Sick Tiny Indian Star Tortoise, help ?

[Alex0782]

Hi All,

We have two baby tortoise (twins - from the same egg).

Recently we went on holiday for Christmas and left both Elmo and Leon at a pet boarding. When we came back yesterday Elmo looked very weak and puffy, he didn't opened his eyes at all. The vivarium in which they were kept was soaking wet.

Since yesterday Elmo has barely been moving, he refuses food, he doesn't react much when you touch him, and his eyes are closed. We have given him 2 hot bath yesterday and one this morning, but not much reaction.

We have an emergency vet appointment later on today, but unfortunately we couldn't get a reptile vet appointment.
If any of you has been in a similar case, or know how we can help our tiny Elmo, that'd be highly appreciated.

I have added pictures, before (eyes opened -- less puffy) and after (eyes closed).

 

[TechnoCheese]

What are the enclosure temps?
Where did you get this tortoise?
How is the other one doing?
Could we see a picture of the enclosure?

I would definitely get them separated. Tortoises are solitary, territorial animals that should not be kept in pairs.

 

[Cheryl Hills]

Try a carrot soak.

 

[Yvonne G]

I'll bet the place you left him for care while you were away didn't keep him warm enough. Wet substrate and cool temperatures is real bad for baby tortoises. It's quite important you put little Elmo in a smaller, hospital tank (I use a 10 gallon aquarium for this purpose) and keep him warm, day and night. I would increase the temperature to 85F degrees. Don't allow the vet to give the baby vitamin injections.

 

[Alex0782]

Thank you all for the comments.

Technocheese, we have had those tortoises for 7 month now, Elmo and Leon are twins, they came from the same egg, and loved each others presence. We left the tortoises at a boarding place during our holidays, Leon came back fine, but Elmo is all puffy.

CherryHills, thank you, we did try a carrot soak, and a couple of warm bath, but he didn't even opened his eyes.

Yvonne, we have now gone to a University Vet Hospital and they will try to take care of him but they didn't give him much chances. They said that the boarding place should have been much more careful with the humidity and warm of the terrarium and he probably caught an infection over there

We will have some news tomorrow.

 

[TechnoCheese]

Thank you all for the comments.

Technocheese, we have had those tortoises for 7 month now, Elmo and Leon are twins, they came from the same egg, and loved each others presence. We left the tortoises at a boarding place during our holidays, Leon came back fine, but Elmo is all puffy.

Sadly, that’s not how tortoises work. Because they are solitary in the wild, they literally are not capable of loving eachother, being friends, etc. In fact, in the wild tortoises really only see other tortoises as mates, combatants, or both. Them being twins does nothing, seeing as tortoises do not stick together in “family units”. The mother lays the eggs and leaves, and the babies go their own way.

You may think they love each other because they’re cuddling, sharing a hide, following each other, etc. However, these are far from signs of affection. Signs like those, sitting nose to nose, standing on food, and just being together in general are all one tortoise trying to push, chase, and stress the other out of their territory.

The reason pairs don’t work is that in pairs, there’s always a dominant and a subordinate. They’re both immensely stressed because one is constantly being bullied, and the other can’t get the intruder out of it’s territory. Neither can escape like they would be able to in the wild.

The fact that only one became sick could be a big hint that bullying has been happening, and the stress of being together definitely won’t help it recover. I would definitely get them separated.