let me know what you think.

 

[Tropical Torts]

Rubbing watery eyes usually means that the humidity in his enclosure is too low. What type of substrate does he have? Is his enclosure fairly dry? What are the temps in the enclosure?

I keep my hatchlings on cypress mulch with a hide stuffed with sphagnum moss. The whole enclosure and hide gets misted in the morning and then again in the afternoon to keep humidity levels around 70% or so.

Temps should be at around 90 in the basking area and around 70-75 degrees on the cooler side.

 

[TortoiseBoy1999]

The hissing noise and him going in his shell right now more than likely means that something just startled him. My Russian does that a lot. Remember tortoises can be very timid creatures. Maybe you moved your hand a certain way he did not like and he got scared. That's all, as for the rest I have no clue.

 

[tortadise]

If your keeping a damp towel as the substrate your little bugger is more than likely getting a upper respiratory infection. When the temps drop at night a damp or wet towel is going to be cold. Then during the day the temps will rise. RI are caused by drastic temp flucuations over a period of time. You need to increase the heat to get rid of it. keep it 85 constant minimum to 95 for a redfoot. Also need to get the towel out and use some coco coir or cypress mulch as a substrate. Do you have a source of heat at night when the UVB bulb is off? Usually you can use a heart pad under the tub or an infrared night time bulb to increase the heat while the daylight UVB bulb is off. The eyes are more than likely a lack of humidity, and the ambient moisture is too dry. Redfoots need to have a relative humidity as high as you can give them. usually its hard to keep it up in the 50% range but 70% and up is best.

 

[Amberlove.jean]

Rubbing watery eyes usually means that the humidity in his enclosure is too low. What type of substrate does he have? Is his enclosure fairly dry? What are the temps in the enclosure?

I keep my hatchlings on cypress mulch with a hide stuffed with sphagnum moss. The whole enclosure and hide gets misted in the morning and then again in the afternoon to keep humidity levels around 70% or so.

Temps should be at around 90 in the basking area and around 70-75 degrees on the cooler side.

The bottom of the enclosure is a towel but I have sphagnum moss around the area for him to hide and cuddle in. I spray oftens but can't seem to get the humidity over 68% but I do try. The temperature is around 85 on the basking and 72 on the other side.

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If your keeping a damp towel as the substrate your little bugger is more than likely getting a upper respiratory infection. When the temps drop at night a damp or wet towel is going to be cold. Then during the day the temps will rise. RI are caused by drastic temp flucuations over a period of time. You need to increase the heat to get rid of it. keep it 85 constant minimum to 95 for a redfoot. Also need to get the towel out and use some coco coir or cypress mulch as a substrate. Do you have a source of heat at night when the UVB bulb is off? Usually you can use a heart pad under the tub or an infrared night time bulb to increase the heat while the daylight UVB bulb is off. The eyes are more than likely a lack of humidity, and the ambient moisture is too dry. Redfoots need to have a relative humidity as high as you can give them. usually its hard to keep it up in the 50% range but 70% and up is best.

I do keep the towel damp, but not at night. And I do have a heating night light for him. Thank you for the information.

 

[Redstrike]

I would up your cool side temps to around 80 for a hatchling. I have 4 juveniles and my cool, dark side is at 80 while the warm, bright side is at 85. Right under the ceramic heat emmitter it's roughly 88-90 if they want to bask while digesting.

Everyone else has provided pretty solid information, but I would strongly urge you to pick up a copy of this book if you can afford it:
http://www.pingleton.com/redfoot/redfoots.htm
If not the tortoise library (http://tortoiselibrary.com/) has excellent information on husbandry and is free!

 

[dmmj]

Right now I am more concerned about his walking or lack thereof. I have 2 young leos (I know yours is a RF) but they literally walk around their enclosure all of the time.

 

[TortoiseBoy1999]

Right now I am more concerned about his walking or lack thereof. I have 2 young leos (I know yours is a RF) but they literally walk around their enclosure all of the time.

My new Leo does that too!

 

[Madkins007]

There are several things going on here, so...

So I was watching him as he walked toward me and I saw a bubble form out of his nose, very small, and didn't linger. But I notice he rubs his eyes alot and sometimes they water.

This could be symptoms of an upper respiratory infection, or https://sites.google.com/site/tortoiselibrary/health-and-medical/hydration.

He does that frogging neck thing, and makes a clicking type noise when he does. He eats really well but I've only seen his leavings a few times, none the last two days.

'Frogging neck thing' is how they smell stuff around them. They draw air in past the Jacobsen's organ that way. Seeing 'leavings' does not happen too often for various reasons.

I have him in a rubbermate tub with a towel for the bottom that I keep damp. There is a soak dish and water dish and a hide that he loves. Also a uvb light.

Is there not a substrate in there he can snuggle down into? A good substrate makes your job easier and the tortoise happier. What kind of light is it, and what are the typical temps in there? Good temp control makes a big difference.

I've also notice when I take him to play outside that he much rather literally sit down (his backlegs almost inside his shell) and spin around to see the word, and it takes so encouragement to get him to walk, being amonth old him walking is super cute as he wobbles around.

This really worries me. There are lots of really worrisome possibilities when a tortoise does not use his hind legs right, including Metabolic Bone Disease (MBD), peritonitis or septicemia (blood infections), spinal/shell injury, gout, arthritis, heat stroke, Herpesvirus, Respiratory Infection (RI), dietary issues, etc.

He's acually crawling on my keyboard right now. Isnt he sweet? Ohh he just made a random his noise and hid in his shell for no reason 0.o

I know this feels right and good to do, but tortoises are not like hamsters or kittens. In general, they are not fond of being handled or being moved to scary new places, etc. This may be causing a lot of stress for the little guy. We do need to handle our torts, and some really get to like it, but especially at first, it is usually a bit scary.

I'm worried about my little one.

But please let me know what you think.

 

[Amberlove.jean]

There are several things going on here, so...

Thank you very much for all of the info. I have all natural top soil under the towel but I was worried he'd try to eat it. I've been taking him outside alot more and he's more adventious now. I think it was because the owner before me kept him in a container so he hasn't seen outside much. Now he's all over the place.
As for the handling, I take him out and let him crawl about for exercise since while in his pen he rather cuddle up in the hide. My plan for his exercise fails usually because he just burrows under me. He seems to really enjoy being handled, often crawling in my lap as well as following me around. I'm trying really hard on the humidity and i think I have a hold on it now. The enclousre stays roughly at 80-90 degrees, being cooler on one side. I also have a night light to keep him warm but that one has started smelling fully when I screw it in and has odd colloring on the metal part that goes into the lamp, no other bulbs have this issue. I haven't seen anymore snot bubbles and his eyes aren't as watery. He still eats a good amount and I finally seen his droppings so I'm not as worried. But thank you again!