Baby Horsefield Help

bohn

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Still not eating or drinking, I've read that bathing in baby carrot food helps. Is it worth a shot?

It seems to keep opening his mouth and extending It's neck now..
 

Ben02

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Yep try the carrot food, he may be trying to eat but can't see, I would be more worried if he just sat there in the bath. Any nasal bubbles??
 

The.Tortoise.Lover

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I recently bought a 5 month old horsefield tortoise 6 days ago along with a tortoise table.

When we got it home and set up everything was alright but it had 1 eye shut. It managed to eat the day after and go the toilet after a bath but since has not eaten and has both its eyes shut. We have been bathing it daily and preparing food but all it seems to do is sleep all day.

It's opened 1 of its eyes a couple times but not for long. We originally just had a heat bulb however our d3 UV combined bulb (80 watt) came today and we have set that up

The temperatures have been around 30 c constantly on the hot end and he has a hiding spot which it uses sometimes and we keep the light on all the time as we were instructed to do so.

Hopefully someone can help with some advice, thanks.
You need to take him to the vets so they can take a little look because he might have something in his eye (poor thing [emoji26])
 

Cathie G

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You need to take him to the vets so they can take a little look because he might have something in his eye (poor thing [emoji26])
And you might want to just rinse he she's eye because they live in dirt if they have their choices....a cleansing eye rinse for reptiles might help until you can actually get a vet...if you still need one.
 

Cathie G

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Just bathing it in baby carrot food currently but still no open eyes. Going to do it for a few more days.

It has been to the toilet the other day so I guess thats a good sign.

Will take to the vets if the carrot bath doesn't work.
why not try an over the counter eye rinse for dry eyes? since you are worried cause he she can't seem to open them. A couple of drops (not in the eyes) on the eyes might help. My tortoise doesn't try to hibernate like that. I can always get him to open his eyes even if he's been sleeping for several days.
 

bohn

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It seems to be extending its neck a lot and opening its mouth and making a hissing noise. Any ideas as to why this is happening?
 

Tom

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It seems to be extending its neck a lot and opening its mouth and making a hissing noise. Any ideas as to why this is happening?
That sounds like the start of a respiratory infection. What are your four temperatures? Warm side, cool side, basking area and overnight low?

Respiratory infections are typically caused by temps that are too low.
 

Ben02

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You have had a rough start to tortoise keeping and you are doing very well, as Tom said check your temps. Does RI always need treatment from a vet?
 

Yvonne G

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Still not eating or drinking, I've read that bathing in baby carrot food helps. Is it worth a shot?

It seems to keep opening his mouth and extending It's neck now..
this is one indication that the tortoise has an upper respiratory infection and needs to be seen by a qualified tortoise veterinarian so he can prescribe the appropriate antibiotics.
 

Yvonne G

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It seems to be extending its neck a lot and opening its mouth and making a hissing noise. Any ideas as to why this is happening?
Yes, he can't breathe. See my previous comment
 

EE torts

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Still not eating or drinking, I've read that bathing in baby carrot food helps. Is it worth a shot?

It seems to keep opening his mouth and extending It's neck now..
Hello! now i am no expert but this sounds like the start of a upper respiratory infection please take him to the vet ASAP so you can catch it early on because it can be fatal. since you have not seen any discharge it is probable not too bad yet but if you do not get medical attention soon it will get worse and keep progressing. i would try soaks in the baby carrot food, i did this for my 3 month old horsfield tortoise (who had HFS witch as you know there is no cure and they eventually die HFS is caused from the breeder raising them dry) and he came back he is slowly but surely coming back from HFS i think from the carrot soaks and is eating again, but upper respiratory infections our usually treated buy injection that you will get from the vet. Good Luck!
 

Cathie G

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It seems to be extending its neck a lot and opening its mouth and making a hissing noise. Any ideas as to why this is happening?
If a Russian tortoise's best medicine is their diet then a teeny, tiny drop of liquid Echinacea might help until you can get a veterinarian.. I know they are hard to find.
 

bohn

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Hello all and sorry for the long wait on a reply.

Our tortoise is doing great now and has opened one of it's eyes fully again after bathing in baby carrot food and putting it in a hospital tank for a week.

It's eating and drinking a lot which is good since the only time we saw it eat was the day we got it and wasn't very much!

Our only problem now is it's other eye looks like it's trying to open but theres something on it. It almost looks like a growth and wondered what it could be. We had booked a vet appointment since the situation looked really bad this time last week but if we could figure this problem out we may not need to.

All signs of the respiratory infection have cleared and it's clearly a strong little tortoise to come through all of this.

Thankyou all for your advice and concerns.
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Update: It was a piece of skin and it now has both eyes fully open which is great.
 
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