Do all get it? Are WC more apt to get it? Do they ever get over it?
How easy are they to treat? Injections or oral meds?
Is it contagious to other torts?
How cold can they get during hibernation? Do you bring them inside or in the garage? As long as they are dry can it freeze outside? Like the deserts?
Lots of questions.. thinking of expanding a bit.. :-)
Quite often what we perceive to be a respiratory infection is really a tortoise that is being kept too dry....or on cedar or pine shavings, etc. But if your tortoise does get a respiratory infection, its not a death sentence. If I have a tortoise with a runny nose, I usually ignore it. The only time I intervene is if the mucous turns thick or colored, or if the tortoise stops eating. Then, my drug of choice is Naxcel. Baytril is very harsh and causes the tortoise much pain.
Yvonne
Is Naxcel given orally? If they are not eating, how do you get it to them?
Is Naxcel given orally? If they are not eating, how do you get it to them?
You give it IM or sub cu.
Yvonne
Are WC more apt to get it? Do they ever get over it?
Many wild tortoise populations have been decimated by Upper Respiratory Tract Disease (URTD), a fatal condition caused by Mycoplasma agassizii. It's possible that the Mycoplasma is a mutated form introduced from exotic tortoises. One theory is that wild desert tortoises were captured and housed with exotic species, became sick, and then were released back into the wild where they infected other wild desert tortoises. Another theory poses that the disease is naturally occurring, but populations experience flare-up during stress or environmental perturbations. It's spread by face-to-face contact, which adult tortoises engage in during courtship and male-male combats. The tortoises usually display outward signs of the condition (discharge from nares and swollen, puffy eyes) for a while, and spread the Mycoplasma during this stage. The next phase involves lethargy, decreased activity, and no obvious outward signs, often for months. Then the tortoise becomes emaciated and dies.
This is one more reason (besides the obvious legal reason) that we should educate people that removing wild desert tortoises from populations is a really, really bad idea.
Many wild tortoise populations have been decimated by Upper Respiratory Tract Disease (URTD), a fatal condition caused by Mycoplasma agassizii.
But everyone should bear in mind that all runny nose is NOT URTD. Most of the runny noses you see in captive tortoises is merely a reaction to stress or too dry conditions.
I receive mostly male desert tortoises through my Rescue. The majority of them have runny noses. The only way to tell if it is URTD or not is through a blood test. Since this is not feasible for me (no money), I wait to see if it causes the tortoise to stop acting in a normal way. If he becomes lethargic or stops eating, then I treat with antibiotics. In all the years I've been treating runny noses, I've only lost one or two tortoises. They usually recover to live long lives. But the mycoplasma that causes URTD never goes away. The only thing the antibiotic treats is the symptom of the disease.
Yvonne
Both of my adult DT's have had runny noses more than once that needed to be treated. I think it is definitely stress and weather/too much humidity related in my cases. When I see a runny nose (after saying a couple bad words) I wait and watch to see if it will resolve. I have waited up to 2 weeks then after that if still having daily runny nose I do take them to the vet even if everything else seems fine. Of course, if other symptoms of illness such as lethargy, lack of appetite, mouth breathing, puffy eyes, colored mucous were present I would not wait. I would much rather treat with oral antibiotics when it is in the early stage than to wait and then they need more intensive care which may not be curable or may cost much much more. The times I have had to treat my DT's I have given oral tablets of Baytril daily for 4 weeks. I open their mouth and stick the pill in and if put in far enough they swallow it. I know this would not work with all torts and there is a bit of a technique to it but it is an easy way to give mine antibiotics without any of the bad side effects of injections. I have hibernated them after treatment as long as they go 1 month without runny nose. I hibernate them in a box in the garage and move to a cool room if too cold some nights. I will let them get down to low 50's. I keep a digital thermometer in their boxes. Keeping them at house temps (70's) while hibernating is not safe because microbes love to multiply at those temps and if there are any in their lungs they can wake up really sick or die during hibernation. I look at them, and listen to them breathe weekly while hibernating to make sure there is no sign of respiratory problem.
Do all get it? Are WC more apt to get it? Do they ever get over it?
How easy are they to treat? Injections or oral meds?
Is it contagious to other torts?
How cold can they get during hibernation? Do you bring them inside or in the garage? As long as they are dry can it freeze outside? Like the deserts?
Lots of questions.. thinking of expanding a bit.. :-)
Laura, here are some sites for info on URTI.
http://www.tortoise.org/general/urds2.html
http://www.tortoise.org/archives/brown1.html
http://www.tortoise.org/general/urds.html
How cold can they get during hibernation? you must keep them above freezing. If it drops to freezing or below the first thing to freeze are the eyes and the torts become blind. Continued low temps cause death. My DT hibernated in my canvas shed the temps got down to the low 30's for a few nights but the temp in the shed stayed in the mid 30's. I know lots of people who place them in the garage for hibernation in CA. I have heard a good hibernation temp is 38-40. Remember in the wild they dig burrows and will move within the burrow to keep a good hibernation temp and humidity in a tote in the garage or shed they can not do this.
About a month before hibernation I stop feeding mine but continue to give them lots of water. You don't want to try and hibernate a tort with a gut full of food.