Father Zimbabwe

New Member
Joined
Aug 11, 2019
Messages
5
Location (City and/or State)
Austin, TX
Hi, I have a baby sulcata tortoise that suddenly started breathing though its mouth and making a little wheeze when he does it. He was fine earlier this morning, was eating like normal. Woke up from a nap a few hours later and took him out to find that his neck was kinda swollen, he was breathing from his mouth, and one of his nostrils was clogged. I tried my best to unclog it, and at one point a little bit of what i think is mucus came out the other nostril. I'm thinking it's a RI so i guess my question is how I should go about treating this. There aren't really any good reptile vets nearby and honestly i won't have the funds to take him until later this week. He's just a little guy (60 grams) so i want to do my best to help him get through this as quickly as possible. Any advise or home remedies are greatly appreciated.

For reference, i have a MVB and CHE over them with a hot side of 101-98 and a cool side of 90-86. Night temps are around 90 to 83 thanks to the CHE, he tends to stay on the warm side at night. Substrate is a mix of cypress mulch and eco earth.
 

Father Zimbabwe

New Member
Joined
Aug 11, 2019
Messages
5
Location (City and/or State)
Austin, TX
He's still moving around and eating, and there hasn't been any mucus coming out of his nose except for that tiny bit that came out the first time. Should i isolate him from his cage-mate? Also, should i just run to the store and pick up some meds, like amoxicillin or something?
Since i started typing this, i gave him a soak and held him at an angle to try and drain him of mucus. there was some, but not a lot and it was clear. just thought i'd add that.
 

Father Zimbabwe

New Member
Joined
Aug 11, 2019
Messages
5
Location (City and/or State)
Austin, TX
Thanks for the well wishes! Guess I'll give an update.
It's hard to tell if he's gotten any better, but I'm pretty sure he hasn't gotten worse. He still had clear discharge coming from his nose. It isn't contagious as none of my other sulcatas have gotten sick while having plenty of contact. He's still eating, sleeping, pooping, and is still pretty active despite it. He hasn't been growing that much, only gaining around three grams, which has me a bit worried, as the other one i got was 36g when i got him about two months ago and has now surpassed him in weight.
I've been giving him warm showers to help loosen the mucus with the steam them holding him at a steep angle to help drain him, and i think it's had some success (my water bill would disagree lol). I also bought a fogger for the enclosure.
Again, any wisdom and/or advice would be greatly appreciated!!!
 
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