Is my RT sick due to being dehydrated ?

Clueless Tortoise

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Hi,
A couple days ago, I found my tort got stuck in his food bowl ( I usually use a slate but that day I didn't. ) I left that day to do some things away from the house and he apparently climbed into his food bowl for some reason ( which is under the basking lamp side / hot spot ) and could not get out. He was stuck in there for hours, and when I found him, he was slightly limp, his skin was dehydrated, and he wasn't moving. Obviously, I was horrified and removed him from the bowl right away. He slightly opened his eyes but hasn't been active. Since then I have been giving him extra long soaks daily and have even switched off with electrolyte soaks. He is not moving much and just crawls on top of me to sleep. I understand it is time for him to brumate, but this winter I kept him up due to a URI that he had ( which is now gone ). Until this incident, he was moving around and acting like normal ( a little slower but you know what I mean). He eats very little / to none now and isn't drinking any water, no matter how long I soak him or how many baths I give him. My next step after this is taking him to our exotic vet, but I wanted to ask if any members here on the forum had any advice before taking him.
 

Tortisedonk7

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Oh no, that’s so sad and not fair for the little guy to get stuck under the lamp. I’m sure he is really dried out! Not an expert but I would say soak soak soak and pray his insides aren’t dried and shriveled beyond repair. Maybe you can gently open his mouth and put a drop of water in there 1 at a time, see if he swallows.
Also post some pics of him.
Best of luck, hope he will pull threw.
 

Tom

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What type of food bowl? Why would you put the food bowl under the heat lamp? Just trying to understand how this could happen and learn from it...

Other than soaks, not much you can do now. Hope for the best.
 

Toddrickfl1

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Hi,
A couple days ago, I found my tort got stuck in his food bowl ( I usually use a slate but that day I didn't. ) I left that day to do some things away from the house and he apparently climbed into his food bowl for some reason ( which is under the basking lamp side / hot spot ) and could not get out. He was stuck in there for hours, and when I found him, he was slightly limp, his skin was dehydrated, and he wasn't moving. Obviously, I was horrified and removed him from the bowl right away. He slightly opened his eyes but hasn't been active. Since then I have been giving him extra long soaks daily and have even switched off with electrolyte soaks. He is not moving much and just crawls on top of me to sleep. I understand it is time for him to brumate, but this winter I kept him up due to a URI that he had ( which is now gone ). Until this incident, he was moving around and acting like normal ( a little slower but you know what I mean). He eats very little / to none now and isn't drinking any water, no matter how long I soak him or how many baths I give him. My next step after this is taking him to our exotic vet, but I wanted to ask if any members here on the forum had any advice before taking him.
What kind of food bowl were you using that a Russian Tortoise couldn't get out of?
 

TammyJ

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Sorry about what happened to your tortoise.
I would also like to know what kind of food bowl it was, and how he could have got stuck in it, was it smooth and too deep or what? And also why was it under the heat lamp? Just want to understand how it happened.
 

Clueless Tortoise

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What type of food bowl? Why would you put the food bowl under the heat lamp? Just trying to understand how this could happen and learn from it...

Other than soaks, not much you can do now. Hope for the best.
The bowl I used was just a normal reptile bowl that I bought from Petsmart a long time ago. I usually dont use it but I believe the bowl was too deep and he climbed in there. As I stated before, I 99% of the time use a slate, but that day I switched it out for some reason. And to clarify, it was not directly under the heat lamp, but it was on the warm side where the light does shine. We just moved and im in the process of building him a large indoor enclosure, so he is still in that temporary enclosure from my previous posts ( 3 ft by 2 ft bin.) I would also like to note that I understand his temporary enclosure is not suitable for him, and that we will be finished building his enclosure hopefully by then end of December. Please know that I am trying my best to care for him and do what is right, but that money isn't just something I can whip out right now and to please be kind to all who see this post.
 

Aloysius Taschse

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According to extremely experienced breeders like Tom, a standard reptile bowl is not good for feeding and/or soaking. Use something like a terracotta saucer that is cheaper and much more safe. The slate is probably the best place, and make sure to tortoise proof the enclosure. Good luck!
 

Aloysius Taschse

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Also: I'm not an expert so I might be missing something, but since nobody was responding I figured I should give the information that I've learned.
 
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zovick

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He seems to be a little more active with his daily soaks, but im keeping an eye on him
That is a good sign. Hopefully the tortoise will continue to get better and will be back to normal in a few more days. Has it been eating today?

Good luck!
 

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