Baby red foot not eating

[RedFootTort557]

We have an adorable red foot tortoise that we got a month ago. We took him to the vet right away and his stool sample came back clean for parasites, but he had a very bad respiratory infection. We have been watching him very closely (monitoring temp, humidity and giving him daily medication as prescribed by the vet) and took him to the vet for a follow up a week ago. The vet said his lungs sound much better (actually he said completely clear) but a swab of his nose and mouth showed he still had some bacteria, so we will continue his medication for three more weeks.

Our main concern is that he isn't eating. He normally has had a big appetite, even while being on his respiratory infection medication, but for the past week has eaten very little most days/nothing some days. We offer him a wide variety of greens, plants, flowers, fruit and vegetables, but even his favorites he doesn't want to eat anymore. He had been pooping every day/every other day and now hasn't pooped since Friday (today is Monday)...what's really weird is he has gained weight?? He weighed between 52 and 54 and today weighed 56. We do soak him twice a day. I've reached out to several vets and people in the tortoise community and they all say his enclosure, temps, humidity, etc. are correct and we are feeding him the right foods, but we are getting very worried about the lack of eating (plus the odd weight gain, unless that is normal from soaking??). Anyone dealt with this/have advice?

 

[ascott]

Have you offered the tortoise a protein source, like some worms or bugs? This is a species that like bugs and such as well as fruit and veggies...but when they are young they appear to really love some "meat" type foods....you can offer some nightcrawlers, or dump some pill bugs in the enclosure along with nightcrawler worms....the tort may be forced into interest by the movement and the hunt of the critters....

Sometimes the weight gain will have some to do with the soaking and then no ridding the food and water...what is the medication name that the vet is having you administer and how? How old/large is the tortoise? Where did the tort come from--private party or pet store? What type/name is the bacteria that was found? So, if the tort is not pooing or peeing and you are offering soaks twice a day there will be weight gain...water weight.

What is the type of enclosure? What are your humidity and temp readings for day and night? what is the substrate you are using?

 

[RedFootTort557]

We have offered protein in the past, but will try again- thanks for the advice!!

We believe our red foot is 6 months old- he is the size of my palm. We purchased him from a breeder. The vet said it's a bacterial respiratory infection and there were a moderate number of gram posive rods and occasional hetrophil. (Not sure what that last part means). We have been administering Cefazolin orally (which is no fun- he does not like having his mouth pried open to take the liquid medication). My husband made a 48x24 wooden enclosure. There is a humidifer running into the back of the enclousure and we keep humidity at 88-90. He has a warm side with a heat lamp and we keep that 90 or a little warmer. The cool side is at 74. We have plants (fake and real) and a place for him to soak (he does occassionally on his own). We have organic top soil and spaghum moss. We have UV lights during the day (my husband could speak better to that than I could). We soak him twice a day (we read that soaking in baby food could increase appetite so we tried that but it wasn't successful) and take him outside in the sun for at least 15 minutes a day if it's warm enough out. He mostly spend time in his hides (log or pot) in his enclosure, but happily walks around outside (does not seem lethargic). He will smell food but will not eat it. I'm going to get some protein right now....any other ideas? We put a call into the vet as well....we are very worried!!!

 

[ascott]

The cool side is at 74 + we keep humidity at 88-90

= Ailing tortoise....

Warm and humid is good
Cool and humid is really bad.

If you are going to keep the humidity levels that high at all times in the enclosure I would never let the temps drop below 80 degrees in the ENTIRE space....letting the temp drop below 80 while running the high humidity is undesirable.

Also, if the tort is having any respiratory issues then decreasing the humidity during the time of treatment would be beneficial and word in hand with the meds.....continue to offer the soaks during the treatment....

We have UV lights during the day

What style of bulb are you using for the uv? A long tube bulb or a curly type coil bulb?

 

[RedFootTort557]

The humidity on the cool side is between 52 & 60. (Sorry, I didn't explain that well...humidity is harder to maintain on the warm side so I check that one more frequently....). When we first got our baby tortoise, we did not do the warm side and cool side, but our vet recommended it. He said between 50 and 60 on the cool side for humidity and temps 72-74 and humidity 50-60 and then warm side temp 88-90 and humidity 88 so that's what we've been doing. Does that sound right? Do you have any other advice for his enclosure? Is the warm and cool side the best way to go?

We don't use coil bulbs- I read that could blind a tortoise. I would have to double check with my husband about any other bulb information. Is there anything in particular you would recommend for uv lighting? My husband did a lot of research before he bought the bulbs so I'm not as knowledgeable there. He does rub his eyes quite a bit which we thought was due to his respiratory infection, but I will check on the lighting to make sure nothing is wrong there. If you have any thoughts, please let me know.

Thanks again for your help. We want to give our tortoise the best possible life and are so sad he has a respiratory infection and want to do everything we can for a speedy recovery. I appreciate your feedback.

 

[Yvonne G]

It sounds like you have found a vet that's good with tortoises. This is very good news. I appreciate all that he has shared with you, except for the hot side, cool side. With the Redfooted tortoises, it is quite ok to not have a cool or room temperature side. It is good to keep the whole tort table at around 80F.

Welcome to the forum!

You will find some very good RF information at the Tortoise Library

 

[RedFootTort557]

Hi everyone- Thanks so much again for all of your help!! Yvonne, we eliminated the cool/room temperature side in his enclosure, so thanks for that advice.

Our baby red foot is back to normal now after spending three days with the vet. The vet discovered that the medication our tortoise was prescribed for his respiratory infection had killed off all the good bacteria in his stomach so he wasn't able to digest his food properly. They gave him a probiotic and he is doing great!!! His respiratory infection is gone (thank goodness!!!) and his eyes are looking great (no longer watery), no more open mouth breathing or rubbing his eyes.....he is back to his normal active, curious self and he is eating lots!!!!! We are so happy he is feeling great and appreciate everyone's advice and suggestions. Sorry for not posting an update sooner, but thank you again for all of your responses!!