Might be odd question

[Ember909]

I was wondering something, it might be a weird/stupid question but... presuming a fairly well-set-up environment, UV, diet, etc., how likely is it that a tort will just keel over, or get a terminal condition? Is this likely to happen, or uncommon, or rare, or what? I appreciate anyone answering this bizarre question.

 

[Unkapunka]

I don't think it's to common as long as they get the correct food and temps

 

[Yvonne G]

Since tortoises hide illness, and the keeper sometimes doesn't know he's ill, it sometimes happens.

 

[Maggie3fan]

Tortoises are sick for a long time before they will show any symptoms. So that means that by the time you discover he's sick, it's almost too late for him.
I had a Sulcata who was over 100 lbs and his care was excellent. Everything was going great, then when he was only 17 he showed signs of being sick. Off to the Vet...University of Oregon Vet school...4 different Veterinarians...and believe me, just because they have EXOTIC in their name, does NOT always mean they know about chelonia.
So...Bob's care was the best possible, supposedly EXOTIC Vets, but I knew more about turtles and tortoises then they did. Not only did it cost almost $7000 and they killed him, but they broke common rules, he was still under the anesthesia, yet they put an unconscious and bleeding large animal in my Camaro for the 100 mile trip home. Frankly I can't tell the nightmare aspects of this death, the blood, the open plastron, to keep him alive, I stopped every 10 minutes or so and gave this animal mouth to mouth and tried hard to wake him up, I just can't tell it all again, and I don't want to hijack anybody else's thread. The story is printed somewhere here

 

[Yvonne G]

Maggie said, "tortoises are sick for a long time before they show any symptoms." Then she got lost in other parts of the story. What she started to tell you is that by the time he showed signs of being sick, he had a bladder stone the size of a regulation sized soft ball inside him. It took a very long time to grow that stone.

 

[Tolis]

Could the stone or any of the common leathal diseases be prevented by vet checkups or even us checking for certain signs?
For example I am planning to be checking for boogers on my aldabra just in case he gets pneumonia/other respiratory disease from the sudden temp drop when it arrives this week

 

[Yvonne G]

Probably not. The vet would have to be looking for something specific and if it's a healthy seeming tortoise he wouldn't know what to look for.

 

[Tom]

I was wondering something, it might be a weird/stupid question but... presuming a fairly well-set-up environment, UV, diet, etc., how likely is it that a tort will just keel over, or get a terminal condition? Is this likely to happen, or uncommon, or rare, or what? I appreciate anyone answering this bizarre question.

Not bizarre at all, but its a complex answer with lots of details and variables. I'll narrow it down to two main categories, and you can see many examples of each here on the forum.

1. If you get a well started baby that is already growing and thriving, put it into the correct environment, and then feed and care for it correctly, there is almost zero chance of it suddenly keeling over and dying. I can't say its 100% impossible, but it almost never happens.

2. If you buy a baby started the way most breeders start them (dry, no brooder box time, poor food introduction, infrequent soaks, etc...), then chances are pretty good that your baby will die no matter what you do. Its really hard to pin down a number, but I'd estimate 50-90% of hatchings of some species don't make it more than a few months because of breeder error.

The moral of the story is: Buy from the breeders who start them correctly. Don't look for a fancy website or a cheap price. Look for the healthiest, best started, best fed, already thriving baby you can find. It should have been incubated on the correct media, soaked daily since day one, it should have been in a brooder box for at least a week, it should have been introduced to a HUGE variety of good foods, and it should have been housed mostly indoors on damp substrate with a humid hide and a shallow water bowl. If not, buy elsewhere.

 

[Mrs.Jennifer]

Not bizarre at all, but its a complex answer with lots of details and variables. I'll narrow it down to two main categories, and you can see many examples of each here on the forum.

1. If you get a well started baby that is already growing and thriving, put it into the correct environment, and then feed and care for it correctly, there is almost zero chance of it suddenly keeling over and dying. I can't say its 100% impossible, but it almost never happens.

2. If you buy a baby started the way most breeders start them (dry, no brooder box time, poor food introduction, infrequent soaks, etc...), then chances are pretty good that your baby will die no matter what you do. Its really hard to pin down a number, but I'd estimate 50-90% of hatchings of some species don't make it more than a few months because of breeder error.

The moral of the story is: Buy from the breeders who start them correctly. Don't look for a fancy website or a cheap price. Look for the healthiest, best started, best fed, already thriving baby you can find.

AMEN!

 

[Chefdenoel10]

I was wondering something, it might be a weird/stupid question but... presuming a fairly well-set-up environment, UV, diet, etc., how likely is it that a tort will just keel over, or get a terminal condition? Is this likely to happen, or uncommon, or rare, or what? I appreciate anyone answering this bizarre question.

just like a human baby.
It can be born with internal defects?
Or have a medical problem unseen?
Or maybe it just doesn’t like you!?!?!?

 

[Chefdenoel10]

Tortoises are sick for a long time before they will show any symptoms. So that means that by the time you discover he's sick, it's almost too late for him.
I had a Sulcata who was over 100 lbs and his care was excellent. Everything was going great, then when he was only 17 he showed signs of being sick. Off to the Vet...University of Oregon Vet school...4 different Veterinarians...and believe me, just because they have EXOTIC in their name, does NOT always mean they know about chelonia.
So...Bob's care was the best possible, supposedly EXOTIC Vets, but I knew more about turtles and tortoises then they did. Not only did it cost almost $7000 and they killed him, but they broke common rules, he was still under the anesthesia, yet they put an unconscious and bleeding large animal in my Camaro for the 100 mile trip home. Frankly I can't tell the nightmare aspects of this death, the blood, the open plastron, to keep him alive, I stopped every 10 minutes or so and gave this animal mouth to mouth and tried hard to wake him up, I just can't tell it all again, and I don't want to hijack anybody else's thread. The story is printed somewhere here

??????????????
Omg.... I am going to cry all day now!!!
I am soooooo incredibly sorry for your loss.
How horrific!!!
I would have to beat somebody after that.
???????????????

 

[Chefdenoel10]

Maggie said, "tortoises are sick for a long time before they show any symptoms." Then she got lost in other parts of the story. What she started to tell you is that by the time he showed signs of being sick, he had a bladder stone the size of a regulation sized soft ball inside him. It took a very long time to grow that stone.

what does a bladder stone look like?
Is that the white ball she showed us once?
Yikes!

 

[Yvonne G]

what does a bladder stone look like?
Is that the white ball she showed us once?
Yikes!

yes

 

[mylittlecholla]

Tortoises are sick for a long time before they will show any symptoms. So that means that by the time you discover he's sick, it's almost too late for him.
I had a Sulcata who was over 100 lbs and his care was excellent. Everything was going great, then when he was only 17 he showed signs of being sick. Off to the Vet...University of Oregon Vet school...4 different Veterinarians...and believe me, just because they have EXOTIC in their name, does NOT always mean they know about chelonia.
So...Bob's care was the best possible, supposedly EXOTIC Vets, but I knew more about turtles and tortoises then they did. Not only did it cost almost $7000 and they killed him, but they broke common rules, he was still under the anesthesia, yet they put an unconscious and bleeding large animal in my Camaro for the 100 mile trip home. Frankly I can't tell the nightmare aspects of this death, the blood, the open plastron, to keep him alive, I stopped every 10 minutes or so and gave this animal mouth to mouth and tried hard to wake him up, I just can't tell it all again, and I don't want to hijack anybody else's thread. The story is printed somewhere here

 

[mylittlecholla]

This is one of the most horrible stories about a beloved animal that I have ever heard. I am so sorry and horrified and sad. It's good to be warned though, especially about the veterinarians. I can't believe what they did to your tortoise and to you.