ET is having water out nose

[Coco Channell]

ET IS fourteen month old juvenile Desert Tortoise. He has never been sick. He has not hiberaited yet.
I have him inside in large terriumn with uv and heat lamp. He sleeps in cardboard box with heat mat on outside of tank. He gets up for only an hour eats and goes back to sleep. I take him to yard for fifteen to twenty minutes for sunshine when it's warm. Today I saw waterr coming from his nose when he sat on my lap in Sun. Is he going to be ok? Is it water from his soaking two days ago or does he have a cold? How do I tell? What can I do to help him?
Thanks
Carol

 

[Aloysius Taschse]

For now I don't think it is much to worry about, but I am not an expert and I just wanted to offer my opinion because nobody else was responding. More experienced members can help more, and until then just make sure your tort is comfortable. If it gets really bad, like huge amounts of nasal discharge and your tort is just acting really weird, then schedule a vet appointment. I would suggest giving him 30 minute warm soaks 3 times a week or so, but then I am not an expert (I'm such a newbie sulcata owner). Also I think they would get more time outside in the wild so I would also suggest to let him romp around for an hour when it is at least above 80 degrees. (Again, I'm no expert) Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[Ink]

Can you post pictures of his enclosure and how old is ET? Hopefully an expert can help you

 

[KarenSoCal]

The first thing to do is make sure he's warm enough. Double check your temps and humidity in his tank. While there's any chance of RI, you want his nighttime low temp to be 80°F. Basking temp of 95-100°, and ambient temp of 85-90°. It's also the time to make sure he has decent humidity of 80%.

If you don't have a cover over the top of his tank, find something to drape over it to keep the heat and humidity inside. A shower curtain works well for a short time cover. Put it over lights and all...just make sure to not make a fire hazard with the plastic and hot lights.

Once his symptoms disappear, leave him in the increased heat for 2 weeks. Then you can return him to his usual temps.

Soak him daily. Extra hydration is good for him while he fights off an infection.

Unless he shows additional symptoms, there's really no way to determine if this is an RI. So to cover all the bases we treat it as if he has it. Even if he displayed more symptoms, the treatment is the same, and very often the higher heat and humidity clear it up without the trauma of a vet visit.

 

[Coco Channell]

ET IS feeling better. I think he got water in his nose from soaking. He is back to his sweet self today. I did turn him head down and try to remove water if he had any in his lungs. But he is better

 

[Coco Channell]

The first thing to do is make sure he's warm enough. Double check your temps and humidity in his tank. While there's any chance of RI, you want his nighttime low temp to be 80°F. Basking temp of 95-100°, and ambient temp of 85-90°. It's also the time to make sure he has decent humidity of 80%.

If you don't have a cover over the top of his tank, find something to drape over it to keep the heat and humidity inside. A shower curtain works well for a short time cover. Put it over lights and all...just make sure to not make a fire hazard with the plastic and hot lights.

Once his symptoms disappear, leave him in the increased heat for 2 weeks. Then you can return him to his usual temps.

Soak him daily. Extra hydration is good for him while he fights off an infection.

Unless he shows additional symptoms, there's really no way to determine if this is an RI. So to cover all the bases we treat it as if he has it. Even if he displayed more symptoms, the treatment is the same, and very often the higher heat and humidity clear it up without the trauma of a vet visit.

Thank you so much you are so knowledgeable ET IS much better back to his sweet self. I think he just swallowed water. I did hold him head down to make sure he didn't have water in his lungs. Today he's back to normal no sign of water out nose. Thanks again
Carol

 

[Aloysius Taschse]

This is great! This leads to a question of mine - are tortoises supposed to swallow water? Before I started soaking her mazuri pellets to make them easier to eat, whenever I put her in a bath she would dip her head into the water down and just leave it there for a few seconds. I freaked out since I thought she was drowning, but I think she was drinking. This might deserve it's own thread but since it isn't really an "issue" I figured it was fine on this one. Best wishes to you and ET!

 

[tacotort654218]

This is great! This leads to a question of mine - are tortoises supposed to swallow water? Before I started soaking her mazuri pellets to make them easier to eat, whenever I put her in a bath she would dip her head into the water down and just leave it there for a few seconds. I freaked out since I thought she was drowning, but I think she was drinking. This might deserve it's own thread but since it isn't really an "issue" I figured it was fine on this one. Best wishes to you and ET!

yes as far as I understand that is how some tortoises drink, I was shocked when I first saw one of my leopard tortoise drowning itself, but turns out he is just drinking, and again, different tortoise has different drinking style ?