I have 2 russians that I have had for about 4 months. One of them just started to seem ill in the last couple of days. Suddenly stopped eating and his eyes are barely opening. He barely moves. My question is once they get to this point is there anything that can be done? I am assuming they are wild caught because at the time that I purchased them from the pet store I didn't know any better. Now, of course I have done much research and realize that CB are best. Once they are this sick can a vet really do anything to turn them around? or is it too late? I am soaking him once or twice a day right now to try to make him better.
thanks for any advice.

Hi,
Could you tell us about your set-up first. The temperatures, warm end, cool end, under the basking lamp and night time? What your using for lights and how long they are on for? What your feeding them?
It hasn't been off food long enough to worry about them passing away yet. Reptile medicine has come a long way and just about everything is cureable if caught early. Other than not eating and stuck shut eyes, are there any other symptoms, as in nasal discharge or diarrhea?

Danny

No nasal discharge or diarrhea. Just not active at all. He barely moves. We feed them a variety of lettuces, although they seem to eat romaine the most. Occasionally grated carrots mixed in and supplement with a little repti cal toroise granules but I don't see this tortoise eat much of those at all. The other one loves them. I sprinkle Total Nutrition for Tortoises on the food a couple of times a week. When it is warm they are in an outdoor enclosure and I bring them in at night but this week it has been colder here (Valencia, CA) so they are in a tub inside. I have them near a window where they get natural sunlight and I put a heating lamp over one corner. It gets up to about 80-85 degrees and at night when the light is off it gets down to about 70.
His eyes look sunken to me, like he is dehydrated. I usually soak them about once a week for 20 minutes but the last couple days I am soaking him once or twice a day. The other one is very strong and active and eats a lot.
thanks!

It sounds to me like he hasn't been eating for a while. You need to get him to a vet that deals with at least reptiles, tortoises in particuliar if possible. Bring in a poo sample and have them test it for worms and protozoa. The fresher the sample the better.
I would try to stop feeding the tortoise granules. They aren't very good for your Russians. Check out this website http://www.russiantortoise.org/ It has great information on keeping Russian tortoises, especially food to feed them.

Danny

thank you. It has only been a couple of days since I have seen him eat, but he certainly hasn't had the appetite that the other one has. I'm trying to find a good vet that knows tortoises. I will keep you posted.

You know your tortoise better than anyone but I also want to mention my experience because it might help you. I have four russians and they are all behaving differently now that the weather is cooler. I too had mine outside and the temps did drop a few weeks ago when it was raining so I brought them inside for a week. Now they are back outside with a heated house. Some are not eating at all and others are alert and walking. My older one was acting like yours but only for about two weeks. It was almost like she was in a deep sleep. Her limbs were out and stiff. She would wake up only after I held her for a few minutes but still moved around slowly and didn't want to eat much if any. Now she is awake and eating again. Just the few days of cooler weather affected her. I am not letting them hibernate this year because I have not had them long. Even though they are being kept moderately warm some are still choosing to slow way down. A vet check is still probably the way to go but it might just be the changing temps in CA.