Dead Tort - How Do We Proceed?

shehick

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My beautiful little leopard tort, Gumbo recently passed away. Neither the breeder (Jodie) or I are quite sure why as my setup, routine and feeding schedule were correct but he is gone and that is neither here nor there. Unfortunately, living in Alaska our temps have dropped below safe shipping range already so I cannot get another tortoise this winter. I do want to get another, however and was curious about how I should sanitize everything on the off chance he had something contagious? I really, really hate to throw out my substrate but I will if I have to. He was in a 6x3ft greenhouse enclosure so I don't know how to sanitize everything.

Thank you
Charlene
 

Diamond

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Sorry to hear this. Not sure what type of substrate you have, but I read somewhere it is good to freeze cypress mulch to kill any bugs. I would image freezing any substrate would do the same.
 

Neal

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I don't think sanitizing the enclosure objects or changing out the enclosure would be such a bad idea, but it might be more beneficial to try and determined the cause of the tortoises death (as best as you can) and work from there before putting too much effort into something.

What was the tortoises behavior like before it died? Anything out of the ordinary?
 

shehick

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@Neal Nothing out of the ordinary. He was active, pooped in his bath and ate the night before. I went in the following morning to turn on his lights, give him his morning bath and feed him and he was gone. He has always been in a closed chamber and fed/cared for as per reccomended by my breeder and this forum. No gaping mouth, drippy eyes or nose, no signs of anything before death he just died.
 

ZEROPILOT

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Keep the body warm for at least another 24 hours and make SURE that it is truly dead.
It is not unheard of for a "dead" tortoise to just be in some sort of serious distress.
Mine wouldn't even respond to me touching her on the eyeball, yet 24 hours later, she was moving and another 24 hours later she was doing fine.
 

Jodie

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Gumbo was stiff. I am really sorry this has happened. Tortoises don't die suddenly. Unless poisoned, pretty sure this is not what happened, or injury, also seems unlikely. I have gone through our conversations several times, and the only explanation I have is he must have gotten sick early on. While you were adjusting things. Tortoises are very good at hiding illness. I suggest you bake or freeze the substrate. Clean or replace everything else. But a gram scale, and a temp gun if you don't have one. I have several babies left. I will hold one. Grow it to a less fragile size, and ship in the spring, for the cost of shipping only. You can set back up a month or better before it arrives, and use the temp gun to check every spot in the enclosure for cold spots. You will be able to weigh regularly, so we will know if something is going wrong.
 

shehick

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@ZEROPILOT - As Jodie said, Gumbo was stiff when I found him. He was 100% gone.

@Jodie - I will just go ahead and replace the substrate. I've got about 50+lbs of dry coco coir in there baking it would take over a week in small batches. Should I be concerned about anything contaminating the greenhouse/plastic tub that holds the substrate? Maybe give them a good rinse with a light bleach and hot water solution since they won't be used for a while? I do have a temp gun but I'll order a gram scale. I really appreciate that, you are such a wonderful person. I am so happy my dream breeder turned me down and I found you. I will shoot you a text to discuss that.
 

wellington

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So sorry to hear this. It stinks when there is just no rhyme or reason.
Jodie, that is being a top notch breeder, the kind every breeder, of every type of animal, should strive for. So proud of you for caring more about everything else, but the almighty dollar!
 

Jodie

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So sorry to hear this. It stinks when there is just no rhyme or reason.
Jodie, that is being a top notch breeder, the kind every breeder, of every type of animal, should strive for. So proud of you for caring more about everything else, but the almighty dollar!
Thank you. It is tough. To the best of my knowledge this is my only lost hatchling. I have lost purchased hatchlings in the past, so I know how bad it sucks. I feel awful that someone who bought from me, and followed my advice, is going through this.
I think this demonstrates the importance of regular weigh ins of little ones to identify any problems. They are so very good at hiding illness. :(
 

leigti

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Freezing or boiling the substrate instead of baking it may work just as well.
@Jodie is a great breeder and owner. I recently purchased one of her Russian hatchlings. He is doing great. And she put up with all my paranoid, OCD questions :) she definitely cares more about the animal than the money.
 

shehick

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@leigti - I have not been able to get my hands on pure ammonia it all has surfactant in it (soap) so I can't do that. I live in rural Alaska so I have a hard time with stuff like that.
 

Jodie

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Freezing or boiling the substrate instead of baking it may work just as well.
@Jodie is a great breeder and owner. I recently purchased one of her Russian hatchlings. He is doing great. And she put up with all my paranoid, OCD questions :) she definitely cares more about the animal than the money.
Aww. Thanks!
 

leigti

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@leigti - I have not been able to get my hands on pure ammonia it all has surfactant in it (soap) so I can't do that. I live in rural Alaska so I have a hard time with stuff like that.
I'm sure that would work. Then just rinse it off with regular water afterwards.
 

wellington

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@leigti - I have not been able to get my hands on pure ammonia it all has surfactant in it (soap) so I can't do that. I live in rural Alaska so I have a hard time with stuff like that.
If you use good old hot water and some antibacterial dawn dish soap or another brand, rinse well, let dry, that's all that is really needed. You will be storing it until spring. It would be different if you were putting someone in there right away.
 

leigti

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Where in Alaska do you live? They are even calling for possibly below freezing temperatures here this week at night.
 

shehick

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@leigti - I live in southern Alaska. I am about 3 hours each way from Walmart to give you an idea how small of a town I'm in. We have a safeway, a tiny Ulmers (True Value but with home wares) and a gas station pretty much.
 

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