Watery eyes and possible wheezing

[hunterk997]

I started soaking my russian tortoise every day now and this morning while soaking her, I noticed around every five seconds she made a sound that sounded like an incomplete "hiss." but she never tucked her head in. I don't know if she did this before and I'm just noticing. After her soak I dried her off and noticed it looked like she was crying. And I know that's bad, but again, she was perfectly fine yesterday. I'm not sure if it is from her soak or what. But it never happened before. Should I taker her to the vet? Her normal temps are 95 on the basking end and usually 75- 80 on the cool end. But as soon as i noticed this I replaced the 40 watt with a 60 watt to increase the temp to about 100- 105. Will this increase help or do I need a vet?


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[EchoTheLeoTort]

tough call. but I think i'd head to the vet to be safe. Could possibly a respiratory issue if she is making strange noises. Have you noticed her breathing with her mouth open at all? How about discharge from the nose?

 

[hunterk997]

She yawned when she woke up, but only once. And there isn't any nasal discharge.


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[hunterk997]

tough call. but I think i'd head to the vet to be safe. Could possibly a respiratory issue if she is making strange noises. Have you noticed her breathing with her mouth open at all? How about discharge from the nose?

The noises stopped today. Still no discharges. But her activity is really low lately. She doesn't want to come out and eat also. She will eat if I take her out of her hide and put her next to it. But she refuses to be active and search on her own. The watery eyes are gone too. Does she meed more variety in her diet? Or do I have to make her search for it on her own and just give her some "tough love?"


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[lokenica]

I am keeping a Russian for a fellow teacher and he did the same thing to me yesterday, but he did pull his head in....he sneezed a lot while pulling his head in and his nose ran once....but he ate and ate and explored all day....weird. I left the lights on all night to warm him up. This morning, he ate and ate and I soaked him and he played all day and sunned under the lamp....then I went to Petco and added coconut coir to his reptibark to hold in humidity....he's still playing and I haven't heard sneezing again....hoping I get to keep him....I am waiting on the owner to contact me to see if she wants to come get him to take him to the vet....let me know how yours does....they are soooo darn cute....try to give her some sedum if you grow it in the garden....Otis loves it....he also likes yellow squash....he'll take that right out of my hand....keep me posted!

 

[EchoTheLeoTort]

To be honest I think some torts are more vocal then most people give them credit for. They think that torts are silent, but torts make various sounds. I heard mine make clicking noises when it opens its mouth, which is normal (unless there is discharge and wheezing) Other people have heard other noises as well. I am guessing since you only heard the noise once it was just a normal noise. It can be scary hearing it, but i'm sure its just your tort becoming vocal. Maybe your tort had some water on it somehow and it rolled down its face and looked like it was coming out of the eye? I'm just trying to make guesses. Vocal torts are normal, if there is no discharge, from the eyes or nose, and the eyes seem clear and the nose is clear and the breathing is normal I wouldn't worry anymore. You also have to remember that torts have personalities like us. Some days we are lazy, some days they can be, some days they wanna be active, other days not. What I would do is to leave some food in a dish in the morning, then leave the tortoise alone for a full 24 hours. Don't disturb it or check on it or bother it. See if the food is gone the next morning, or at least partially eaten. Torts do sleep and lounge around a lot. so in answer, yes give a day of tough love and let her find her own food. Also thanks for changing the bulb to make it warmer, your warm end was okay before but cool area was a little too low. I would try to get the cool end at least 80, but since you have lower humidity because you have a russian I dont think itd be harmful if it dropped to 78 or so. I know that when you get a tort there are so many new things they do that it can be scary. But I think if the symptoms stopped your tort was just being a little vocal. In the next week, just keep a close eye on her ok? Here is stuff to look for that isn't good. - Runny nose/ clogged stuffy nose, or yellow crusty discharge around the nose, cloudy eyes, excessive eye watering, or she doesn't want to open her eyes at all, the lids appear swollen. Listen for her breathing as well, each time she breathes does it make a clicking noise? It's also not good if she is opening her mouth to breathe, almost like gasping for air. Does your tortoise get UVB light? They need that light to absorb the calcium. As for diet, I would be giving her greens.. green leaf lettuce, kale, water cress, endive, spring mix from the store, no iceberg lettuce ( just because its not very nutritious) just look for a russian care sheet for examples of food to give. It wouldn't hurt for you to check a care sheet anyway just to see if your housing is right, things like temps, humidity, substrate, hides, water, food, all that good stuff. I'm not saying anything is wrong, I am sure you are a good care taker, but just read over it, see if you missed anything. Good luck

 

[hunterk997]

Thank you for the info. She was a bit more active today. She ate all of her food, no watery eyes still. She yawns every now and then, but apparently it's normal? I feel more better about it now. I'll go look for some more care sheets and find some more good foods, and make sure everything is correct. I'll try out leaving her be for a day with food and see how it goes.


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[EchoTheLeoTort]

yawning is normal. My echo used to do it once in awhile. its awfully cute I think your tort is just fine and I wouldn't worry

 

[zman7590]

Weeeeee

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[WillTort2]

80 degrees is good for the cool end if you're trying to cure a respiratory problem. But for healthy Russians, they will be more active and eat better if their cool end is around 75 daytime and 65 at night. In summer, if you can't get the temps down to 65 don't worry they will just be a little less active.

These temps are what you would see naturally in the spring and fall when Russians are most active in the wild.

 

[hunterk997]

I got the cool end down and made it so that it cools down at night. But she began to become active again, I think because I was underfeeding before. But now I have feeding cilantro and collard greens and she doesn't seem to like them, but I'm trying to be more stibborn than her, but she refuses to eat. Anyway, the other day she was eating, and it looked like she had watery eyes again. It's kind of hard to tell though because the times it looks like they are watery, is when she is soaking, and in this case, eating just freshly cut and washed food. And now she doesn't even bother to come out. Today is the second day she has done this. I woke her up today, she gets wide awake, she lets me pet her head, I put her back and she resumes sleeping. Could the watery eyes and being lethargic be connected, or coincidence? Should I try a different food and make sure she eats enough of it?


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