RT Runny nose after I changed substrate

Cscui

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Jan 23, 2015
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Hello my name is Ceci. We got a RT almost a year ago from the pet store for my daughter but I feel is more mine cause of course I take care of her as my daughter is very young.
So our lovely RT's name is Cocoa, I learned by reading and from photos it is a she.
Anyway, mu hubby build an indoors cage with 2 floors, second floor is like 1/4 of the size of the bottom with a ramp and we put her food upstairs so she excersizes everyday. We live in AZ so she spend the day outdoors in a "garden pen" we built for her with some tomato and pepper plants to provide shade, she didn't like it so much at the beggining but later she would bath in her water plate and just enjoy the light and warm day, then when the summer got hot she would dig herself under a half bucket next to a tree, she actually digged pretty good like a nice under cave. Now during the winter we had kept her indoors, it has rained a lot (not normal for AZ) and colder so no chance to take out.
She comes early 5-6am in the morning upstairs cause that's where the heat and UV lights are timed to turn on at 6am, around 100-110F, the food is in the opposite side of the lights, then she spend times there after eating around 9 when I put her food, ~80-90F, sometimes she goes downstairs and then comeback and around 3-5p she goes downstairs where she digs herself to sleep the rest of the day. We keep the downstairs house where the pen is at 77 in the night. Her playpen is next to the patio sliding glass door. She eats green leaf mostly (her fave) zucchini, brocolli, red leaf, but during this winter time she doesn't want to eat the escarole, dandelion or radichio I even stopped buying it cause it was going straight to the trash. She is very picky and stubborn, I have offered her other mustards, kale, etc. nahh is like I can hear her say get this &*(%$ out of here!
She comes to me when she sees me and tries to climb, months ago I started to put my hand there and she would climb and I would take her outside, she is very smart, then she would run away from me! So she knows I can take her outside if she asks.
I give her 1-2 baths per week but I have been trying lately to do it at least 2 per week. She baths more outdoors during summer.
She has reptibark as substrate. She has been doing ok. Last week I could smell it (bad) and I decided to change it all as I usually just take some out and put new in, as like I say, she spends most of her days outdoors. So I bought new one, cleaned playpen and put new one in. I put Cocoa back and everything ok, next day I thought it was a little dry and dusty so I sprayed it. I felt that maybe I shouldn't have done it with the winter being colder. I have been thingking about if she is doing ok while being in our first winter, anyway I noticed her nose was wet but I have been sick myself so I wasn't putting too much attention to her, this morning I thought I should check her, I went to feed her and her nose is still wet, clear but kinda sticky as I fed her the zucchini and the stuffy thing would stick and stretch. I have her a bath and she didn't want it, was moving and hitting the wall but I made her stay 10 mins (usually I let her 20) dried her up and put her in the floor and she walked to the glass door like wanting to get out. Its cold so I watched her for a while and finally let her out when I thought it was warm enough, she walk slow first but once she got to the dirt she started to run, I let her walked but its shady there so I brought her back to the sun, her second garden area was shady too and I noticed she was trying to eat any that look white, like little rocks, I saw she spitted one I was like nooo Cocoa and she didn't want to be there so I took her back out where the sun, she finally found a nice spot in top of rocks and we both just sat there like for 10 minutes, then she walked back to the saddy dirt where she tried to dig, I thought it was enough time and brought her back inside. After the bath she didn't have much water in her nose but I thought well she just had a clean bath and after the walking and excersise outside her nose was still kinda clean, maybe just a little coming out on one side. Anyway she went to her downstairs to dig and sleep. I have been googling and reading and I just hope is not a RI and is just from the dust from the new substrate.
When I bath her I noticed new growth white line around her scates and I got scared, I touched her and she starttled but it seemed hard, and from reading I learned is new growth, the weird is that it looks bigger from one side. I have both lights in the top like I said next to each other and the left side is the UV and the right side is the red warm light, her bigger growth is in the right side. When we bought her, her top wasn't so smooth like other RT from pictures I have seen, just now I also learned that maybe was rotten shell that has healed already. She has always been like that bumpy on the scutes so I always thought well that's what we got (from the petstore) so let's try the best.
I have read that the reptibark is not good for RT, then that is the best, that coco and sand mix is the best then that no the sand compacts in their stomachs and can give problems, so I'm like ok, I will ask advice and pay closer attention.

We love her so much, she is so cute, that little pink tongue is just so cute when she is eating. She sometimes put her head in the wood and sleeps with all legs out like she is very confident and relaxed. We learned that glass is not good for her in her second floor pen but she got used to it, we open the curtains and she sats there just looking outside while she gets warm under the light. Everyday I'm learning with Cocoa. My Mom had tortoises in north of Mexico in the 80-90s and they lived outdoors ALL the time, one had 5 babies. when it rained much we didn't even worry, I only remember one time that we had a hurricane and the patio flooded cause a platic bag got trpped in the drain and the tortoise was buried half but nothing happened to her, my Mom went outside and removed the bag and just said ohhh poor baby! but nothing happened, we didn't even have a name for her. She was big and cute. The patio door was made of metal and if my Mom forgot to put food early (she only gave her iceberg and maybe romaine lettuce, tomatos and carrots) she would scratch the door and my Mom would hear it like what is that? and to get her bulb light on and yell ohhhh poor baby I forgot to feed the tortoise!! and run to the kitchen to get food for her, it was sooo funny. I believe it was a russian. But now from having Cocoa and all the care I give her and all the worry I'm like how my Mom did it? and she even had babies. Now I'm looking into maybe she needs more calcium? (in the beggining I would put some of those tortoise pellets on top of the food for supplement but she would not touch it, I would hide it under the leaves and she would eat it but I have not done it during the winter), maybe the light temps are wrong?, maybe I'm doing everything wrong and I would not bear seeing Cocoa sick or worst, my daughter loves her so much, every morning when coming to the kitchen she is like how is my baby and asks me often how is Cocoa doing or if I gave her a bath while she was in school.

Sorry for the big explanation. I would very much appreciate the thought and advice you can give me.

Thank you!
Have an awesome weekend!

Attached photos of Cocoa this week sleeping all cute with leg in plate and head in wood, the other is from the summer and the other is from today after bath, she didn't want to stay put and was walking so much and fast.


photo.JPG photo2.JPG DSCN0062.JPG
 
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Yvonne G

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Hi, and welcome to the forum!

Keep the tortoise in the indoor habitat for about a week, and put a heat/light over the habitat so she can stay 80F degrees or more. The wet nose should clear up with a constant warm temperature. Russian tortoises usually get sick if allowed to get wet while it is cooler.
 

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