Baby Redfoot Tortoise has snot bubbles!?

Kaylie

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Help! I have noticed some small bubbles coming from baby redfoot's nose. His eyes are clear, maybe a little wet, but they seemed fine to me. Also, he is not very active...at all. He sleeps all day and night unless I pick him up and wake him up so he can eat. Sometimes he eats a lot and sometimes he eats very little before going straight back to bed. Should I be concerned? I was having a hard time trying to fugure a good, balanced diet for him. He eats a lot of Romaine lettuce and I give him like half a berry every other day as well as some mixed greens everyday. I tried kale but he did not seem to like it that much. He also likes zucchini. I got Lloyd on August 30 as a hatchling and have a Zoomed Powersun UV bulb that provides UVB, UVA, and heat all in one source. I keep it on for at least 13 hours a day. I bathe him every couple days and if I don't, I place him in his water to wake him up. I do not have any light at night. Could this be why?
Is he too cold at night or is it something else I am doing wrong?
Is it concerning that he is not more active?
Is there something I should buy to put in his water, like a mineral or something? I saw something in a Youtube video knce about how every tortoise owner needs.
THANK YOU.
 

wellington

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What are the night temps? Most likely he is getting too cold. Cold and wet or humid makes a sick tort. We the care sheet in the Redfoot section. Also one of our members has a great RF and tortoise site call the tortoiselibrary.com, also a good read for you.
I would get a Che ASAP and get some heat in there for night time. Also what are your day time temps, all over and basking?
 

Pearly

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Don't ever let his temps (day or night) drop below 80. If you keep high humidity and had no heat source for him at night he is likely sick with respiratory infection. You will also need to diversify his diet A LOT MORE. Look up TORTOISE LIBRARY website, it's a great source on info on RFs, also check out Turtletary and look at the RF info there. Both very good reliable sources. I have a pretty detailed thread here with lots of pictures, mine are baby RFs as well so you may find that thread especially usefull, just go to either DIET or SOUTH AMERICAN secion (can't recall where I put it) and use SEARCH feature to type in "Pearly's tips on feeding picky eater", if you follow some advise there, that should fix your diet problems. And remember those babies need to be warm (80-85F) to eat. Your problem
Maybe complicated by illness. If this was my baby, i'd be calling my reptile vet now for sick visit appointment. While you wait for the vet visit, fix the enclosure temps, make sure night temps stay at 80F. I just keep mine 80-81F around the clock. Could you post few pics of your enclosure with your tort inside so we can see the scale. Also, how do you measure your temps? What type of thermometer do you use?
 

ZEROPILOT

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Home Depot Lowes and Walmart all carry a pretty decent digital thermometer/humidity gauge combo for about $10.
It makes checking temps and humidity pretty simple and is so much better than those little dial type gauges they sell at pet shops.
You want no less than 80 degrees, but no more than 90 in the hottest area. (I.M.O.)Redfoot get overheated easily.
 

Pearly

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Home Depot Lowes and Walmart all carry a pretty decent digital thermometer/humidity gauge combo for about $10.
It makes checking temps and humidity pretty simple and is so much better than those little dial type gauges they sell at pet shops.
You want no less than 80 degrees, but no more than 90 in the hottest area. (I.M.O.)Redfoot get overheated easily.
Agree with not too hot. They can get dehydrated very quickly. Like I have said before, I keep mine at 80 away from the lamps and 85 closer to the lamps and so far knock on wood my babie have survived and thrived through their first year and 3 months into their second. I hope you get this figured out
 

Anyfoot

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Help! I have noticed some small bubbles coming from baby redfoot's nose. His eyes are clear, maybe a little wet, but they seemed fine to me. Also, he is not very active...at all. He sleeps all day and night unless I pick him up and wake him up so he can eat. Sometimes he eats a lot and sometimes he eats very little before going straight back to bed. Should I be concerned? I was having a hard time trying to fugure a good, balanced diet for him. He eats a lot of Romaine lettuce and I give him like half a berry every other day as well as some mixed greens everyday. I tried kale but he did not seem to like it that much. He also likes zucchini. I got Lloyd on August 30 as a hatchling and have a Zoomed Powersun UV bulb that provides UVB, UVA, and heat all in one source. I keep it on for at least 13 hours a day. I bathe him every couple days and if I don't, I place him in his water to wake him up. I do not have any light at night. Could this be why?
Is he too cold at night or is it something else I am doing wrong?
Is it concerning that he is not more active?
Is there something I should buy to put in his water, like a mineral or something? I saw something in a Youtube video knce about how every tortoise owner needs.
THANK YOU.
Make sure your baby is 80/86f 24/7 and humidity is 80/90%.
Diet is important but not the reason your tort is lethargic. It's probably too cold. Best way is to use a CHE on a thermostat, kept on 24/7. Then use a small 15w uvb tube light over the feeding area. Keep this in for 12 to 14hrs a day. The che will keep temps correctly at night without any light, uvb will provide light during day.
All this is irrelevant if it's in an open enclosure or you live in a tropical climate.
Can we see the enclosure please.
 

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