Cherryhead breathing loudly at night, respiratory infection???

[The G]

Hello there, I just moved to Germany from the U.S. and have a 16 month old Cherryhead Red Foot that accompanied me. Unfortunately, I have her in an improvised terrarium until my set up arrives. I am using a plastic tote and I have her substrate (sphagnum moss), heating pad, modified hide, UVA-B, heat red light at night, water source, food dish, and I soak her everyday with bottled water because the water here in Stuttgart is not softened and I found it was drying out her skin. Tonight I heard hear breathing and this is new. there is no discharge at her nostrils and her behavior is totally normal. In fact, with the move I am finding she wants to check more things out here than stay put. This was my fear that she could be getting a respiratory infection after I did some probing on the Internet. I have not sought out a vet but will contact the veterinary clinic on base to see about finding an exotic pet vet that has experience with torts and hopefully we are just in a bump in the road.

Any advice appreciated. I don't have a temperature gauge. I am hoping my terrarium, and all of my supplies will be here next week and I can get her situated in how we had it in VA.

 

[wellington]

It's really hard to say. I would think she would make the noise day and night if it were a URI. I would keep a close eye on her and if you knew what the temps were, I would tell you to raise the night temp about 5 degrees. You might be better off buying a temp gauge until you're arrives. Temps and humidity are two very important housing issues for a healthy tort.

 

[Bee62]

Hello The G and a very warm wellcome to the forum.
I hope that your tort is not sick, but when you search for a German VET that is familiar with reptiles I have found this for you:

PLZ 7:

Häfner, Dr. Ursula,
Schlotterbeckstr. 19,
70327 Stuttgart,
Prakt. Tierärztin,
Tel. 0711-333863 (phone)



Fellinger, Dr. Judith,
Oswald-Hesse-Str. 94,
70469 Stuttgart-Feuerbach,
Tierarztpraxis,
Tel. 0711-232885 (phone)

These two VETs are located in Stuttgart. I found it on this list:
http://www.tierisches-verzeichnis.de/Tieraerzteallgemein/reptilientierarzt.htm
http://www.tierisches-verzeichnis.de/Tieraerzteallgemein/reptilientierarzt.htm
I live in Germany.
When you have questions, you can ask me.

Sabine

 

[The G]

Hello The G and a very warm wellcome to the forum.
I hope that your tort is not sick, but when you search for a German VET that is familiar with reptiles I have found this for you:

PLZ 7:

Häfner, Dr. Ursula,
Schlotterbeckstr. 19,
70327 Stuttgart,
Prakt. Tierärztin,
Tel. 0711-333863 (phone)



Fellinger, Dr. Judith,
Oswald-Hesse-Str. 94,
70469 Stuttgart-Feuerbach,
Tierarztpraxis,
Tel. 0711-232885 (phone)

These two VETs are located in Stuttgart. I found it on this list:
http://www.tierisches-verzeichnis.de/Tieraerzteallgemein/reptilientierarzt.htm
I live in Germany.
When you have questions, you can ask me.

Sabine

Sabine, thank you so much. I actually have an appointment on Wednesday at 1630 with Dr. Häfner. I will let you know how it goes. She is still trucking along. Appetite is great and as it gets warmer out this week we will go outside.

 

[Bee62]

Sabine, thank you so much. I actually have an appointment on Wednesday at 1630 with Dr. Häfner. I will let you know how it goes. She is still trucking along. Appetite is great and as it gets warmer out this week we will go outside.

Good luck for your tort that she is not sick.
Be careful with outdoor times with your little tort. When you have 80 F in the sun the ground ( soil ) could be much colder. My torts have to stay inside when I am not sure that it is warm enough for them. I own 2 Redfoots too. In their terrarium the temps never drop much below 80 F and the humidity is around 80 %.
Germany is cold. Not the best place for tropical tortoises... I know.
Where do you come from ? U.S. A ?

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

How long have you been there ?
Maybe she's just settling in, it could be stress ?

 

[The G]

We have been here for 2 weeks now. I have her in a terrarium set her up yesterday. I did increase the temp on her cold side by 5 degrees. Her behavior still seems pretty normal. She is very active and her appetite remains.