Breathing and Peeing

[tessacat1795]

I know I keep asking questions, and I'm sorry. But I was wondering if it was normal for me to be able to hear Myrtle breathing. She sounds a little congested, but there's no discharge and she is eating and active. However, I still haven't seen her drink. She has been passing urates when I soak her. I have been soaking her for a half hour a day. Is that enough? No pee though. If they are soaking, are they supposed to drink? Or is soaking all? I am afraid I am a worry wort and, since I don't know what's normal, I worry about everything.

 

[tessacat1795]

She finally peed when I soaked her today! But she had some green/brown liquid too. Diarrhea? She hadn't pooped in a couple of days, and she did that today too. She is still making that wheezing sound. I mostly notice it when I soak her. Maybe it's just loud breathing and I can just hear it when she's in the tub?

 

[wellington]

Believe me, most of us understand the worrying. Most of us have done it, until at least we finally asked every question we needed to, too rest our minds, that our torts were okay. It sounds like things are normal to me. If she were sick, you should hear her wheezy breathing other then just the soaks, she would also have other symptoms. It might be her drinking you are hearing. They, at least my leopard doesn't obviously drink. It's hard to see when he does. Soaking though, also allows them to absorb water.

 

[tessacat1795]

Thanks for the encouragement. I appreciate it. I took her in because I felt bad for her and no one else wanted her. But, now that we've got her, I want to do the best by her that I can. Since this wasn't exactly planned, we are working on getting everthing she needs. Grass and greens were first. We've converted a room into hers, and we're working on fixing it up. She has a covered dog crate for a den, and a full-spectrum bulb in a lamp for now. I get paid on Wednesday and I'll pick up something more appropriate. There is a window in her room that the sun shines in for two full hours every day, and she enjoyed that a LOT today. We've been taking her outside, and she gets a nightly soak before bedtime. She turns pumpkin at 8:00. It's quite a learning curve, but we enjoy her. I found her some prickly pear today, so I look forward to seeing how she likes that tomorrow.

 

[mainey34]

You seem like you want so bad to take care of this tortoise. Is it a sulcata.? How old is it? Bless your heart, took are going to give him the best care possible.

 

[tessacat1795]

She's a Sulcata. Don't know her age. She's 12 inches long. She was fumped in a tub in front of the store I work at.

---

Dumped. Dumped in a tub. Lol

 

[tessacat1795]

She loved her prickly pear!

 

[tessacat1795]

Myrtle sunning where the light comes in about two hours in each day, in the room we are setting up for her.