Advice on new tortoise?

[TortoiseShell25]

I am a first time tortoise owner and have had my tortoise for 2 wks now (not captive bred, however, but acquired from a breeder as I am assuming a juvenile. She is about 5 inches). The first 2 days she was active in her outdoor enclosure (she has access to my entire yard, with arugula and lettuce patches as well as succulent patch), and has attempted some digging with finally some success in a shallow burrow (in the backside of the burrow I made for her). She became less active about 3d after I got her and I have not seen her eat since, but it was also over 100 degrees here so I chalked it up to the heat and that she was burrowing, potentially estivating due to the summer heat in SLC, UT. She has been head first in her shallow hole, turns around on occasion, and today made an appearance outside of the hole. I have noticed that she sometimes is breathing with mouth, and also only sometimes makes a squeaking/wheezing type sound when doing this. She also has had an episode of expelling a clear liquid (with bubbles); I did have her in a water bath this morning after she came out of her burrow. I am concerned that she may be sick; I called several vets today and was basically out of luck since it is Saturday and there is COVID (the exotic pet vet is not accepting new clients). Anyone have any suggestions/thoughts on whether this is normal or if not, what I should do about it?

 

[Golden Greek Tortoise 567]

What type of tortoise? Could we see pics of the enclosure she‘s in and the lighting fixtures?

 

[Golden Greek Tortoise 567]

Discharge is a sign of respiratory infection, up your night temps to at least 80F. And day temps up them by at least 5°F

 

[TortoiseShell25]

She is a Russian tortoise and she stays outside. Temps in SLC have been mid to upper 90s lately daytime and mid 70s at night. She stays in her burrow all night. Her burrow is in that area of the A frame where the pile of dirt is.

 

[Golden Greek Tortoise 567]

She is a Russian tortoise and she stays outside. Temps in SLC have been mid to upper 90s lately daytime and mid 70s at night. She stays in her burrow all night. Her burrow is in that area of the A frame where the pile of dirt is.


View attachment 304784View attachment 304783

Respiratory infection is usually caused by low night temps. I would bring her in raise all temps by 5°F and see if this clears up. If not then I would take her to the vet. One thing you might want to consider is building an indoor enclosure as well, I do this for my tortoises and it works well for me.

Then, on bad days and on cold nights you can bring her in, this care sheet will explain everything she needs.

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

www.tortoiseforum.org

 

[Maro2Bear]

Greetings. I’m sure the day/night time temps in Salt Lake City are fine. Id make sure you give your new tort a nice morning soak every day. Give it time to settle in.

 

[Minority2]

Your outdoor temperatures may sound fine but whenever a tortoise starts developing symptoms it is always best to try to nip that in the bud as soon as possible rather than later.

Bring it inside during nights and keep the entire indoor enclosure, not just the room, above 80-85F. Do that for another 2-4 weeks after you stop seeing respiratory infection like symptoms.

What else are you feeding your tortoise besides those three items mentioned above?

 

[TortoiseShell25]

I have tried to feed her low starch tortoise diet from TortoiseSupply, as well as spineless cactus pads, but she is not interested in either of these so far. I also have a small kale patch and she did eat some of that the first day or 2 I had her.

 

[Minority2]

I have tried to feed her low starch tortoise diet from TortoiseSupply, as well as spineless cactus pads, but she is not interested in either of these so far. I also have a small kale patch and she did eat some of that the first day or 2 I had her.

Tortoises need to eat a variety of different foods. Like humans, tortoises can develop health problems if you constantly feed it foods that their digestive systems cannot fully pass. They need plenty of different flowers, broad leaf weeds, and succulents. Lettuce for example, is a neither nutritionally beneficial nor fibrous enough to even be considered a good food source. Kale, when eaten in consistent, large amounts, along with other same food types, can cause tortoises to develop health issues like kidney lesions and gout like symptoms. And yes, tortoises do get gout. Larger tortoises can be operated on in order to remove the crystals out of their bodies but smaller tortoises aren't as lucky.

Use the tortoise table and see what safe items you can offer them. Read all the information and don't just follow the moderation taglines.

The Tortoise Table - Home

The Tortoise Table plant database and resource site for Tortoise owners

www.thetortoisetable.org.uk

Purchase cactus cuttings, dried leaves, and seed mixes from tortoise online retailers if you are unable to find what you need locally.

 

[TortoiseShell25]

Thanks all for your help! I'll try doing these things and hopefully that will help.