stressed tortoise?

[RumBrave13]

Hello,

My girlfriend and I have a Russian tortoise named Dimitri. Just a few hours ago we had him outside to get some sun (and he likes to take a few bites out of the petunia plant). While he was wandering, i noticed a bubble come out of his nose. A bit later he made a noise which we believe was a sneeze. I picked him up and his nose is clear but a little runny. Could Dimitri have a cold? I read on the forums that if a tort is stressed, they can get lethargic, get a runny nose, not eat well etc. Dimitri is mostly active in the morning and after noon, and usually hides in his half log through out the day. He eats very well and has a good appetite. The weather here (Pasadena CA) fluctuates from warm to cold, gloomy to sunny. He is also getting big enough that we had to place a long rock underneath a part of his half log so that he could comfortably hide in it.

We will keep an eye on him to see if this persists and make a vet appointment. My Girlfriend and I have been sick the last week or so, could Dimitri have gotten sick from us? Or could this be stress?

 

[Jessie]

Well as for him hopefully somebody with more experience can help you out. But I do know that your little guy can't get sick from you. So no he did not catch YOUR cold. But again let somebody else tell you about his specific situation. Sorry I couldn't help much.

 

[RumBrave13]

Well as for him hopefully somebody with more experience can help you out. But I do know that your little guy can't get sick from you. So no he did not catch YOUR cold. But again let somebody else tell you about his specific situation. Sorry I couldn't help much.

Hey, thanks for that info though, im so glad that we didnt get him sick lol!

 

[ascott]

Welcome to the Forum and we LOVE PICS

Has something changed lately for Dimitri? What is it that you believe may be causing stress? Or is it simply the potential runny nose? What is his enclosure like? Are you certain he has a runny nose...a sneeze alone is alright..especially since you say he does not sneeze alot etc.....

Perhaps some info; what type, size enclosure does he have? What are his temps in his enclosure..cold middle and basking spot...what are his humidity levels at? Does his enclosure temps drop during the evening or do you also provide a heat source for night as well?....

 

[RumBrave13]

Welcome to the Forum and we LOVE PICS

Has something changed lately for Dimitri? What is it that you believe may be causing stress? Or is it simply the potential runny nose? What is his enclosure like? Are you certain he has a runny nose...a sneeze alone is alright..especially since you say he does not sneeze alot etc.....

Perhaps some info; what type, size enclosure does he have? What are his temps in his enclosure..cold middle and basking spot...what are his humidity levels at? Does his enclosure temps drop during the evening or do you also provide a heat source for night as well?....

Hello!

Our thoughts on him being stressed were due to the runny nose.

As for his enclosure, this is it:

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Dimitri-s-enclosure#axzz1nWXqyGPg

Not much has changed from that post except that he has gotten a little bigger. I added a long rock to raise the half log a bit so that he can hide comfortably, a bit ago his shell scraped the top. The last few days the weather has shifted to bright, hot and sunny to gloomy and rainy. During the colder season, we left his night light on during the day (along with his day light) so that the enclosure stayed warmer and consistant. A few days ago we started turning off the night light due to the warmer weather. Its gloomy today with a chance of rain so we decided to go back to having the night light on again.

Oh, also we have been soaking him every other day now for a while.

Today we were going to look into a bigger enclosue and go with 100% coco coir instead of a mix.

Please let me know if you need any more information, and thanks a bunch for helping out!

 

[ascott]

Hi..ok so I looked at the other thread....I looked at your temps at that time and the thing that stuck out with me are your temps (at least then..I am guessing will be about the same?) I am seeing your basking side is generally 85-95 with your cool side being so very close in temp to the hot side I am wondering if your guy is able to regulate well enough from hot to cool?? Sometimes if a tort can not actually cool down they will be in a constant state if near overheat and you can have runny nose as well....so my suggestion would be to allow a cooler side that will allow a temp of 70-75 ish (I recommend this low of temp based on a healthy tortoise--an ailing tort should be kept With temps that fall no lower than 80-85 ish).

Also, I would say that your humidity should be more in the 30-40 range and not higher than that...not for this size of tortoise along with this species of tortoise....I would not do misting too much nor watering down the substrate but every once in awhile....again...these are the things that came to my mind...others may offer up some great advise...so stick around and see what others have to offer...the more the merrier...

 

[RumBrave13]

Hi..ok so I looked at the other thread....I looked at your temps at that time and the thing that stuck out with me are your temps (at least then..I am guessing will be about the same?) I am seeing your basking side is generally 85-95 with your cool side being so very close in temp to the hot side I am wondering if your guy is able to regulate well enough from hot to cool?? Sometimes if a tort can not actually cool down they will be in a constant state if near overheat and you can have runny nose as well....so my suggestion would be to allow a cooler side that will allow a temp of 70-75 ish (I recommend this low of temp based on a healthy tortoise--an ailing tort should be kept With temps that fall no lower than 80-85 ish).

Also, I would say that your humidity should be more in the 30-40 range and not higher than that...not for this size of tortoise along with this species of tortoise....I would not do misting too much nor watering down the substrate but every once in awhile....again...these are the things that came to my mind...others may offer up some great advise...so stick around and see what others have to offer...the more the merrier...

thanks for this info!

 

[RumBrave13]

Hi again!

Here is an update for Dimitri!

We saw the vet and they said that it may be an upper respitory issue. They were glad we brought him in asap. While at the vet, they also found out that he had worms and that he was a little dehydrated They gave him some medicine for both the parasites and for the upper respitory issue. They recomended that we soak him for an hour a day every day and to give him some medicine in the form of shots.

The shots were doses of "ceftazidime" (100mg every two days) and "amikacin"(25 mg every three days). That was the hard part. The vet showed us how to give him a proper shot in his upper legs, never lower (lower would have gone to his kidneys which the vet wanted to avoid) and we were so afraid that we would be hurting him >_<

All in all, we got through it and made sure to do it properly.

As soon as we got back home, we changed his substrate to 100% coco coir bark. The vet said that the old substrate may have been too dry for the weather and that it may have caused the respitory issues. Afterward, we got a metal water dog dish for his soaks. The vet recomended this since its deep enough that he cant crawl out, and that under his lamp, the water should stay at a constant warm temp.

The next day his runny nose was gone! and he looked alot better! His appetite never waned mind you lol. We gave him his shots for about two weeks and we saw the vet again. On the follow up visit, the vet noticed that the parasites were gone and that he looked healthy (and that he weighed a slight bit more lol). We got some new medicine for him (to be given orally) which we have been sneaking into his food, and we were given the OK to cut down the shots. We only have to give him the "amikacin" shot every three days. We are seeing the vet again this weekend for another follow up.

Dimitri is doing alot better and he loves the coir bark! He has such an easier time digging.

Thanks everyone for your support! We have taken alot of pics of him and we promise to upload them soon.