Russian Died Need Answers Please...

[CichlidGold]

Hello, I am new to the forum, but have always looked at the forums and posts to try and improve my knowledge of tortoises.
My tortoise's name was Kenni and I had her for three years. She was captive bred and a juvenile. She was full of energy and I had never had any complications with her what-so-ever. I woke up a couple of days ago and she beat me up like always so I turned on her heat and UVB light. She was acting completely normal was walking around fast and very attentive to what I was doing. There was no reason to suspect anything was wrong, so I left to cash a check which took about half an hour. When I got back I could hear wheezing and for some reason, her face was in the dirt and she would not stop taking bites of it. All of her limbs were still working like normal at this point. I took her out of her enclosure, which is filled with peat moss and a little zoomed forest floor bedding, and instantly put her in some her bathing spot, where she took some drinks, and was starting to do a little better. I took her out after about ten minutes and dried her off and kept an eye on her. She kept trying to puke it seemed like and was just making wheezing noises. Her head would go straight up to the air when she did this. A few minutes later she was dead... I fed her garden-grown kale mixed with zoomed grassland tortoise formula and every other week I would give her a little bit of watermelon as a treat. She also received two ten minute baths a week with water always offered to her and filled fresh daily. Please help me understand what happened. I am at a complete loss as to what could have killed her. She was perfectly normal before I left. Sorry for this being so long, but please if you know what possibly could have happened reply.

 

[G-stars]

Hello,

Sorry for your loss.

Sounds like she suffocated on something. Probably the substrate she was taking bites out of.

 

[Toddrickfl1]

Hello, I am new to the forum, but have always looked at the forums and posts to try and improve my knowledge of tortoises.
My tortoise's name was Kenni and I had her for three years. She was captive bred and a juvenile. She was full of energy and I had never had any complications with her what-so-ever. I woke up a couple of days ago and she beat me up like always so I turned on her heat and UVB light. She was acting completely normal was walking around fast and very attentive to what I was doing. There was no reason to suspect anything was wrong, so I left to cash a check which took about half an hour. When I got back I could hear wheezing and for some reason, her face was in the dirt and she would not stop taking bites of it. All of her limbs were still working like normal at this point. I took her out of her enclosure, which is filled with peat moss and a little zoomed forest floor bedding, and instantly put her in some her bathing spot, where she took some drinks, and was starting to do a little better. I took her out after about ten minutes and dried her off and kept an eye on her. She kept trying to puke it seemed like and was just making wheezing noises. Her head would go straight up to the air when she did this. A few minutes later she was dead... I fed her garden-grown kale mixed with zoomed grassland tortoise formula and every other week I would give her a little bit of watermelon as a treat. She also received two ten minute baths a week with water always offered to her and filled fresh daily. Please help me understand what happened. I am at a complete loss as to what could have killed her. She was perfectly normal before I left. Sorry for this being so long, but please if you know what possibly could have happened reply.

Im so sorry for your loss. Maybe she choked?

 

[KarenSoCal]

It sounds like maybe she choked on something? Peat moss could easily be the culprit.

I'm so sorry you've lost her. ?

 

[CichlidGold]

Thank you guys for replying and your condolences, but I had her for three years and would change the substrate every six months and would use the same ratio of peat moss to forest floor bedding. She has never taken a bite out of that stuff. Any idea why she might have done that? The only time I've heard of them doing that is when they are missing something in their diet. I feel like she had the best diet she could have.

 

[KarenSoCal]

Did you feed her anything besides kale, tort formula, and watermelon? Did she get a wide variety of good-for-her items?

 

[CichlidGold]

Did you feed her anything besides kale, tort formula, and watermelon? Did she get a wide variety of good-for-her items?

Rarely... I would give her some aloe vera maybe once a month, but that was it.

 

[KarenSoCal]

Rarely... I would give her some aloe vera maybe once a month, but that was it.

Then that wasn't the best diet she could have. It was lacking in nutrients.

But I don't think that's why your tortoise died. It sounds more like an acute episode of something.

If not choking, could she have gotten stuck some place and hurt herself? Or eaten something poisonous?

Did you do anything different or new in her enclosure lately? Or in her room?

If you haven't buried her, could you look into her mouth and see if anything is stuck?

Also remember, tortoises can get some of the same ailments we get. Something seems to have caused her enough pain for her to try ramming her head into the dirt to alleviate it.

 

[CichlidGold]

Then that wasn't the best diet she could have. It was lacking in nutrients.

But I don't think that's why your tortoise died. It sounds more like an acute episode of something.

If not choking, could she have gotten stuck some place and hurt herself? Or eaten something poisonous?

Did you do anything different or new in her enclosure lately? Or in her room?

If you haven't buried her, could you look into her mouth and see if anything is stuck?

Also remember, tortoises can get some of the same ailments we get. Something seems to have caused her enough pain for her to try ramming her head into the dirt to alleviate it.

I thought that tort formula provided them with the nutrients they need. There is no place where she could have gotten stuck at. There are some logs in there, maybe she could have gotten a splinter. There is nothing in her enclosure that would be poisonous. I added those logs a month ago and she seemed to love them she would climb over them(they were small logs). I checked her mouth after she died and there wasn't dirt in there anymore. Her mouth was pretty well white, it still had some pink to it. The weird thing is last week I gave myself a pat on the back because I was watching her eat and her mouth was pink and her eyes were very clear. I mean she looked and acted like an incredibly healthy tortoise.

 

[Golden Greek Tortoise 567]

So sorry for your loss. ?

 

[KarenSoCal]

I'm just so sorry you lost her.
Whatever the cause, it's heartbreaking to lose a pet. ?

 

[Tom]

I thought that tort formula provided them with the nutrients they need. There is no place where she could have gotten stuck at. There are some logs in there, maybe she could have gotten a splinter. There is nothing in her enclosure that would be poisonous. I added those logs a month ago and she seemed to love them she would climb over them(they were small logs). I checked her mouth after she died and there wasn't dirt in there anymore. Her mouth was pretty well white, it still had some pink to it. The weird thing is last week I gave myself a pat on the back because I was watching her eat and her mouth was pink and her eyes were very clear. I mean she looked and acted like an incredibly healthy tortoise.

Sounds like poisoning to me.

Kale is not a good staple. Once in a while it is fine, but not every day. I also don't think the wrong diet would do this. If it were from that, I would expect it to be gradual and take a long time.

The ZooMed pellets are a good supplement to a widely varied diet of greens, weeds and leaves, but not a substitute for a good varied diet.