Emergency: weird sounds And no lack of movement.

percyandlydia

New Member
Joined
Apr 2, 2014
Messages
18
My horsefield tortoise Percy is around 5 months old and I've had him for around three.

He is very healthy normally, we have him in a large tortoise table with a UV and heat bulb.

Recently he has been very sleepy and off his food so we have tried mixing up his diet to include more vegetables and the occasional small bit of apple or pear as a treat.

It's quite late (1:30 am) at the moment but I could hear some weird noises like squeaking.

Percy should be asleep but I went over to him and held him to see if it was him.
He pushed his neck really far out and out and made the noise again. Since then he has been doing it a lot.
While I was holding him his back legs moved so they was vertical (going up if that makes sense??) and he wasn't moving at all, he didn't even seem to blink for what felt like a minute then re made that noise.
I know have him soaking in water in attempt to encourage him to drink.

I have never heard him do this before is this normal???
 

dmmj

The member formerly known as captain awesome
10 Year Member!
Joined
Aug 15, 2008
Messages
19,695
Location (City and/or State)
CA
No, not really. The only thing that jumps out at me is temps. Oh and the diet.
 

percyandlydia

New Member
Joined
Apr 2, 2014
Messages
18
The temps are around 30c in the day time when the light is on and it's pretty warm right now so it's 25c at the moment.

For a diet I've mostly been feeding him dandelions because he is really picky but I have been feeding him mostly spring greens and dandelion leafs at the moment.

I have him in the water and he seems to be doing it a lot more so I will take him out of it now. (Although he has passed the white urine thing while in there so that's one positive atleast)
 

percyandlydia

New Member
Joined
Apr 2, 2014
Messages
18
He is also opening his mouth when he makes this noise.
Please can someone reassure me that he is not going to die I'm very concerned right now...
 

dmmj

The member formerly known as captain awesome
10 Year Member!
Joined
Aug 15, 2008
Messages
19,695
Location (City and/or State)
CA
Does it look like open mouth breathing? Or does his mouth just open when he makes the noise?
 

percyandlydia

New Member
Joined
Apr 2, 2014
Messages
18
I think it's just open mouth while making the noise.
The only way I can describe it is a watery squeak kinda like water has got stuck somewhere.

He was making the noise a lot and I decided there is nothing I can do until the morning and placed him back in his tank, he has stopped making the noise now and I went to check on him to make sure he was okay (and not dead) and picked him up and he started to make the noise again every so often but no where near enough for it to be breathing.

I looked up signs of an RI,
His weight fluctuates a lot but I weighed him earlier and he hasn't out any on in two months but it could be due to him not having a big meal today (I didn't feed him this morning my partner did so I can't say how much) or down to him only being a baby.

Be doesn't seen to have bubbles coming from his nose or any liquid coming from his mouth.

However he is having trouble with one of his eyes which plays up every now and then.

It's mainly this noise that is the problem.


Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to find a vet that can do reptiles a quick search online said around 20 miles away and also change his substrate which admittedly I haven't done in some time so hopefully that will help significantly.
 

dmmj

The member formerly known as captain awesome
10 Year Member!
Joined
Aug 15, 2008
Messages
19,695
Location (City and/or State)
CA
I am starting to wonder if he has something stuck in his throat? What' the substrate again? Sorry for all the questions, just trouble shooting here.
 

percyandlydia

New Member
Joined
Apr 2, 2014
Messages
18
The questions are fine don't worry!!

We have top soil for the most part and then we have bark chippings on top of that to provide a sort of terrain but they are very dry at the moment and I have been meaning to clean his tank.

I never see him drink much honestly, is there anything I can do if something is stuck?

For a month we was inbetween bulbs because our original solarglo bulb broke so we sent it back (it came with a warranty) and we had a small heat only bulb (not ideal I know it took longer than expected) and he was fine, then that bulb broke luckily we only had to wait a couple of days before our solarglo was back so he only went a couple of days where I soaked him twice a day and he had a roam in the garden.

Before the bulb broke we had it WAYYYY to close that was pushing the heat up to 40c so we have moved the bulb what was recommended on the box and ever since he hasn't been happy like not being as active or eating as much.
 
M

Maggie Cummings

Guest
He either has a piece of substrate stuck in his throat or an URTI. Either way I'd be taking him to the Vet ASAP...Try and look down his throat and see what you can see. You can hold his head and stretch out his neck and should be able to get a good view. But I wouldn't waste time, I'd get him to a Vet soonest...
 

dmmj

The member formerly known as captain awesome
10 Year Member!
Joined
Aug 15, 2008
Messages
19,695
Location (City and/or State)
CA
It has to be removed, if there is something down there. It is hard to say for sure, but right now I am leaning towards that. Any chance you could open the mouth, and have a looksie?
 

percyandlydia

New Member
Joined
Apr 2, 2014
Messages
18
It is currently 4am and the earliest i can get him to a vet is 3pm tomorrow so hopefully he will be okay until then. I will give him a good soak in the morning and keep you updated
 

percyandlydia

New Member
Joined
Apr 2, 2014
Messages
18
Morning update:
He is yet to remake this noise and seems to have perked up loads, I took him outside and he was having a lovely munch on some dandelion leafs. so I'm debating whether he needs to go to the vets, however I did contact them and they gave me the details of where to go I'm just waiting to my local reptile shop where I got Percy and are very helpful to open so I can ring him and ask for their opinion on what to do.
 
Top