Desert Tortoise Upper Respiratory Tract Infection Survey

deserttortoiseq

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Feb 27, 2017
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Please take this survey if:

1) You have a desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii), AND

2) That desert tortoise has or had an Upper Respiratory Tract Infection (aka Runny Nose Syndrome), AND

3) Have tried to treat those symptoms with either doxycycline AND/OR enrofloxacin (Baytril®)

ONLINE CONSENT and DEBREIFING FORM:

You are invited to take part in a research survey about desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) and the antibiotics used to treat their Upper Respiratory Tract Infection. We hope to increase the pool of knowledge associated with the effectiveness of two antibiotics used to treat this disease in these animals. There are no known risks or discomforts associated with this survey. Taking part in this study is completely voluntary. If you choose to be in the study you can withdraw at any time without adversely affecting your relationship with anyone on the research team. Any report of this research that is made available to the public will not include your name or any other individual information by which you could be identified. Please feel free to print a copy of this consent page to keep for your records. Filling out the survey is indication of your consent in the survey. If you have questions or want a copy or summary of this study’s results, you can contact the researcher at the following email address: [email protected].

SURVEY:

*If you have more than one tortoise that meets these requirements, please fill out the survey for each tortoise independently.

1. Which antibiotic was used to treat your tortoise (type Doxycycline, Enrofloxacin, or Both)?

2. How long were they treated with these antibiotics (if treated for multiple sessions, include only most recent administration session of each antibiotic; if still currently in use, type the number of months the antibiotic was first administered until the point in time you are taking this survey)?

Doxycycline: ______ months

Enrofloxacin: _______months

3. How long did your tortoise show symptoms of this infection PRIOR to treatment?

4. How old is your tortoise? (If unknown, estimate age or leave blank.)

5. Rate the effectiveness of each antibiotic on a scale of 1 – 5 (1 being not effective/no change in symptoms and 5 being extremely effective with a complete disappearance of symptoms with no signs of returning long after discontinuing use of antibiotic).

Doxycycline:

Enrofloxacin:

6. When using doxycycline, did the symptoms eventually go away indefinitely (put “no” if symptoms went away but still came back later on)?

When using enrofloxacin, did the symptoms eventually go away indefinitely (put “no” if symptoms went away but still came back later on)?

7. If answered “yes” to 6: After first administering the doxycycline, how long did it take for your tortoise’s symptoms to disappear? ______ months

If answered “yes” to 6: After first administering the enrofloxacin, how long did it take for your tortoise’s symptoms to disappear? ______ months

8. If symptoms went away and came back later on after using doxycycline, how long would the symptoms be gone before returning? ______months

If symptoms went away and came back later on after using enrofloxacin, how long would the symptoms be gone before returning? ______months

9. Rate the severity of your tortoises’ symptoms PRIOR to treatment on a scale of 1 – 5 (1 being slight runny nose from time to time; 4 being constant runny nose, heavy discharge, and apparent breathing difficulties, but tortoise is still active and eating; 5 being constant runny nose, heavy discharge, and apparent breathing difficulties as well as tortoise becoming lethargic and has loss of appetite).

10. Please use this opportunity to tell us more about your specific experience with this infection/these antibiotics and include anything that might not have been covered in the survey (optional).
 

Yvonne G

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I have found that if you bring the tortoise in to a hospital enclosure and warm the tortoise up (80-85F), and just let it be a tortoise without fooling with it, the symptoms go away. I only resort to antibiotics if the mucous turns thick and colored and if the tortoise stops eating. I used to use Baytril when I first got into "Rescue" and took in sick tortoises, but when I realized how painful the medication is for the tortoise, I stopped using it and just go with the leave them alone attitude. I still have my first desert tortoise, Mi-Shelle. Her symptoms flare up sometime, but I warm her up and leave her alone.
 
Last edited:

Grandpa Turtle 144

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5 Year Member
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Apr 3, 2013
Messages
10,878
I have found that if you bring the tortoise in to a hospital enclosure and warm the tortoise up (80-85F), and just let it be a tortoise without fooling with it, the symptoms go away. I only resort to antibiotics if the mucous turns thick and colored and if the tortoise stops eating. I used to use Baytril when I first got into "Rescue" but when I realized how painful the medication is for the tortoise, I stopped using it and just go with the leave them alone attitude. I still have my first desert tortoise, Mi-Shelle. Her symptoms flare up sometime, but I warm her up and leave her alone.
How is baytril painful to a tort ?
 
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Maryalice

Member
Joined
Jul 26, 2021
Messages
64
Location (City and/or State)
Pasig City, Metro Manila, Philippinex
Please take this survey if:

1) You have a desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii), AND

2) That desert tortoise has or had an Upper Respiratory Tract Infection (aka Runny Nose Syndrome), AND

3) Have tried to treat those symptoms with either doxycycline AND/OR enrofloxacin (Baytril®)

ONLINE CONSENT and DEBREIFING FORM:

You are invited to take part in a research survey about desert tortoises (Gopherus agassizii) and the antibiotics used to treat their Upper Respiratory Tract Infection. We hope to increase the pool of knowledge associated with the effectiveness of two antibiotics used to treat this disease in these animals. There are no known risks or discomforts associated with this survey. Taking part in this study is completely voluntary. If you choose to be in the study you can withdraw at any time without adversely affecting your relationship with anyone on the research team. Any report of this research that is made available to the public will not include your name or any other individual information by which you could be identified. Please feel free to print a copy of this consent page to keep for your records. Filling out the survey is indication of your consent in the survey. If you have questions or want a copy or summary of this study’s results, you can contact the researcher at the following email address: [email protected].

SURVEY:

*If you have more than one tortoise that meets these requirements, please fill out the survey for each tortoise independently.


1. Which antibiotic was used to treat your tortoise (type Doxycycline, Enrofloxacin, or Both)?

2. How long were they treated with these antibiotics (if treated for multiple sessions, include only most recent administration session of each antibiotic; if still currently in use, type the number of months the antibiotic was first administered until the point in time you are taking this survey)?

Doxycycline: ______ months

Enrofloxacin: _______months

3. How long did your tortoise show symptoms of this infection PRIOR to treatment?

4. How old is your tortoise? (If unknown, estimate age or leave blank.)

5. Rate the effectiveness of each antibiotic on a scale of 1 – 5 (1 being not effective/no change in symptoms and 5 being extremely effective with a complete disappearance of symptoms with no signs of returning long after discontinuing use of antibiotic).

Doxycycline:

Enrofloxacin:

6. When using doxycycline, did the symptoms eventually go away indefinitely (put “no” if symptoms went away but still came back later on)?

When using enrofloxacin, did the symptoms eventually go away indefinitely (put “no” if symptoms went away but still came back later on)?

7. If answered “yes” to 6: After first administering the doxycycline, how long did it take for your tortoise’s symptoms to disappear? ______ months

If answered “yes” to 6: After first administering the enrofloxacin, how long did it take for your tortoise’s symptoms to disappear? ______ months

8. If symptoms went away and came back later on after using doxycycline, how long would the symptoms be gone before returning? ______months

If symptoms went away and came back later on after using enrofloxacin, how long would the symptoms be gone before returning? ______months

9. Rate the severity of your tortoises’ symptoms PRIOR to treatment on a scale of 1 – 5 (1 being slight runny nose from time to time; 4 being constant runny nose, heavy discharge, and apparent breathing difficulties, but tortoise is still active and eating; 5 being constant runny nose, heavy discharge, and apparent breathing difficulties as well as tortoise becoming lethargic and has loss of appetite).

10. Please use this opportunity to tell us more about your specific experience with this infection/these antibiotics and include anything that might not have been covered in the survey (optional).
This survey was done 4 years ago. What are the results of this survey?
 

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