Brevo
New Member
INTRODUCTION
Hello. It's very unfortunate that I got to discover this forum at such difficult time and didn't get to join other folks here on a positive note.
I own a pair of Indian star Tortoises, a male and a female. Male was rescued/taken when it was trying to cross a busy highway. Could've put it back in the wild but we chose to bring it home(questionable decision). It's been with us ever since, now being more than 11 years. The female was brought in two or three years later, from captivity of another owner in the intent to give the male some company.
LIVING CONDITIONS
We live in the western part of India(Gujarat) and the climate here is dry and it gets very hot in the summer. We let our tortoises roam around freely in our house but most of the time they spend in our garden/lawn(quite big) that we have had built for them. They feed on cucumber, french beans, string beans and bottle gourd as their staple diet. We throw in some leafy vegetables (not cabbage) sometimes. We have a water dish available in the lawn but they don't drink water very often(maybe cause we got them from an actual desert area). We take them in when it's too hot or too cold. The room temperature here is 30-35°C and outside it can go over 40°C in summer and below 20°C in winters.
THE CONCERN
So the female had a lot of snout coming out of her mouth and we had her checked by a local vet(not a reptile expert but a highly trusted person) and she said the female had a RI, prol'y fungal. From what I know fungal infection is very difficult to recover from and I am extremely worried for her wellness. I would appreciate some suggestions on what should be done to improve the chances of recovery and how should she be kept.
I've also learnt that RIs are contagious and it would be devastating if the male were to encounter the infection and I want to ensure every precaution possible to keep him safe as he means a lot to me and has been a part of my life since before I could remember.
SIDE NOTE
I understand this is my first post. I might be doing a number of things wrong in caring after my torts and everyone has full right to have a critical approach as I love my torts and would do everything to give them proper conditions to live in.
Also consider,
The female had had a disease previously, few years ago, where her eyes were sore and shut for two weeks and her recovery from it was surprising given the treatment and the odds.
I admire everyone's cute friends and I will post my tortoises' pictures soon
Hello. It's very unfortunate that I got to discover this forum at such difficult time and didn't get to join other folks here on a positive note.
I own a pair of Indian star Tortoises, a male and a female. Male was rescued/taken when it was trying to cross a busy highway. Could've put it back in the wild but we chose to bring it home(questionable decision). It's been with us ever since, now being more than 11 years. The female was brought in two or three years later, from captivity of another owner in the intent to give the male some company.
LIVING CONDITIONS
We live in the western part of India(Gujarat) and the climate here is dry and it gets very hot in the summer. We let our tortoises roam around freely in our house but most of the time they spend in our garden/lawn(quite big) that we have had built for them. They feed on cucumber, french beans, string beans and bottle gourd as their staple diet. We throw in some leafy vegetables (not cabbage) sometimes. We have a water dish available in the lawn but they don't drink water very often(maybe cause we got them from an actual desert area). We take them in when it's too hot or too cold. The room temperature here is 30-35°C and outside it can go over 40°C in summer and below 20°C in winters.
THE CONCERN
So the female had a lot of snout coming out of her mouth and we had her checked by a local vet(not a reptile expert but a highly trusted person) and she said the female had a RI, prol'y fungal. From what I know fungal infection is very difficult to recover from and I am extremely worried for her wellness. I would appreciate some suggestions on what should be done to improve the chances of recovery and how should she be kept.
I've also learnt that RIs are contagious and it would be devastating if the male were to encounter the infection and I want to ensure every precaution possible to keep him safe as he means a lot to me and has been a part of my life since before I could remember.
SIDE NOTE
I understand this is my first post. I might be doing a number of things wrong in caring after my torts and everyone has full right to have a critical approach as I love my torts and would do everything to give them proper conditions to live in.
Also consider,
The female had had a disease previously, few years ago, where her eyes were sore and shut for two weeks and her recovery from it was surprising given the treatment and the odds.
I admire everyone's cute friends and I will post my tortoises' pictures soon
