Unusual behavior

[Dalz]

I have a star tortoise. It was a gift, so I haven't been able to judge its age or other such details. I've had him for only six months, so far.
We live in India, so luckily we don't have extreme winters. However, I'm still looking for a vet, so I can get him checked. But sadly, no vets in our neighborhood and the surrounding areas seem to know anything about turtles or tortoises, most specialize in pets like dogs, cats and birds. I'm writing in the hope that someone would be able to give me some information with regards to certain behaviors that I've noticed with our pet tortoise recently. He is on the whole a healthy tortoise, never noticed any symptoms of sickness or nothing. However, there've been two specific instances when I noticed that he had some sort of fit. His head moved in an unusual fashion almost like he was banging the side of his head to his front foot. His front feet also kept shaking in the same manner. These incidents have been very disturbing, as the manner in which the tortoise's head and front feet moved were very similar to someone having an epileptic fit. Honestly, I'm not sure what to make of this or what could be causing this. It has occurred twice so far. Can someone please tell me if this is behavious you sometimes find or should I be alarmed.
Thanks...

 

[Stephanie Logan]

Welcome to the forum, Dalz!

We have several experienced Star keepers on this forum, so one of them should respond to your tortoise's specific issues soon.

One very helpful contribution to a "diagnosis" would be some photos of your tortoise, and details about his enclosure: lighting, heat, substrate, and his diet. Here's one way to post photos: http://tortoiseforum.org/thread-5245.html .

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Dalz:

I have never heard of this before. I don't keep Stars and don't know anything about their care, but I have many other kinds of tortoise and have never seen the behavior you describe. Is there any chance that he was being bitten by maybe a red ant or something stinging him?

to the forum!!

 

[Stephanie Logan]

Anything new on your torty's condition? Is he still having the spasms?

 

[tjm1302]

are they spasms or more like he is rubbing? I could be that he has dried food on his mouth or feet. Mine rub their feet against their mouths (sometimes quite roughly) when they have dried food on either. Give him a good soad and see if that helps.

 

[Dalz]

Hi All,

Thank you so much for replying. The lil one hasn't been having these spasm regularly, there were just two occasions when this took place. I was wondering about something else, I was watching my room mate yesterday while he was placing the lil one back in his living area. (We often let him out of his enclosure as his current area is not too larger. We are building a bigger area for him at the moment) While my room mate carried him back to his enclosure, he began wriggling in an almost similar manner. Do tortoises react in this way?
I mean are they known to throw a fit or something if they are made to do something they don't want. He probably didn't want to be placed back in the enclosure. I can't be sure, but after last night I realised both the previous occasions when Bobo (the torts name) had a fit, he was being placed back in his enclosure. Honestly, I'm not sure, but yesterday spasm clearly appeared to be a tantrum, if thats possible. Especially, since he stopped shaking the minute my room mate put him down. This is my first tortoise, so I could be reading this wrong. What do you think, should I be alarmed yet? Are there any specific signs I should look for that will tell me if he is actually sick or this is just something he does.

 

[Yvonne G]

Sometimes when you pick up a baby it will thrash and throw it's legs about wildly. This is a defensive maneuver, meaning he's scared and is trying desperately to get away.