Good afternoon,
I'm new here, unfortunately I came across this wonderful forum after trying now for about two months to nurse back to health a small redfoot tortoise I purchased on craigslist. Hopefully someone here can help me through this stressful process. I was looking to purchase a Russian tortoise but when I saw this redfoot on craigslist I knew I had found the species I wanted to bring into my home. I struck a deal for 120 to purchase the redfoot tortoise and went to Petsmart to buy supplies and afterwards met the person in a walmart parking lot where I also purchased a large tree storage tub to serve as my enclosure until I can build a tortoise table. I asked the seller about the puffy eyes and she told me that it was normal because the tortoise was in a dry environment and they needed high humidity. Since she was so nice on emails and the phone I did not think much of it. I went home and placed the tortoise in the enclosure and left it alone for about 3 days, only spraying the enclosure and changing food and water. The tortoise would not eat/open eyes/hardly move so I looked up the symptoms and learned it was most likely an infection. I contacted the seller and basically got a sorry your problem now, so I decided to take the tortoise to the vet and he confirmed it had a respiratory infection. The tortoise was given a baytril injection and I was given eyedrops to use 3 times a day and told to check in two weeks on progress. Two weeks later another injection and it improved slightly. Unfortunately I’m now running out of disposable income and the tortoise has not improved. Has anyone dealt with these sort of problems before? I am angry I was fooled by a seller but I’m trying my best to save this tortoise.
Enclosure setup
Christmas tree storage box made some adjustments to make a screen top
60 watt heat light
Zilla UVB strip light
1 hide
Eco earth coconut fiber
I keep the humidity around 75%-80%
1 water “pool†near the heat light
I'm new here, unfortunately I came across this wonderful forum after trying now for about two months to nurse back to health a small redfoot tortoise I purchased on craigslist. Hopefully someone here can help me through this stressful process. I was looking to purchase a Russian tortoise but when I saw this redfoot on craigslist I knew I had found the species I wanted to bring into my home. I struck a deal for 120 to purchase the redfoot tortoise and went to Petsmart to buy supplies and afterwards met the person in a walmart parking lot where I also purchased a large tree storage tub to serve as my enclosure until I can build a tortoise table. I asked the seller about the puffy eyes and she told me that it was normal because the tortoise was in a dry environment and they needed high humidity. Since she was so nice on emails and the phone I did not think much of it. I went home and placed the tortoise in the enclosure and left it alone for about 3 days, only spraying the enclosure and changing food and water. The tortoise would not eat/open eyes/hardly move so I looked up the symptoms and learned it was most likely an infection. I contacted the seller and basically got a sorry your problem now, so I decided to take the tortoise to the vet and he confirmed it had a respiratory infection. The tortoise was given a baytril injection and I was given eyedrops to use 3 times a day and told to check in two weeks on progress. Two weeks later another injection and it improved slightly. Unfortunately I’m now running out of disposable income and the tortoise has not improved. Has anyone dealt with these sort of problems before? I am angry I was fooled by a seller but I’m trying my best to save this tortoise.
Enclosure setup
Christmas tree storage box made some adjustments to make a screen top
60 watt heat light
Zilla UVB strip light
1 hide
Eco earth coconut fiber
I keep the humidity around 75%-80%
1 water “pool†near the heat light