All of my heat lamps and lights are on timers, I usually check them every day when I initially set them up, then hardly ever once I am confident they’re working properly. A few days ago my relatively new timer (2 months) pooped out. The gears inside somehow got stuck and the dial wasn’t rotating. Unfortunately it was for the CHE in my hatchling sri lanka star tank. I didn’t notice it wasn’t working for about 2 days, which were particularly cold. The temps were about 70, but of course I was keeping the humidity high and those two things equal bad news. I replaced the timer, but the damage was done and last night I thought I was going to lose the two hatchlings. They were in BAD shape, both were squeaking and opening their mouth gasping for air. One was completely sprawled out laying his head on the ground. I soaked them in some baby food, made an appointment the next morning with the vet and put them in the incubator for the night. I woke up this morning expecting to find dead tortoises, but shockingly they were up and crawling about in the incubator, I soaked them and they were breathing and behaving normally. A quick check up by Dr. Richard Funk confirmed that they were in relatively good shape considering their condition last night. Seriously, I thought they were goners.
Now, if you feel the need to claim I’m neglectful or whatever, please PM me about it as this isn’t the point of the thread. My first point is to encourage everyone now that it’s winter to check all their equipment EVERY night! In my case it was the stupid timer of all things. If anything it’s worth the peace of mind to check frequently.
Second point – for anyone in the Phoenix area, Dr. Funk is an incredible vet and is a turtle and tortoise owner himself. Some of us that went to the TTPG conference heard him speak and I know other people on here go to him as well.
Third point – I have never heard of anyone putting their tortoises in an incubator when they are showing signs of respiratory illness. This is really my first case of illness I have had to deal with; I didn’t think using a humidifier would be effective in the space they are in. So, I thought the incubator was a good idea at 90ish degrees farenhieght and 90% humidity. They went from dying to almost normal overnight. Dr. Funk recommended leaving them in there for a few days until I’m sure they are back to 100%. Anyone have any thoughts on this either for or against? I would always recommend that a vet visit ASAP is the best idea for a very sick tortoise, but in my case at the time this happened I had to wait overnight and if that’s all I had the incubator for it would be worth the expense.
Sorry for the long post.
Here is the website of the vet hospital Dr. Funk works at.
http://www.vcahospitals.com/mesa-az
Now, if you feel the need to claim I’m neglectful or whatever, please PM me about it as this isn’t the point of the thread. My first point is to encourage everyone now that it’s winter to check all their equipment EVERY night! In my case it was the stupid timer of all things. If anything it’s worth the peace of mind to check frequently.
Second point – for anyone in the Phoenix area, Dr. Funk is an incredible vet and is a turtle and tortoise owner himself. Some of us that went to the TTPG conference heard him speak and I know other people on here go to him as well.
Third point – I have never heard of anyone putting their tortoises in an incubator when they are showing signs of respiratory illness. This is really my first case of illness I have had to deal with; I didn’t think using a humidifier would be effective in the space they are in. So, I thought the incubator was a good idea at 90ish degrees farenhieght and 90% humidity. They went from dying to almost normal overnight. Dr. Funk recommended leaving them in there for a few days until I’m sure they are back to 100%. Anyone have any thoughts on this either for or against? I would always recommend that a vet visit ASAP is the best idea for a very sick tortoise, but in my case at the time this happened I had to wait overnight and if that’s all I had the incubator for it would be worth the expense.
Sorry for the long post.
Here is the website of the vet hospital Dr. Funk works at.
http://www.vcahospitals.com/mesa-az