UPDATE My tortoise is sick

[BuffsTorts]

I got my tortoise on Thursday.
During my inspection, her eyes were clear, nostrils dry, mouth normal...
Friday morning:
I see saliva bubblying out her mouth, clear nostrils.
I post, we all hope it is just moving stress.
Friday night:
I get home and her mouth is dry, and she is only lethargic.
*I think, why is it dry now? Why no saliva? Is she going to be ok now?
Saturday morning:
She is foaming saliva out of her mouth, I call around, NO one who knows anything about tortoises is at any of the open vets in Toronto I can find, Thanksgiving weekend...
Saturday night:
Her mouth is dry, a little lethargic, I am skeptical of any change, she did not eat.
Sunday morning:
Foaming again
Now, 100% lethargic, no saliva.
Bathe her, DOES not move and inch.
I place her at 85-90o and watch her for 45 minutes, does not move and INCH, does not even pull her arms in.

Tomorrow is the actual holiday, there is NO way for me to get any reasonable vet to look at her until Tuesday.
The seller, who is of course stating she and all of her cage mates were in PERFECT health.

To be honest, when I looked at her, I knew the guy was full of BS, she is 100% WC if there is anything I have learned here...
However, I am so dedicated to proving out a colony to be able to guarantee 100% CB Ontario born babies for sale. Not to make money, but to help others get their hands on these awesome little things, that are not available CB.
So I bought her knowing she was WC, and knew there was a risk she would need vet attention, but I am very bummed that she is SOOOO weak. I feel awful for the girl, and feel helpless.
I do feel better that I have her, instead of someone else who might not have opened the wallet at the vet. But its upsetting... So thanks for reading this wall, your thoughts are appreciated.
Help me help her...

 

[Yvonne G]

Foaming at the mouth sometimes means the tortoise is over heated. But it could also mean a poisoning of some sort. Best thing for you to do is put the tortoise in room temperature water (during a foaming episode) and leave it there for 15 or 20 minutes.

Russian tortoises are very hardy tortoises and are pretty forgiving of the poor care we give them. Please take a good look at your husbandry and be sure you are doing everything necessary for this tortoise. The main thing to look at is the temperature in the habitat and the type of substrate you are using.

Good luck. I hope the tortoise gets well soon.

 

[Isa]

Good luck .
I really hope your little one will be ok soon.
Keep us updated please.

 

[BuffsTorts]

Emys...
Interesting take, it could also mean the guy who sold it is truthful in its health.
However why it would disappear every night?
All 4 of my tortoises are kept on a soil/cypress mulch/coco coir
My Apartment is around 70-74o ambient.
She has one bask that brings a 1x1 area to around 95o
She has one flood one half bringing it to around 80-90.
Then the rest is ambient.
Cage is about 2.5x7ft

One of my other girls spent 6 months in this type of setup(lights type of substrate) before I moved her into the bigger one with the others.
I changed the entire lining of the cage before she went in.
Half the cage is only about 1" deep, then one half is a ft deep.
First time I bathed her it was after I first noticed the saliva.(ruling out any detergents I might have used)
All food offered to her has been the same as the others.(she has eaten only a few leaves of spring mix)

What do I need to know and ask the vet if it might not be RI?
What kind of tests do I need?
Any information to help is soo appreciated.
Thanks!

 

[Lou]

sorry to hear that.

I will contact my friend to see if he sees similar symptoms in his male.

Did it poop or pee recently? definitely get a sample and it checked by the vet. I dont know if its routine, but a blood sample usually tells us a lot when we see human patients, but I dont know how well that translates to tortoises.

 

[BuffsTorts]

sorry to hear that.

I will contact my friend to see if he sees similar symptoms in his male.

Did it poop or pee recently? definitely get a sample and it checked by the vet. I dont know if its routine, but a blood sample usually tells us a lot when we see human patients, but I dont know how well that translates to tortoises.

no samples....
I will have her saliva and blood tested tomorrow morning.
The fecal will have to wait until she is eating again I think(although she did eat half her meal today I think).

 

[BuffsTorts]

Pneumonia was the diagnosis today at the vet.

X ray is from back to front, with her bum in the air, he face down at the ground in the shot.
We can see the 'left' lung, or right lung in the picture to be filled with a fluid, where the lung on the left side of the xray appears free of fluid(the R is on the 'left' side of the picture).

He drained 3 big syringes full of a yellowish fluid.
Gave 2 shots+fluids.
Kept for 3 days under his care being given daily baytril neubulizer.
A sample taken from her mouth was sent off to the culture lab for analysis.

Even at almost half price everything, the bill was still..... over $500.
Talk about a crappy deal on a tortoise, I hope she pulls through.

 

[Tracy Gould]

I am keeping everything crossed for your little tort.

 

[Lou]

Sorry to hear that man.

Best wishes for her.

 

[moswen]

i am sorry to hear that and you should post on a website somewhere about this seller, and take the xray to the seller, pneumonia doesn't happen overnight and it's easily avoided when caught in the URI stages, so he's either lying about the perfect health or the CB.

hope she pulls through, that's awful.

 

[BuffsTorts]

i am sorry to hear that and you should post on a website somewhere about this seller, and take the xray to the seller, pneumonia doesn't happen overnight and it's easily avoided when caught in the URI stages, so he's either lying about the perfect health or the CB.

hope she pulls through, that's awful.

Probably BOTH!
Importing tortoises has been illegal in Canada for 40 years.
I will post on a government Ontario website I believe, I know he has more and I am very worried about their health.

---

Sellers Postings and Website
http://toronto.kijiji.ca/c-pets-other-pets-for-sale-baby-tortoise-s-and-adults-W0QQAdIdZ229485556
http://www.bjslittlerodentsandreptiles.com/index.html

A recent posting, still advertising the same number of Russians.
I have asked twice for pictures of the supposed parents, no reply.

Does she look CB to you?


If you want to be upset, watch this video of her before I took her in this morning.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIUu-IUNTQI&feature=youtube_gdata

 

[canadiantortoiselover]

hello,my name is john my wife beverly and i own BJ,S Little Rodents and Reptiles.I am the seller off the tortoise i (think)in question. as i was never given tortoise back or told about sickness till after i was smeared and called a lier by purchaser on this forum or given the opportunity to see.

i just felt i should point out that as mentioned by the purchaser,the tortoise was/seemed in good health at time off purchase.it seemed in good health while in my possession and i would not knowingly sell a sick tortoise.i purchased these in good faith ,from a very reputable breeder/wholesaler in canada under the pretense that these tortoises are canadian captive born ,not wild caught,i asked.i am just an enthusiast and love tortoises as my name says.and fairly new to tortoises myself and honestly would/did not know the differance.which is why i depend on the honesty of the breeds/wholesalers i purchase from.

i would also like to say i was not made aware that tortoise was sick till after it had already been taken to vet and no call was placed to me from vets office our @ anytime making me aware of situation.i recieved 1 nasty threating email and then all communication was stopped by purchaser.

i was not given the opportunity to take the tortoise back or pay for vets care/bills.i would not off hesitated to do so. i have sold hundreds of animals and this is the only sale of a tortoise (to my knowledge)gone poorly. i honestly dont even know if this is my tortoise,the fact that you have not allowed me to see it or care for it make me question if this tortoise is /was mine.and not another 1 of your own tortoise,s and you are trying to harm my business.(exp your own post @ beginning before you knew tort was sick call me a lier and other comments)made by you.

i regret that this matter was made public before i had a chance to care for the tortoise ,and that the purchaser decided to be so malicous in his actions,as if intentionally trying to cost me my reputation.

i/we truly enjoy and love tortoises/animals/reptiles of all species and that is why my wife and i decided to breed some and buy others. those that our customers have asked for. and we have turned it into a business we are thrilled/proud to be a part of.part of our enjoyment come from meeting other animal reptile enthusiasts, and finding that perfect pet they have been looking for.which is why we put on sudbury,s first exotic pet expo.we educate and promote responsible ownership and always have.

to the purchaser,i am very sorry you felt this was necessary,i regret you recieved a animal who was or fell ill after you bought it,and that i was not permitted to right the wrong before you smeared my name on this forum which i am also a member of.i dont like to see animals sick or suffering,i would of seen that it was taken care of once i knew of the health issues,had you let me .

and for senior members off this forum to advise this member to maliciously slander,warn others without proof or full story is very scarey and irresponsable.promoting lies and adviseing how to ruining some1,s
reputation is not what i thought this forum was about .i hope im wrong as i use this site to gain the knowlege and expertise i need to care for these beautiful creatures.

this is all i will say on this matter,thank you for taking the time to read my post. john

 

[Yvonne G]

Hey, John:

I'm sorry we were so quick to jump to conclusions after hearing only one side of the equation.

Sometimes pnuemonia doesn't show symptoms right off the bat. If the tortoise was shipped, that probably just exacerbated the problem.

We usually try to give our members all the support we can to help them through a troubled time. That's all we were doing here.

I hope it all works out for both sides.

 

[Jacqui]

I too, am glad you came on and gave your side of the story. We do tend to only get one side of each situation unfortunately. Also we do tend to jump to conclusions based upon that one side. Sorry you were made to suffer from this. Hope your ability to speak up now, will do some good. In the end, the best part is the tortoise got to the vet in a very timely manner. I hope by now he is well on his way towards being healthy again.

 

[Shelli]

I do doubt it would be a WC as the OP mentioned you need very strict permits for tortoises to enter Canada it would just be too pricey, too lengthy & a lot of red tape I would think to bring in a WC tortoise.
Where abouts in Canada are you guys?

That vet bill ugh!! I hope the tortoise makes a full recovery... Communication is the key no matter how upset you are it always works out better that way..

 

[TKCARDANDCOIN]

I hope the tortoise recovers.