Sulcata is screaming please help

[Sosamuk]

My sulcata makes a horrible screaming noise, in the video it happens when he retracts his head, although I'm not sure if he makes the noise at other times, he's on a mixed diet of fruit and salad, he's in an open topped table viv and lives with a horsefield, the heating carts from 15 degrees at night and 24/26 degrees during the day, he has a uv light on for 13 hours of the day and lives on wood pellets, I have tried them on top souls but they don't seem to like it and make loads of mess, the have cuttlefish and a powder block to chew on but don't seem to be interested in it recently, please help

Sam

 

[Sosamuk]

See video ataxhed

 

[Tom]

Is this a prank?

Your video did not attach. If this is not a joke, then you are lucky your tortoise is still alive. Either you got no advice, or you got and followed really bad advice. On the chance that this is for real I'm going to give you the advice you should have gotten. Reading all of these will show you where your mistakes are and how to correct them.

You need to immediately:
1. Soak this tortoise in warm water. The screaming is likely due to constipation.
2. Get it warmed up. This tortoise should never drop below 26, even at night, and it needs a basking area of 37 or so.

In the near future you need to:
1. House them separately. Species should never be mixed and tortoises should generally not be housed as a pair.
2. Vastly improve the diet. Fruit is bad for them. Salad is not harmful, but it is also not the correct diet.
3. Change that substrate.
4. Get this tortoise into an enclosure that can provide the correct heat and humidity for the species.

Here are your threads:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/how-to-raise-a-healthy-sulcata-or-leopard-version-2-0.78361/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/for-those-who-have-a-young-sulcata.76744/

And here is one for your horsfield:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/

If this is genuine, I hope you will let us help you and your tortoises.

 

[Sosamuk]

I got the advise off of forums, before I got the tortoise, no idea why the video didn't load, but I bath him regularly. And he only has fruit occasionally but I will remove fruit from his diet now you have advised me that it's not good for them. I am getting a lot of different advise from different people it's very hard to know what's the correct advise to take

 

[pepsiandjac]

I got the advise off of forums, before I got the tortoise, no idea why the video didn't load, but I bath him regularly. And he only has fruit occasionally but I will remove fruit from his diet now you have advised me that it's not good for them. I am getting a lot of different advise from different people it's very hard to know what's the correct advise to take

Sosamuk,for the sake of your tort, please listen to Tom,forget everything else you was ever told,no-one knows sullys better than Tom

 

[Robertchrisroph]

What is correct is Tom. He is the man, sometimes he's rough but its the tortoise he cares about. Please do as he says

 

[Jodie]

I hope you will listen to Tom. There is a lot of bad advice out there, bot Tom really knows what he is talking about and can help you. Read the threads and ask any questions you have.

 

[Sosamuk]

Thank you for your advise, my sulcata is 7 years old and I have obviously been doing it wrong for a long time! He seems very happy but I have read his other posts and will tKe note of them and change my ways, what I will say is that all of toms points aside what would be causing the screaming?

 

[Sosamuk]

Btw I have tried soaking him in warm water still nothing, he's eating normally

 

[Robertchrisroph]

The first 2 lines of toms answer is important. get him in the bath tub and soak with warm water. Not till he gets wet but a good soak, maybe half an hour or more keep temps between 80 and 90 f water temp. get him to move around in the water. Don't fill past were the bottom and top of shell meet. If he's stopped up it could be painful. (screaming).

 

[Robertchrisroph]

How long was his soaks. Mine gets to pooping around the 30 minutes.

 

[Heather H]

Welcome to the forum. Can you post pics of him.

 

[Robertchrisroph]

Can you take him for a drive? lol. I herd the bumps on a trip can get them pooping to

 

[Sosamuk]

He's currently in the bath, l give him half an hour and keep the temperature up.

 

[Sosamuk]

If he still hasn't pooped i take him for a drive and see if that helps

 

[Tom]

Thank you for your advise, my sulcata is 7 years old and I have obviously been doing it wrong for a long time! He seems very happy but I have read his other posts and will tKe note of them and change my ways, what I will say is that all of toms points aside what would be causing the screaming?

Hi Sam. Given all you said, I really wasn't sure this was for real. Most people know to keep sulcatas warm and not house them with a russian, but I understand there is a lot of conflicting info out there in the world. We have a thread running on this right now. Check it out:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/dont-ask-if-you-wont-take-the-advice.110935/
I think it will give you some more insight into this place. Just don't stop after the first few posts. There are some really good posts in this thread, so read on a bit.

Anyhow, on to your issue: Most of the time this is due to dehydration and or constipation. I can only guess at this point. Housing them dry on dry substrate can contribute to dehydration. Lack of fiber in the diet could be part of your issue too. In any case the treatment is lots of soaking and exercise. Locomotion helps move things along the GI tract and water absorbed into the cloaca will help soften the stool. Best to use a bath tub. The size and slickness will have give him a good work out and get him very active which is what is needed. Keep the water warm and refresh it as needed. I'd soak for an hour and get the water about half way up the shell, but do be careful and keep a close eye on him in the tub. I would do this every day for the next couple of weeks and also begin addressing your temperature, substrate and diet issues during that time. I suspect the unusually cold temperatures (Cold for this species, fine for your russian although even he needs a warmer basking spot...) might also have been a contributing factor. Often car rides (warm car, plastic tub) will break things loose and make them poop. If this doesn't work after a day or two, you may need a vet to help squirt some mineral oil up the cloaca. At that point a vet could also X-ray and eliminate or confirm the possibility of kidney or bladder stones.

If constipation is not your issue, the soaks and exercise will do no harm.

Please keep us posted and feel free to ask lots of questions.

 

[pepsiandjac]

Like Tom said its probably constipation,i;d soak him for longer than half an hour just make sure water don;t go cold

 

[Sosamuk]

I'm say by the bath with a thermometer in keeping and eye on the temp. I have just drawn up plans to build a new vic for him, as my trade is carpentry a new vic will be built by the end of the week and I have some top soils down the farm I will use as substrate. Any other advise would be great. During the summer he does spend the day outside eating grass and weeds etc I have only been feeding him fruit for the past few weeks so will stop that straight away and will stop feeding him salad tomorrow and start weening him onto grass as your other post has suggested.

 

[Jodie]

Hope this works out ok. My leopard had problems with constipation a while back and i dipped Romaine, because this is her favorite, in mineral oil. I gave her a tablespoon and a day later she would be better. Make sure you give the mineral oil with food, if you do this. They can choke on it otherwise. Good luck.

 

[Sosamuk]

30 min update, no poop yet, going to keep him in for another 30 mins and repeate all week but will take him for a drive as well