Something in the throat

[slawsonx]

So my tortoise is 1 year old and is a horsfield. Last night she gasped/grunted while stretching her neck out twice. After that she was back to normal and went to sleep. Today I've watched her no runny nose, no watery eyes, eaten all her food and is active as ever. She hasn't done it since and is behaving completely normal. Should I worry about what happened?

 

[JoesMum]

So my tortoise is 1 year old and is a horsfield. Last night she gasped/grunted while stretching her neck out twice. After that she was back to normal and went to sleep. Today I've watched her no runny nose, no watery eyes, eaten all her food and is active as ever. She hasn't done it since and is behaving completely normal. Should I worry about what happened?

It's very hard to say.

What else was your tort doing as she stretched her neck out? Are you sure that she is a she? How big (straight shell length) is your tort?

Pictures of your tort might help us to identify any problems.

However, if she is otherwise eating, drinking and active as normal then there probably nothing to worry about.

 

[Tom]

What are your four temperatures?
What do you feed your tortoise?
How often do you soak your tortoise?

My suspicions would be the start of a respiratory infection and possibly constipation. If we can eliminate those possibilities with answers to the above questions, then I probably would not be too concerned.

 

[slawsonx]

I bathe her a few times a week, room temps and the cool end are always mid 20's and basking area is around 31/32', keep the humidity high as well as its only young. I don't know the gender the vet has a suspicions that it's a girl and that's what I'm calling it for now ahah

 

[slawsonx]

Main diet consist of kale, dandelion leaves, lambs lettuce. Fruit only once a month

 

[Pearly]

When my RF's were younger I inteoduced them to treats with freeze dried shrimp. They loved them so much that one jammed the whole little shimp into her mouth without bitting off pieces like they would normally have done. She started doing simething similar to what you describe, stretching neck, gasping, trying to "cough" in attempt to dislodge is. It looked very scary. They don't have hands to take out stuff that's wrong size or shape for their mouth, and it's not like you can do Heimlich. One of my babies is a challenged eater. To avoid any problems I've been chopping their food very finely which I admit I do to this day. They eat a lot better, great variety all mixed together with sprinkle of their favorite food never fails to intice them to get started. Once they taste all the flavors they continue on. Those little babies just need to be watched. I'm sure there is a number of torts who do die by choking. There was another time when this same RF baby jammed a whole snail in her mouth and started doing that head/neck moving, gasping, hissing sounds. We were outside then. That scared me so bad I completely took my eyes off the other baby for like a whole minute maybe... This was the day we had lost Tucker. He was gone most of February last year! Things like that happen. Just try to be proactive and anticipate potential issues before they take place. Watch your baby eat and drink to know what is "normal" for her

 

[slawsonx]

Thank you for the advice! I'll make sure to chop the food into smaller pieces.

 

[slawsonx]

I'm so sorry to hear about your pet, my condolences. I can't imagine how scary it must of been to see that

 

[Tom]

I bathe her a few times a week, room temps and the cool end are always mid 20's and basking area is around 31/32', keep the humidity high as well as its only young. I don't know the gender the vet has a suspicions that it's a girl and that's what I'm calling it for now ahah

I would bump the basking temp directly under the lamp up to around 36-37. I think your ambient and night temps are fine for a baby with humidity.

 

[slawsonx]

Okay I will do thank you, she's running around (well tortoise version of running) all day today so I'm not too worried

 

[Tom]

Main diet consist of kale, dandelion leaves, lambs lettuce. Fruit only once a month

This is probably not related to this issue you are asking about, but your diet needs some improvement. Kale is okay once in a while but it should not be a staple. Dandelion is okay some of the time but also not every day. I'm not familiar with lambs lettuce. Your diet needs more fiber. Weeds are best if you can find or make a source for for them. If not, find a source of fiber like the ZooMed Grassland pellets to add to your grocery store greens. Favor endive and escarole for your weekly staples. For variety, add arugula, parsley, carrot tops, cilantro, collard, mustard, and turnip greens, etc. Spineless opuntia pads are good too.

Fruit is not good for them. Think about this. If it so bad that you can only feed it once a month, then why feed it at all?