# near death symptoms?



## bamboo (Dec 18, 2013)

Hello everyone,

I am very troubled right now as I'm worried that something might happen to my tortoise. My brothers tortoise died after a week of showing symptoms of being sick and my uncles tortoise died all of a sudden (was very active and always eating a lot until yesterday). 

My tortoise right now seems pretty healthy to me, I feed and bathe her regularly and remoisturize her home almost every week to prevent complete dryness. My tortoise is over 1 years old. I want to ask if there should be signs we should be watching out for that may cause death besides RI symptoms?


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## Tom (Dec 18, 2013)

We need more info. What species? Are they housed together? Separate properties? How old were they and where did you guys all get them? How are they being housed?


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## WillTort2 (Dec 18, 2013)

Pictures will help also.


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## ascott (Dec 18, 2013)

yeah...I am with Tom and Will....more info please  and I am so sorry to hear of the other torts passing, it is always very sad.


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## bamboo (Dec 22, 2013)

My brothers is a Hermann, Uncle's is a Sulcata, and mine is a russian. They were all housed separately since we don't live together. I don't have pictures of their home but I have mine attached and a picture of my tortoise. They're all a few months over 1 year old. My brother and I got our tortoise from the tortoise shack. Heard bad news about them afterwards but I don't regret getting my tortoise. My uncles is from a breeder, I don't know where.

I redo a new substrate (coco fiber) about every month, moisturizing almost every week when I see it get too dry. In the picture of the whole home is when I just moisturized her home again. Temps is about 90-95, sometimes close to 100 depending on the temp in our home. I use to give her a bath every day since she was pretty dehydrated before, but now every other day. My uncle and brother is about the same, just different temperatures required for theirs. I tape my tortoise home to prevent her from seeing outside of her home and they don't.

I feed her spring mix throughout the year, same with them, except they use more varieties at the grocery that they read that would be good for their tortoise. I do that sometimes but I got a seed mix from carolina supplies that I grow too for spring - fall

I keep mine in her home all the time during fall and winter, sometimes free after bath in my room while I'm watching her. Nice days during spring and summer I take mine outside for half an hour to an hour. My uncle almost always take his everywhere, my brother is sometimes during all seasons.

Mine was sick in the beginning so I use to take her to the vet a few times for worms and RI. After she got better I always check for any signs of sickness and send in her poop for worms from time to time.


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## WillTort2 (Dec 22, 2013)

Your low temperature should be about 70 degrees; the only area that should be 95 degrees is the basking area. At might thr temperature can drop to 60 degrees with no problem.

The growth lines are quite wide; so make sure you're not overfeeding.

Good luck.


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## bamboo (Dec 22, 2013)

Yes the temperatures are as you said. Overfeeding...darn...haha I guess I will give her less food. I usually give her a small hand full and clean it out by the end of the day. She always leave behind spinach too. I feel bad because when I give her less food she would be awake by the afternoon walking around looking for food again


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## WillTort2 (Dec 22, 2013)

Start tracking her weight to get a feel for a slow but steady growth. It has been debated regarding how fast is too fast for growth, but I believe a slow steady growth is probably best.

In the wild the torts gorge themselves when food is available but then go long periods with out eating during brumation.


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## BeeBee*BeeLeaves (Dec 22, 2013)

One thing that you want to be sure you have, simply because it is so hard to guess, is a temperature gun, to be sure your temps are where they need to be. And warm soaks are very helpful for many reasons. I had a baby leopard a few weeks ago that was not quite him/herself. Noticed he was not pooping regularly. I did longer soaks. One day, for an hour and sure enough. Once he passed what he needed to pass, all better. It was that his little buns were constipated and that was enough to make him not feel well. Just another consideration. Also, remember that variety of foods is your best medicine. And real live free sunshine, even 10-20 minutes a day can and will help. Keep us updated please. : )


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## bamboo (Dec 23, 2013)

Yes. I have a temp gun and bathe her about half an hour to an hour every other day in warm water. I check to make sure she poops so that she isnt backed up with food. My tortoise is healthy so far. Just worried since my uncles and brothers torts died so suddenly. Well...my uncles i can see why now. Turns how he fed it rice when he ran out of food and skipped feeding it a few times after opening a new business. My brothers showed sign of sickness and died six days later on the day he was going to take it to the vet.

I will try to weigh her at least once or twice a week to keep track. Approximately how much is slow for weekly? Or monthly


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