Guys, I'm in shock. My baby of 3 years just passed about an hour ago.
It's been healthy and running around and eating like a king everyday.
Just this morning it sprinted all over the house in full speed.
I came home from work and I saw it was lethargic. I petted it's head and it started opening it mouth and making wheezing noises. I quickly put it in the water but It wouldn't drink or move. It started bobbing it's head backwards. I had no idea what it was...Now I think she was chocking. I took it out of the water and went for a walk while Googling symptoms. I came home 5-10 min later and my baby is dead and lifeless.
I just opened it's mouth and looked inside with a flash light and there is no blockage..It's eye were clear and nose had no snot or anything....
Guys, what just happened to my 3 year old baby...
I just found out my friend put up a picture of it 50 weeks ago, I lost these:
Truly a beautiful shell...
Last but not least, could I have done something to save it??
I am so, so, sorry for your loss. If you can give us a run down of your temps, soaking routine, substrate, anything you can think of we might be able to help figure out what happened. Again, so sorry😞
i buried a baby this week, and all week i have been flip flopping from angry to on the floor crying to so calm that its almost numbing. you have to work through it. if you have other animals, for their sakes you need to work through it, all my animals sensed that i was upset. RIP, wishing you good vibes. give yourself ample time to mourn and remember, but then take a deep breath and try to make yourself feel better. make yourself a big cup of tea and try to relax.
Everyone thank you for the kind words and my condolences go out to others who have lost animals in the past. It feels no different than a human life.
I'm sitting in my room and looking at his fortress..it's dark..the lights are off and there is no one greeting me or climbing on logs..
I spent most of the day at work trying to recollect and figure out what's going on. After all the research it seems like acute pneumonia. From the first time I heard him cough it took only 20 minutes for it to succumb..Also I found a piece of lettuce covered in substrate all wet. There was no water in his pen all of yesterday. Could he have vomited it? so many questions and so many possibilities:
He was eating and pooping everyday.
The ReptIsun-10 is on 13 hrs a day.
His heat lamp was out for 4 days..that zoomed kept burning out on me and
I was so busy with work that I ordered it but it didn't arrive yet. The temperature in there was 80-81 vs the usual 90-95.
The substrate was coca-coir mixed with sand.
I try to bathe him at least once a week.
How could he succumb so fast blows my mind.
I'm thinking to plant a garden in his cage and post his pictures around there.
You need to take a hold of yourself. Those images will continue to haunt you if you let it. You probably should have had a necropsy performed so that you could know for sure what caused his death. If it was pneumonia, but it had nothing to do with his heating being out, then at least you'll know.
I always have a fear that after 3,4, or 5 years, one of my babies will die of something similar to what happened to you. Not knowing would haunt me with guilt unless I'm convinced that I did all I can do to give my babies the best life possible. It's not your fault that he died. Torts mask how sick they really are until it's almost too late. There was probably nothing you could've done to save him. Even if you went straight to the vet the moment he did that mouth thing, it still may have been too late to do anything for him. So, don't beat yourself up. Time will heal all loss.
The eyes open. Could that have been a heart failure? Maybe he had something he was born with that finally gave up, congenital? I am so sorry this happened but it could have been one of the matter of time things that happen. You cared. He knows.
Oh my goodness, what a shame for you! At least you know he died happy and did not suffer, I know that doesn't make it better but maybe a little easier. I can't begin to imagine how hard it must be, my torts are like my kids.
RIP beautiful tortoise xx