Redfoot making coughing/throat clearing noise?

milesm916

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Joined
Apr 22, 2021
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27
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Anchorage
So recently my juvenile redfoot has started making a strange sound every so often that worries me- like a cough or a throat clearing type of sound. He does it a few times every few hours and then stops, but this has been going on on-and-off for about 4 days now. He doesn't have any other symptoms of a respiratory infection (he's had one before that was treated, and this isn't similar to that at all) and he's eating and drinking as normal. The only other thing I've noticed is he seems a bit lethargic lately, as usually he wants to run and climb on anything around but as of late he's been sticking to staying in his hide. His humidity and heat have been at normal levels, so I'm not sure what's causing these noises? Does anyone have any idea what might be causing it/what it even is?
 

ZEROPILOT

REDFOOT WRANGLER
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It sounds like he might be trying to expel something out of his throat.
What are you feeding?
What type of substrate are you using?
Do you have a good reptile vet? This is not normal.
 

milesm916

New Member
Joined
Apr 22, 2021
Messages
27
Location (City and/or State)
Anchorage
It sounds like he might be trying to expel something out of his throat.
What are you feeding?
What type of substrate are you using?
Do you have a good reptile vet? This is not normal.
As far as substrate I use coco soil as the coco fiber he had before was really stringy even after sifting it and getting caught in his mouth/I was scared he'd swallow it.
For food he typically has greens and fruit, nothing too firm for him bc he is still fairly small as the place I had gotten him had been waaaaay underfeeding so I'm essentially playing catch-up nutrition wise. Twice I week I add some chopped up egg to his food for protein. (I'm wondering if a heartier part of a green might be causing this, if anything?)
He has a vet I can make an appointment with but I wanted to check here and see what people thought first as I've heard a similar noise from him when he drinks at times, but currently he's making it out of the blue which is what worries me, combined with the lethargy.
 

milesm916

New Member
Joined
Apr 22, 2021
Messages
27
Location (City and/or State)
Anchorage
As far as substrate I use coco soil as the coco fiber he had before was really stringy even after sifting it and getting caught in his mouth/I was scared he'd swallow it.
For food he typically has greens and fruit, nothing too firm for him bc he is still fairly small as the place I had gotten him had been waaaaay underfeeding so I'm essentially playing catch-up nutrition wise. Twice I week I add some chopped up egg to his food for protein. (I'm wondering if a heartier part of a green might be causing this, if anything?)
He has a vet I can make an appointment with but I wanted to check here and see what people thought first as I've heard a similar noise from him when he drinks at times, but currently he's making it out of the blue which is what worries me, combined with the lethargy.
As a follow up, he passed a pretty big B.M tonight and is eating like crazy, he's having some tortoise food from the pet store which isn't the healthiest I know but he's obsessed with it, and I think eating something soft helped push whatever may have been stuck out of his throat? He seems much more energetic, and hasn't been making the sound save for once when he was drinking, but like I said he makes that sound when drinking at times. I'm going to keep a close eye on him and if he starts up with the noise again I'll make him a vet appointment for Friday. I'm hopeful he's feeling better as like I said he's been much more energetic tonight than he has been in a few days
 
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