# Tort with mass of food stuck in mouth/throat



## udontnojakki (Oct 6, 2013)

Hey I am wondering if anyone has seen this before. I took my Russian Tort out for a soaking today and noticed he couldn't close his mouth all the way and was wheezing. Looking into his mouth/throat there was a large dark green mass. After much toil I managed to pull out a mass of rotting lettuce out of his mouth with a plastic tweezers. It was amazing how much there was. After I removed it the rest of his mouth seemed normal. He was then able to close his mouth and seemed much happier. Has anyone seen this before? What should I do to follow up? I am afraid to feed him anymore in the next few days for fear it will get stuck again. Could this be because of mouth rot? The rest of his mouth looked healthy and pink tho. Also, he managed to give me a really good scratch during the process. Now it appears to have a rash. I washed it really well and put on antibiotic ointment on it. Should I be worried about salmonella? Thanks, 

Jakki 

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## Tom (Oct 6, 2013)

Tortoises can get food stuck in their mouths. This often happens when people feed chunks of carrots that are too big for their tortoise. I'd doesn't happen often, but it happens.

Salmonella is possible, but not likely. A good hand washing with anti-bacterial soap should help.


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## wellington (Oct 6, 2013)

Glad it worked out okay. Also, thanks for sharing. I wouldn't have thought about it until now.


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## udontnojakki (Oct 6, 2013)

Thanks for the advice. I hope he will be OK. I'll try cutting food into smaller chunks next time. 

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