Help ! My Elongated is making these wheezing sounds.

[latiat1234]

This is the first time I own a pet tortoise and she's been with me for 5 months now.

This lately, she's been making some worrying wheezing noise. She's still eating properly, but not very active like the first time i brought her home. There's no mucus on her nose, she doesn't breath through her mouth, there's no bleeding or any other external issues.

Her enclosure is quite big, she has a uvb lamp for basking, and a water dish. I do not have to worry about the heat as much, since I'm from Vietnam, the same habitat that she came from.

 

[wellington]

Even though you say you don't have to worry about heat, do you know what the temps are? A tortoise in the wild is much different then a tortoise in captivity. Everything in captivity is artificial and build to what we think they are used to in the wild. However, we don't really know everything about their wild life and we can not duplicate it perfectly. I would get a temp on the enclosure. The basking spot needs to be 95-100. Because of the wheezing, I would make the rest of the enclosure 85 for a while until the wheezing stops.

 

[latiat1234]

Even though you say you don't have to worry about heat, do you know what the temps are? A tortoise in the wild is much different then a tortoise in captivity. Everything in captivity is artificial and build to what we think they are used to in the wild. However, we don't really know everything about their wild life and we can not duplicate it perfectly. I would get a temp on the enclosure. The basking spot needs to be 95-100. Because of the wheezing, I would make the rest of the enclosure 85 for a while until the wheezing stops.

Thanks for the reply ! Now I don't have a thermometer to have an exact measure, but her entire enclosure is about 29 degree C or 85 F in midday. I think that her basking spot is not warm enough, so that might be the cause for her wheezing. I can't buy a heating lamp yet, since every pet shop here are closed for the holidays. Should I bath her in warm water everyday and let her have some natural sunlight ? The shops should be open by next Friday.

 

[SarahChelonoidis]

Elongata don't need warmer temperatures than that - if anything, I'd be worried you don't have a shadier place for it to cool down. For a tortoise showing signs of an RI like yours is, heat is still the general recommendation (but this isn't a tortoise that likes a lot of bright light, so heat without adding more light is better). Lack of activity midday is the norm for this species - make sure you have a place for it to get out of the sun to wait the day out in.

What humidity are you keeping the enclosure at? Daily baths are a very good idea. Make sure you also have a waterer the tortoise can access at all times too - these tortoises like water more than most.

I am assuming yours is wild caught, given your location? Have you had a fecal done to check for parasite load?

 

[latiat1234]

Elongata don't need warmer temperatures than that - if anything, I'd be worried you don't have a shadier place for it to cool down. For a tortoise showing signs of an RI like yours is, heat is still the general recommendation (but this isn't a tortoise that likes a lot of bright light, so heat without adding more light is better). Lack of activity midday is the norm for this species - make sure you have a place for it to get out of the sun to wait the day out in.

What humidity are you keeping the enclosure at? Daily baths are a very good idea. Make sure you also have a waterer the tortoise can access at all times too - these tortoises like water more than most.

I am assuming yours is wild caught, given your location? Have you had a fecal done to check for parasite load?

She'd get a spray every 3 to 4 times a week. She is a wild caught tortoise and haven't had her fecal checked yet. The inconvenience is that reptile vets here close to non existed, so i can't get her a check up.

 

[Yvonne G]

Put some plants in that enclosure. This offers extra security and makes the tortoise feel less exposed. It is hard to get wild caught tortoises to accept captivity. Just keep trying, and make sure it's warm enough.