TORTOISE URI RESEARCH PROJECT- need all the help I can get :)

[luvoogway]

Hi all,
My name is Kristy. I’m a student at ASU doing some research on tortoise upper respiratory infections and I’m looking for tortoise owners who could be able to help me with this study. I have a Sulcata of my own who suffers from a URI, so I made this brief research survey to help me find some trends towards what could be causing our tortoise friends to fall sick with this type of infection. If anyone with a tortoise who could have suffered from a URI could just take a few minutes to fill out these questions about diet, husbandry, and maybe some symptoms you notice in your tort, it would be a HUGE help!

Thank you all!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1...eVY6kLHgrM6w1rAbSMtE41SQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

 

[mojo_1]

My redfoot tortoise came home with a Respiratory infection but that was from lack of proper care from breeder and wrong information given about proper care.

 

[wellington]

Most that we see on here is due to temps being too cold for to long.

 

[Yvonne G]

I second Wellington. Most often a runny nose is caused by the tortoise being too cold. But unless a smear is looked at under a microscope, "infection" is really not known. Stress causes runny nose too and stress is not an infection.

 

[dd33]

Be sure to give this paper a good read:
https://newcms.eventkaddy.net/event...RNasalDischargeinTortoises_20150512213127.pdf

I think it is unlikely that poor husbandry is the cause of URIs. Rather the animal was already infected with one (or several) diseases that are prevalent in both wild caught and captive bred animals. Poor husbandry only caused the animal to breakdown and exhibit symptoms of respiratory distress. Most people will never know that their tortoises have any of the diseases in that paper, the tests cannot be performed in a vet clinic. Samples must be sent out to specialized labs for analysis.

Here are some of the sad truths about this:
- Most vets are unfamiliar with tortoise diseases so they wind up treating the symptoms.
- The cost to test for most tortoise diseases can be exorbitant, lab fees for most are in the $50-$100 range with your vet likely doubling the cost for their time, overnight shipping. . .
- Most tortoise diseases not curable anyway. You can treat symptoms but the underlying issue is still there and will eventually kill the animal in time.
- Too many people breed and sell animals knowing they have a history of disease in their collection. The ones that don't know probably just haven't (or refuse) to test.

 

[wellington]

Temperatures not being correct and too cold can for sure contribute to and/or cause a URI, that's part of husbandry! The to cold temps will also affect the immune system which will make catching a URI or anything else easier. If caught right away and corrections/improvements are made, it can clear up as it likely was only in the cold stage. Left too long or immune system was affected, you are likely looking at a URI.

 

[dd33]

@wellington I don't think you understood what I said and there is no point in trying to argue this with you. Read that paper and maybe look up a few others on Mycoplasma.

 

[mojo_1]

My tort has tested positive for having Mycoplasma.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

I've stumbled upon a meta study about URTI, maybe it would be helpful: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1090023314002366?via=ihub
At the very least, they have a lots of references on other studies.