Burmese Star Tortoise possible RI

MichiganMan

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Michigan
Hello,
I have 3 Burmese Star Tortoises around 1 year old. Yesterday I noticed some clear foam coming from 1 of them, out of the nostrils. When I tipped it forward, head down tail up I noticed clear fluid coming out of its nose and mouth. No coughing, sneezing, weezing or anything like that. Its alert, walking around, eating, peeing and pooping like normal. It's currently separated from the other 2 and under a che for more heat.

My setup is as follows,

4x4 tortoise table enclosed with a greenhouse
Cypress mulch for substrate
2 che on 2 thermostats set at 81°f
Basking light with basic home light bulb
Daytime ambient 87°f
Basking 100°f
Humidity 80% during day/ 90% at night
Nighttime never drops below 81°f
It never drops below 81°f on the cool side of the enclosure so I dont understand how it has an RI. Any help with treating this issue will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you
 

zovick

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3,386
Hello,
I have 3 Burmese Star Tortoises around 1 year old. Yesterday I noticed some clear foam coming from 1 of them, out of the nostrils. When I tipped it forward, head down tail up I noticed clear fluid coming out of its nose and mouth. No coughing, sneezing, weezing or anything like that. Its alert, walking around, eating, peeing and pooping like normal. It's currently separated from the other 2 and under a che for more heat.

My setup is as follows,

4x4 tortoise table enclosed with a greenhouse
Cypress mulch for substrate
2 che on 2 thermostats set at 81°f
Basking light with basic home light bulb
Daytime ambient 87°f
Basking 100°f
Humidity 80% during day/ 90% at night
Nighttime never drops below 81°f
It never drops below 81°f on the cool side of the enclosure so I dont understand how it has an RI. Any help with treating this issue will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you
The discharge does indicate a respiratory problem. Since the tortoise is acting OK otherwise, I would recommend treating it with drops initially to see if doing that and keeping it warm will solve the problem. The drops I use are called Neo-Poly-Dex Veterinary Ophthalmic drops. Put one drop into eye eye and one into each nostril twice a day for 7-10 days.

If it gets worse rather than better while you are treating it with the drops, you will need to get injectable Ceftazidime from your vet and give injections to cure it.

Mycoplasma can sometimes manifest itself as you described with no other obvious symptoms. Many tortoises get over that fairly easily, but then are potential carriers for life. This is one of the primary reasons why Desert Tortoises are not allowed to be released to the wild once they have been in captivity. Former captives infected the wild populations years ago and the wild tortoise populations had no resistance to it and were decimated.

Keep an eye on the other two that you have to see if they develop symptoms. Do you have any other tortoises which may be the source (carriers) of such an infection?
 
Last edited:

MichiganMan

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Messages
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Location (City and/or State)
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Thanks for the reply Zovick. Just so I know I'm getting the right stuff, is this it? It says for dogs?146811_MAIN._AC_SY400_V1525450112_.jpg
 

MichiganMan

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Michigan
Ok. Thank you. I will order it and overnight it. Any other opinions from other members would be greatly appreciated.
 

MichiganMan

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Messages
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Location (City and/or State)
Michigan
Ok. Thank you. I will order it and overnight it. Any other opinions from other members would be greatly appreciated.
Ok. Another problem. I cant order it without a prescription from a vet. How can I order it without going to a vet since no vet in Michigan seems to know anything about tortoises?
 

zovick

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Ok. Another problem. I cant order it without a prescription from a vet. How can I order it without going to a vet since no vet in Michigan seems to know anything about tortoises?
Do you use a vet for any other animals? Have you ever taken one of your tortoises to a vet? If so, call them and ask for the drops for your tortoise. Most vets will just sell you the drops directly from their offices if you are a client and tell them you need them for a tortoise. You may have to do an office visit to get them if you are not an established client of a vet.
 

MichiganMan

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Messages
38
Location (City and/or State)
Michigan
Do you use a vet for any other animals? Have you ever taken one of your tortoises to a vet? If so, call them and ask for the drops for your tortoise. Most vets will just sell you the drops directly from their offices if you are a client and tell them you need them for a tortoise. You may have to do an office visit to get them if you are not an established client of a vet.

Yeah. I guess my vet for my dog is a herp vet too. So hopefully he knows what hes talking about. I will try to get it in tomorrow. Any red flags I should be watching out for as in recommending injections or anything that can do more harm then good?
 

zovick

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Yeah. I guess my vet for my dog is a herp vet too. So hopefully he knows what hes talking about. I will try to get it in tomorrow. Any red flags I should be watching out for as in recommending injections or anything that can do more harm then good?
If anything other than Ceftazidime injections are recommended, I would not do it. Baytril is no longer considered the treatment of choice for tortoises as it was years ago, but some vets are not that well informed and still want to use it. Baytril causes lots of pain, plus tissue necrosis at the injection sites.

Just tell him/her you would prefer to try the drops first and then do something else if they don't do the trick.
 

JeffR

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Nov 23, 2019
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Location (City and/or State)
Sacramento
If anything other than Ceftazidime injections are recommended, I would not do it. Baytril is no longer considered the treatment of choice for tortoises as it was years ago, but some vets are not that well informed and still want to use it. Baytril causes lots of pain, plus tissue necrosis at the injection sites.

Just tell him/her you would prefer to try the drops first and then do something else if they don't do the trick.
The discharge does indicate a respiratory problem. Since the tortoise is acting OK otherwise, I would recommend treating it with drops initially to see if doing that and keeping it warm will solve the problem. The drops I use are called Neo-Poly-Dex Veterinary Ophthalmic drops. Put one drop into eye eye and one into each nostril twice a day for 7-10 days.

If it gets worse rather than better while you are treating it with the drops, you will need to get injectable Ceftazidime from your vet and give injections to cure it.

Mycoplasma can sometimes manifest itself as you described with no other obvious symptoms. Many tortoises get over that fairly easily, but then are potential carriers for life. This is one of the primary reasons why Desert Tortoises are not allowed to be released to the wild once they have been in captivity. Former captives infected the wild populations years ago and the wild tortoise populations had no resistance to it and were decimated.

Keep an eye on the other two that you have to see if they develop symptoms. Do you have any other tortoises which may be the source (carriers) of such an infection?
Ceftazidime is a broad spectrum 3rd generation Cephalosporin that covers most pneumonia’s exfremely well . It does not cover mycoplasma if that is your goal. The penicillins and cephalosporins work on the cell wall and mycoplasma does not have a cell wall.
 
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