# Tortoise stopped moving all of a sudden



## freefood

I have no idea what just happened. I checked on my tortoise today, and she doesn't seem to be moving. She has lighting, water, food, everything. I didn't heat over the night because I read that as long as the temperature was over 62, it was fine. I did the previous nights though. What happened?

She doesn't seem to respond to anything. I put her in water, nothing, poked at her head, no response. Could this be hibernation? Or worse? I really don't want to lose another one of these guys . I had a box turtle before, but sadly she passed away in the scorching summer (all her water evaporated and the hiding spot wasn't adequate . 

My tortoise was in perfect health before. What could make her behave like this? Is it normal for them to have no response all of a sudden? Please, help!


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## Tom

What kind of tortoise? What sort of set up?

They still react when you touch them during hibernation.


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## freefood

A 1 year old marginated. And really? Could she have died somehow in the span of a few hours ? She seemed fine in the morning. Is there anything I can do to check if she's alive? I really did my best to take care of her. What did I do wrong? I thought I learned after the first death .


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## Yvonne G

I'm sorry to say so, Bryan...but it sounds as if your tortoise is dead. The only way to know for sure what happened is to have a necropsy done.


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## tyler0912

flick...slightly a limb if it has not moved...well.....
Warm water soak?...Always gets mine moving on a cold wintery day....? 

I hope nothing bad had happened....can you hear him/her breathing? or feel the air being pushed through the nose?


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## ascott

Tom, from prior posts, appears to be a Marginated Tortoise....

When was the last time you watched your tortoise walk about? If you have put your still tortoise in a warm water soak and nothing, this is not a good thing.

A brumating tortoise will respond when touched and so I would not suspect your tortoise is brumating?

Honey, this does not sound good, I am sorry.


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## freefood

emysemys said:


> I'm sorry to say so, Bryan...but it sounds as if your tortoise is dead.


Awww... I don't know what went wrong... I didn't see her in the morning, because she was in her hiding place. When i checked on her a few hours later, she was out, and like this...

Am I cursed of taking care of reptilian creatures with shells? First an eastern box turtle, and then this... I must be the worst owner ever, since I heard about how hardy these things were...


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## tyler0912

NONO, Don't blame yourself....Don't ever blame yourself.

Most things happen for a reason,
There are alot of wrongs before you make a right! 
If you think like this you will start to believe it and then you will begin to be...
Anyone can be a good keeper if they wish to be! 
Has he/she gone....For sure?  

Your a great keeper im sure of it.
You dont know what his/her pastlife was like etc..


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## ascott

Okay so reptiles can be motionless for a while....do not discard your tortoise just yet..do you have a heating pad? I would say if so then place the tortoise in a warm water soak (but pay attention to assure the head is not submerged right off) either set atop a heating pad or under a warming heat lamp....keep an eye on the tortoise for awhile, I would say that if after a couple of hours nothing...then I would say your tortoise likely has passed on....if the latter is the case, I am so sorry.


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## freefood

Are there any vets near Irvine? I need to know if she's still alive, or else, what happened.

I found one in Costa Meso.
http://allcreaturescarecottage.com/
They said I can come in to see what's wrong with me. Hopefully I'll figure out what happened.

Come to think of it, she really didn't grow much. May that was a symptom of some sort of disease. Now I feel stupid for not taking her to the vet as soon as I got her. I'll have to hope for the best.


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## dmmj

The simplest way to see if it is still alive is to pick it up, if the legs and head droop down then it has passed on, as for why it could be a number of things. to re cap how old is it? where did you get it? did you get a vet visit when you first got it? soaks? how often?
I hope the little one has not passed on, but from your description it sounds like it has. place in on or under a heat source if it does not respond then well you know.


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## freefood

I'm sorry to say that she did pass away. The vet said that it must have been some sort of disease. And now that I think about it, it makes sense. Few wild turtles live to adulthood, but the ones that do live for a long time. I guess she must have been a sicker turtle.

I soaked her once a week, and sometimes took her out in the yard to explore a bit.

We buried her in the place where she used to walk in the yard. I'll never know what exactly happened, but I'll never forget her.

So for you budding inexperienced tortoise owners- get an older one. The younger ones may be a lot cheaper, but for the older ones, you can be sure that they are hardy and passed the more delicate phase of their life. That along with them being captive bred, of course.


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## cemmons12

I am very sorry for your loss....


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## Laura

any possibility that she was accidently dropped? 
WIld animals will do thier best to hide illness until they can hide it anymore. 
Go over your husbandry, tempsl lights diet and see if you can come up with anything that could have been done different..
When and if you are ready.. I do agree.. get an older one. They usually do much better in the long run. 
Soory for your loss.


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## freefood

Laura said:


> any possibility that she was accidently dropped?
> WIld animals will do thier best to hide illness until they can hide it anymore.
> Go over your husbandry, tempsl lights diet and see if you can come up with anything that could have been done different..
> When and if you are ready.. I do agree.. get an older one. They usually do much better in the long run.
> Soory for your loss.


I don't think so. I don't think she was in the best of shape from the start, since she wasn't growing much, and I guess some sort of disease did her in. There was nothing visibly wrong with her, and I'm still at a loss to what exactly happened today. Was it a sudden illness, or a prolonged condition that I didn't notice until it was too late?

I really tried to take the best of care for her as possible. I had a previous adult box turtle (like I said) which didn't make it from it being a wild animal (don't do it, they belong there), and because of our neglect. This time I was determine to let my tortoise live a full and happy life, and I got everything that was necessary. A UV lamp, Mazuri, humidity and temperature gauges, a ceramic heat emitter, a bunch of hiding places, and a bunch more. I know that isn't much compared to what you all have, but I truly thought I took much better care of her than my previous turtle. I sprayed her every day, kept track of the humidity and temperature, fed her a diet based on the guides here, and a lot of other stuff.

For my first turtle, me and my family were entirely at fault, since we took her out of a peaceful wild life, but this time, there wasn't much I could do. I guess this was just nature's way of letting things happen.


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## pk2610

My last leopard baby was 4 months old when he died. He did not gain any weight since I had him for about 3 months. He weighted only 20 grams. He did not have any obvious symptoms of being sick. It just suddenly he slowed down and not eating. Like your tort, my baby had problem eating, he could not target at the food very well so it usually took him like an hour to finish just a couple pieces of veggies. 

Now I've got a new leopard baby about 2 and a half months and he is already 70 grams. He gained 30 grams since I have him about a month ago. He usually finishes everything I offer him. That's quite a big difference between the two babies.

I believe no weight gain is a serious issue if it lasts more than a couple months. And again, sorry for your loss.


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## freefood

Well thanks for everyone's consolation.


@pk2610: well, she did eat every day. I put maybe 4-5 leaves of assorted greens, and she ate maybe half of it, even yesterday. It's a pity not more research is done on tortoises. Since the cases are pretty similar, could this be caused by some sort of bacteria that we don't know about yet?

I'm not going to have another reptile for a few more years. I'm still pretty young, and maybe it would be best if I grew up a bit before taking care of something that's life depends on me. I do have a dog, but that's a different story.


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## jesst

Im so sorry for your loss. Dont give up, sometimes little ones just dont make it. Good luck on your next little one.


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## TortBrain

Sorry to hear about your lose.
Never give up. 4 star tortoises hatchling had died on me during the past decade before I read up hard and succeeded. 
Do your very best, their life is in your hand..


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## freefood

TortBrain said:


> Sorry to hear about your lose.
> Never give up. 4 star tortoises hatchling had died on me during the past decade before I read up hard and succeeded.
> Do your very best, their life is in your hand..


4 of them? How did you even make it through life? 2 is hard enough for me.


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## ascott

You need to understand that hatchlings are ultra delicate....some will make it and some will not.

I am sorry for you loss....rest in peace little


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## freefood

I thought that after the first year, they would be less delicate. I guess not.


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## CLMoss

I am so sorry for you loss. You take care.

~C


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## freefood

I told the breeder (whatever they're called), and she said she might have eaten the sand and got impacted. That makes a lot of sense now that I think about it. She didn't poop much, and with no symptoms, it could all happen inside without me noticing.

What could she have been missing from her diet that would cause her to eat sand and rocks?


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## wellington

So sorry for you. Maybe when the time is right for you to get another one, maybe try and get an older one, not so delicate. Also in the mean time read all you can about them so when the time comes you will feel more confident in what you are doing, so the past won't haunt you.


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## ascott

Tortoise will eat the dirt and pebbles from time to time ----speculation is that they do it for the minerals and also as digest aids,.....some will say that if the tortoise is well hydrated this should not be a problem....

I have had a CDT that was impacted while cared for by prior host....I worked 5-6 weeks with him and he eventually was able to pass the sand in the form of solid sand balls then wet sand balls then a mix of sand and food particles to eventually solid tootsie roll poos.....

However, we could all offer speculation as to what may have been the culprit....this will not aid you in feeling better at all as this only proves to be another way we torment ourselves......

I read your threads previously and there are signs your little one was possible ill for some time.....so as I shared before, sometimes bad things happen. 

I hope you find peace and closure when you have done all that you need to in getting through your sadness and loss.

Let us know if you need us for anything during your mourning, alright.


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## TortBrain

freefood said:


> TortBrain said:
> 
> 
> 
> Sorry to hear about your lose.
> Never give up. 4 star tortoises hatchling had died on me during the past decade before I read up hard and succeeded.
> Do your very best, their life is in your hand..
> 
> 
> 
> 4 of them? How did you even make it through life? 2 is hard enough for me.
Click to expand...

No choice. Life still goes on..


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