Russian toriose death

[Erebus]

We are heartbroken that our tortoise passed away overnight, and we are trying to understand what could have happened.

We suspect there may have been a power outage during the night, but when we checked, the cold side of the tank was still in the low 60s. We are not sure if that alone would have caused this, so we are trying to consider any other possible factors.

We had her for about a year. Before coming to us, she had lived in a very small tank and was only fed lettuce. We worked to improve her diet by offering a wider variety of broadleaf greens and better overall care.

One thing we noticed over the past year was that she didn’t move around very much. In her overnight tank she would move only inches and even in her outdoor pen, she would usually only move about a foot or so, with her longest crawls being maybe 4–5 feet to a rock hide. She spent most of her time in the warm rocky areas and didn’t explore much.

Her enclosure was set up carefully:

- All rocks were far too large for her to eat
- She was fed on a plate, so she wasn’t ingesting dirt with her food
- She didn’t eat any of the plants in the enclosure
- During the day, she was outside in Southern California temperatures around 80°F, recently.

She was only 13–14 years old, which makes this even harder to understand.

We are sharing this in hopes that someone might have insight into what could have caused this, especially if you’ve experienced something similar. We want to learn and understand as much as possible.

 

[zovick]

We are heartbroken that our tortoise passed away overnight, and we are trying to understand what could have happened.

We suspect there may have been a power outage during the night, but when we checked, the cold side of the tank was still in the low 60s. We are not sure if that alone would have caused this, so we are trying to consider any other possible factors.

We had her for about a year. Before coming to us, she had lived in a very small tank and was only fed lettuce. We worked to improve her diet by offering a wider variety of broadleaf greens and better overall care.

One thing we noticed over the past year was that she didn’t move around very much. In her overnight tank she would move only inches and even in her outdoor pen, she would usually only move about a foot or so, with her longest crawls being maybe 4–5 feet to a rock hide. She spent most of her time in the warm rocky areas and didn’t explore much.

Her enclosure was set up carefully:

- All rocks were far too large for her to eat
- She was fed on a plate, so she wasn’t ingesting dirt with her food
- She didn’t eat any of the plants in the enclosure
- During the day, she was outside in Southern California temperatures around 80°F, recently.

She was only 13–14 years old, which makes this even harder to understand.

We are sharing this in hopes that someone might have insight into what could have caused this, especially if you’ve experienced something similar. We want to learn and understand as much as possible.

A few hours at 60F would definitely not cause death in a Russian Tortoise. There is something else wrong. Your description of its behavior over the time you have had it indicates that the tortoise has been ill the entire time you have owned it.

If you really want to know what caused the death, you need to have a necropsy done. They aren't all that costly. If you want to do that, refrigerate, but do not freeze, the tortoise until you can get it to the vet who will do the necropsy.

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

I am sorry for your loss

That lack of movement isn't normal behaviour and can hinder digestion.

 

[Erebus]

We didn’t brumate her, I don’t believe she ever was, could that be the cause? (I am new to tortoise, and we tried to give her a better life)

 

[TammyJ]

I'm sorry about your tortoise. Thanks for caring for her.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

We are heartbroken that our tortoise passed away overnight, and we are trying to understand what could have happened.

We suspect there may have been a power outage during the night, but when we checked, the cold side of the tank was still in the low 60s. We are not sure if that alone would have caused this, so we are trying to consider any other possible factors.

We had her for about a year. Before coming to us, she had lived in a very small tank and was only fed lettuce. We worked to improve her diet by offering a wider variety of broadleaf greens and better overall care.

One thing we noticed over the past year was that she didn’t move around very much. In her overnight tank she would move only inches and even in her outdoor pen, she would usually only move about a foot or so, with her longest crawls being maybe 4–5 feet to a rock hide. She spent most of her time in the warm rocky areas and didn’t explore much.

Her enclosure was set up carefully:

- All rocks were far too large for her to eat
- She was fed on a plate, so she wasn’t ingesting dirt with her food
- She didn’t eat any of the plants in the enclosure
- During the day, she was outside in Southern California temperatures around 80°F, recently.

She was only 13–14 years old, which makes this even harder to understand.

We are sharing this in hopes that someone might have insight into what could have caused this, especially if you’ve experienced something similar. We want to learn and understand as much as possible.

I’m so sorry to hear about your lossyou did amazing on getting this poor tortoise set up for a better life, this is such a huge shame, the overnight temperatures wouldn’t be the cause here.
I think like others have said, she was poorly before coming to you, she hasn’t had the best past, and that can unfortunately catch up with them. For more definitive answers you’d need a necropsy, I’d only proceed if you feel it’d help you process the loss. But I hope you can take comfort in the fact you gave her a wonderful new space and better care in her finale days, I'm so glad she got to experience that with you

Fly high sweet girl

 

[MaNaAk]

We are heartbroken that our tortoise passed away overnight, and we are trying to understand what could have happened.

We suspect there may have been a power outage during the night, but when we checked, the cold side of the tank was still in the low 60s. We are not sure if that alone would have caused this, so we are trying to consider any other possible factors.

We had her for about a year. Before coming to us, she had lived in a very small tank and was only fed lettuce. We worked to improve her diet by offering a wider variety of broadleaf greens and better overall care.

One thing we noticed over the past year was that she didn’t move around very much. In her overnight tank she would move only inches and even in her outdoor pen, she would usually only move about a foot or so, with her longest crawls being maybe 4–5 feet to a rock hide. She spent most of her time in the warm rocky areas and didn’t explore much.

Her enclosure was set up carefully:

- All rocks were far too large for her to eat
- She was fed on a plate, so she wasn’t ingesting dirt with her food
- She didn’t eat any of the plants in the enclosure
- During the day, she was outside in Southern California temperatures around 80°F, recently.

She was only 13–14 years old, which makes this even harder to understand.

We are sharing this in hopes that someone might have insight into what could have caused this, especially if you’ve experienced something similar. We want to learn and understand as much as possible.

Dear @Erebus,

I am so sorry to hear about your little one and I believe that your tortoise was ill before you had her. I had Daisy put to sleep over three years ago she was 80 and she had TB. Daisy was attacked by a fox in August 2020 and I took her to a vet the following day. The checkup didn't reveal any issues straight away but in October the following year a lump appeared and this was diagnosed as inflammation of the joint. Daisy was prescribed anti-inflammatory medication and the lump healed nicely. However more lumps appeared and eventually she was diagnosed with TB. Daisy was put on antibiotics twice and anti-inflammatory medication again but she had had enough and she stopped eating. After 72 years of being in the family I had to make the awful decision to put her to sleep but it was a kind decision. Anyway the vet said that this illness would have developed over time and we believed that the first lump wasn't just inflammation of the joint. When I asked whether she could have contracted from the fox attack he agreed that that was a possibility. You did all you could for your little one but they were before you got her although you don't know what that illness was.

The pain of losing a pet tortoise is indescribable but I hope that I've given you some insight. Tortoises can become ill very slowly and a lot of the time their owners won't know that they're ill.

((((((((((((((((((((Hugs))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

Natrah and Jacky

 

[Tom]

We are heartbroken that our tortoise passed away overnight, and we are trying to understand what could have happened.

We suspect there may have been a power outage during the night, but when we checked, the cold side of the tank was still in the low 60s. We are not sure if that alone would have caused this, so we are trying to consider any other possible factors.

We had her for about a year. Before coming to us, she had lived in a very small tank and was only fed lettuce. We worked to improve her diet by offering a wider variety of broadleaf greens and better overall care.

One thing we noticed over the past year was that she didn’t move around very much. In her overnight tank she would move only inches and even in her outdoor pen, she would usually only move about a foot or so, with her longest crawls being maybe 4–5 feet to a rock hide. She spent most of her time in the warm rocky areas and didn’t explore much.

Her enclosure was set up carefully:

- All rocks were far too large for her to eat
- She was fed on a plate, so she wasn’t ingesting dirt with her food
- She didn’t eat any of the plants in the enclosure
- During the day, she was outside in Southern California temperatures around 80°F, recently.

She was only 13–14 years old, which makes this even harder to understand.

We are sharing this in hopes that someone might have insight into what could have caused this, especially if you’ve experienced something similar. We want to learn and understand as much as possible.

Where in SoCal are you? Climate differences vary a lot here even within a relatively short distance.

We need to see the indoor tank and the outdoor pen to give you any insight. Knowing the usual temps and how you are maintaining those will help.

What about hydration? How often did you soak?

What did you feed the tortoise?

 

[Maidenhair59]

I'm so sorry for your loss.

 

[Erebus]

we

Where in SoCal are you? Climate differences vary a lot here even within a relatively short distance.

We need to see the indoor tank and the outdoor pen to give you any insight. Knowing the usual temps and how you are maintaining those will help.

What about hydration? How often did you soak?

What did you feed the tortoise?

We lived in Corona.

Outdoor pen was is attached. All the plants were tortiose safe, all of the dirt was coco coir. The plants were all in tubs buried in the ground so the dirt didn’t mix with the coco coir and tubs raised and covered with rocks. There were no signs of eating any plants. The indoor pen, was in previous post, but it was a smaller pen, that only used at night for when it was too cold. From the post, we ditched the red lights for ceramic heaters, used coco coir for the substrate. (Before we had her it was just the bark type) the tank was set for the cold side to always stay above 67.

Food was a mix of mustard greens, lettuce, kale and Dandelion (I grew the Dandelion myself, so I wasn’t picking from the grass)

Soak once a week.

The torrtiose never really dug, and would just walk a few feet and “sploof” its self. My assumption was that it never was in a large enough enclouse that it never had the strength to roam.

 

[zovick]

we

We lived in Corona.

Outdoor pen was is attached. All the plants were tortiose safe, all of the dirt was coco coir. The plants were all in tubs buried in the ground so the dirt didn’t mix with the coco coir and tubs raised and covered with rocks. There were no signs of eating any plants. The indoor pen, was in previous post, but it was a smaller pen, that only used at night for when it was too cold. From the post, we ditched the red lights for ceramic heaters, used coco coir for the substrate. (Before we had her it was just the bark type) the tank was set for the cold side to always stay above 67.

Food was a mix of mustard greens, lettuce, kale and Dandelion (I grew the Dandelion myself, so I wasn’t picking from the grass)

Soak once a week.

The torrtiose never really dug, and would just walk a few feet and “sploof” its self. My assumption was that it never was in a large enough enclouse that it never had the strength to roam.

Do you know if the tortoise had metabolic bone disease (MBD)? From your description of its activity level, it sounds as though it may have had that problem.

Can you post some pictures of the tortoise?

 

[Erebus]

Do you know if the tortoise had metabolic bone disease (MBD)? From your description of its activity level, it sounds as though it may have had that problem.

Can you post some pictures of the tortoise?

This was when we got her, (before we redid the cage)

 

[Tom]

we

We lived in Corona.

Outdoor pen was is attached. All the plants were tortiose safe, all of the dirt was coco coir. The plants were all in tubs buried in the ground so the dirt didn’t mix with the coco coir and tubs raised and covered with rocks. There were no signs of eating any plants. The indoor pen, was in previous post, but it was a smaller pen, that only used at night for when it was too cold. From the post, we ditched the red lights for ceramic heaters, used coco coir for the substrate. (Before we had her it was just the bark type) the tank was set for the cold side to always stay above 67.

Food was a mix of mustard greens, lettuce, kale and Dandelion (I grew the Dandelion myself, so I wasn’t picking from the grass)

Soak once a week.

The torrtiose never really dug, and would just walk a few feet and “sploof” its self. My assumption was that it never was in a large enough enclouse that it never had the strength to roam.

That is a fantastic outdoor pen and your climate is excellent for the species. Is there a temperature controlled shelter attached to it somewhere on one side or the other?

 

[MaNaAk]

we

We lived in Corona.

Outdoor pen was is attached. All the plants were tortiose safe, all of the dirt was coco coir. The plants were all in tubs buried in the ground so the dirt didn’t mix with the coco coir and tubs raised and covered with rocks. There were no signs of eating any plants. The indoor pen, was in previous post, but it was a smaller pen, that only used at night for when it was too cold. From the post, we ditched the red lights for ceramic heaters, used coco coir for the substrate. (Before we had her it was just the bark type) the tank was set for the cold side to always stay above 67.

Food was a mix of mustard greens, lettuce, kale and Dandelion (I grew the Dandelion myself, so I wasn’t picking from the grass)

Soak once a week.

The torrtiose never really dug, and would just walk a few feet and “sploof” its self. My assumption was that it never was in a large enough enclouse that it never had the strength to roam.

Dear @Erebus,

You showed this little girl nothing but love and I can't anything wrong with your enclosure so as I've said in a previous post your poor tortoise was ill before you got her.

Natrah

 

[MaNaAk]

Dear @Erebus,

I am so sorry to hear about your little one and I believe that your tortoise was ill before you had her. I had Daisy put to sleep over three years ago she was 80 and she had TB. Daisy was attacked by a fox in August 2020 and I took her to a vet the following day. The checkup didn't reveal any issues straight away but in October the following year a lump appeared and this was diagnosed as inflammation of the joint. Daisy was prescribed anti-inflammatory medication and the lump healed nicely. However more lumps appeared and eventually she was diagnosed with TB. Daisy was put on antibiotics twice and anti-inflammatory medication again but she had had enough and she stopped eating. After 72 years of being in the family I had to make the awful decision to put her to sleep but it was a kind decision. Anyway the vet said that this illness would have developed over time and we believed that the first lump wasn't just inflammation of the joint. When I asked whether she could have contracted from the fox attack he agreed that that was a possibility. You did all you could for your little one but they were before you got her although you don't know what that illness was.

The pain of losing a pet tortoise is indescribable but I hope that I've given you some insight. Tortoises can become ill very slowly and a lot of the time their owners won't know that they're ill.

((((((((((((((((((((Hugs))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

Natrah and Jacky

Dear @Erebus,

This is my original post

Natrah

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

This was when we got her, (before we redid the cage)

Did she have the strength to lift the back of her shell or did she just drag her back legs?

 

[Erebus]

Did she have the strength to lift the back of her shell or did she just drag her back legs?

Never saw her on all 4 legs walking, it was always a crawl. Using the back legs to push.

 

[Erebus]

Dear @Erebus,

You showed this little girl nothing but love and I can't anything wrong with your enclosure so as I've said in a previous post your poor tortoise was ill before you got her.

Natrah

Thank you for the kind words, I am sure she was ill, and we did give her the best we could. I am taking this opportunity to learn a bit more, as I want to eventually, when my wife is ready, adopt another one.

 

[Erebus]

That is a fantastic outdoor pen and your climate is excellent for the species. Is there a temperature controlled shelter attached to it somewhere on one side or the other?

No temp controlled area (yet), we ended up building a rock hide, that was under ground with shade cloth in over the 1/3 of the pen, (also had a tree over it) to provide the deep shade area. But we used the indoor pen at night and on non sunny colder days (not a lot of those this winter). But if it was 70 or higher, she would be outside once the sun hit the pen to provide a warm area. (Used a temp gun to check).

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

Never saw her on all 4 legs walking, it was always a crawl. Using the back legs to push.

That's unusual, usually the front legs are stronger. It sounds like she was very weak.