Redfoot's arms and neck look puffy.

jockma

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Sorry if I'm not entirely coherent. I'm panicking and trying to stay calm.

My redfoot tortoise is a rescue, had a lot of health problems in the beginning but has been doing well for a while now.

Today (in the past hour) I took him out for a soak and noticed his neck/leg area was puffy. He hadn't been moving around much today so I was getting worried, but he's often pretty sedentary after a big meal so I put it in the back of my mind.

The puffiness is more noticeable on one side but he appears to be puffy on both sides. His neck itself is slightly distended (could be my imagination) but his breathing is fine. He had MANY RIs when I first got him and he's not displaying the same symptoms, but I'm not ruling it out.

Once I took him out his personality returned to normal, he's zipping around and racing to the kitchen for food although I'm too afraid to give him any. I put him in his temp enclosure in case whatever's causing this is an issue with his enclosure. The puffiness went down a bit after the soaks (I gave him 3) but it's still there. His last poop was about 2-3 days ago. It's definitely not obesity unless he can gain a lot of weight overnight, because he looked completely fine yesterday.

One thing that could be causing this is I fed him papaya yesterday. He loves papaya but I noticed the last time I fed him papaya he was very lethargic the day after as well. I didn't check him because he tends to not move around much after eating big meals, I didn't think anything was amiss. Now I'm concerned that he may be allergic to papaya or something and this is what happens...

I'm taking him to the vet tomorrow. It's too late to schedule an appointment now and it'll be the weekend, but there's an emergency vet relatively nearby that treats tortoises so I'll take him there first thing in the morning. I'm worried sick.

I'm sorry for the photos not being the best. He wouldn't stop moving around and it was difficult to see the puffiness without holding him up. The puffiness only seems to be affecting his arms, not his legs.

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Kori5

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I'm not an expert but does his skin usually have a pink hue? It does look slightly puffy. I would take him to the vet.
 

Lyn W

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Hope all is OK and easily remedied. Have you done a search to see if there are any other posts about this problem?
 

dmmj

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the puffiness Or edema is usually kidney related. they're going to have to draw blood more than likely and run some tests it could simply be an infection in the kidneys easily treatable won't know more until they get the results back
 

jockma

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@Kori5 Yes, it's always been like that on his fleshier bits.

@Lyn W I did, but all of the cases I found were very different and didn't match mine...so I wasn't sure what to make of it.

It's 3:14 in the morning now and he's doing fine. I don't want to bother him so I can't check for the puffiness but he's sleeping normally, he's a finicky sleeper and he got up and walked to a different location and fell back asleep so I think all is well for now. Still terribly worried, though.

EDIT: @dmmj I had read that, it's worrying me to death. It all just happened so suddenly. His behavior hasn't changed which comforts me and scares me at the same time, I'm hoping this isn't a long-term illness he's had that hasn't been caught until now.
 

Kori5

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Don't panic and worry so much until you get a vet visit which should be as soon as possible. I would do a complete blood work and maybe an xray to see the kidneys and liver.
 

Kori5

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Breathe, feed him when he wakes up and give him a soak. If it has to do something with kidneys, soaking will help.
 

jockma

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It's 9 AM now. I'm taking him to the vet today. I decided to take him to the vet that I lost my pet of almost 20 years in 2013 because it's the closest one so I'm struggling to stay composed.

The edema is still there. I'm soaking him right now. He's not lethargic but not pooping either. Can't tell if he's peeing. Still hungry it seems.

EDIT: During the soak the edema went down a bit again. It's very dry right now where I live so I'm wondering if he's retaining water because he's dehydrated. Humidity in his enclosure is 70-95 but I try to keep him outside for as long as I possibly can (whenever it's not too cold) to improve his quality of life so maybe the lack of humidity outside plays a part in this.
 
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Anyfoot

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It's 9 AM now. I'm taking him to the vet today. I decided to take him to the vet that I lost my pet of almost 20 years in 2013 because it's the closest one so I'm struggling to stay composed.

The edema is still there. I'm soaking him right now. He's not lethargic but not pooping either. Can't tell if he's peeing. Still hungry it seems.

EDIT: During the soak the edema went down a bit again. It's very dry right now where I live so I'm wondering if he's retaining water because he's dehydrated. Humidity in his enclosure is 70-95 but I try to keep him outside for as long as I possibly can (whenever it's not too cold) to improve his quality of life so maybe the lack of humidity outside plays a part in this.
Can you show some more photos please.
Also how sure are you that he is male.
 

jockma

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Pretty sure...either he is or he prolapsed on me and I mistook it for a penis.

ImageUploadedByTortoise Forum1449339474.064242.jpg ImageUploadedByTortoise Forum1449339591.321042.jpg ImageUploadedByTortoise Forum1449339622.387198.jpg
 
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jockma

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Here's a better picture of his tail.
 

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Anyfoot

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Is the puffyness permanent? Does it look and sound like your Tortoise is holding his breath for a while then breathing. Like breathing in,holding it then breathing out. Is it only swollen when holding breath? If he's constipated and pushing it causes this area to swell. What consistency is the poop?
 

jockma

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Sorry! Here's one.
 

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jockma

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Is the puffyness permanent? Does it look and sound like your Tortoise is holding his breath for a while then breathing. Like breathing in,holding it then breathing out. Is it only swollen when holding breath? If he's constipated and pushing it causes this area to swell. What consistency is the poop?
No, he's breathing normally. I can only see the puffiness when I'm holding him up, so I don't know if it's permanent. He can fit entirely inside his shell, for what it's worth. His last poop was normal, maybe a little dry but I didn't catch it while it was fresh so I wouldn't know. He's gotten in the habit of pooping in his enclosure instead of during soaks.
 

Anyfoot

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No, he's breathing normally. I can only see the puffiness when I'm holding him up, so I don't know if it's permanent. He can fit entirely inside his shell, for what it's worth. His last poop was normal, maybe a little dry but I didn't catch it while it was fresh so I wouldn't know. He's gotten in the habit of pooping in his enclosure instead of during soaks.
What's his diet like. What do you feed typically in a week.
 

jockma

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I grow cactus pads so I feed him the baby pads (before it got so dang cold anyways) frequently, haven't been able to for over a month. I typically feed him escarole, romaine, squash/pumpkin, some kale occasionally, strawberries, bell peppers, mushrooms, anything I can find that checks out on here as RF-safe. I used to feed him some mazuri but that was a while ago. I definitely feel like I should feed him more weeds-type food.

UPDATE: I think he's trying to pass something. Tail is out and looks a bit "fat".
 
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