Heavy breathing - medical report all clear?

[Jlallen013]

hello,

I have an 8 yr. Old sulcata that lives outside full time. I live in Florida by the way. The last 6 months I have noticed she has been breathing heavy which I haven't noticed before. There isnt any discharge or swelling. Literally nothing but heavy breathing. I took her to one vet who just did an "exam" and said she looked fine and of course she wasn't breathing heavy when he was looking at her. I decided I wanted a second opinion so I took her to blue pearl specialty vet and did blood work and a stool sample. Everything came back normal and they said no discharge or swelling so she seems all good beyond just small pyramiding from her beginning life stages. The only other thing they suggested was i think an xray or something to see her anatomy.

Any ideas why she is breathing heavy? Worth to do the xray? Even though everything else is normal. The literal ONLY thing i can think of that is different is she has finally started digging in my yard and trying to burrow. But i dont see how that can correlate? Help!

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Where in Floida are you?
Is Deerfield beach in driveway distance for you.
I reccomend my vet. Dr. KELLEHER at Broward Avian and exotic.
She's fantastic....And actually owns a Sulcata.
I WOULD do the xray. Its usually $80 and would show a serious issue.

Heavy breathing could also be from heat too high.
What is the temperature of where your tortoise is?
What lighting and heat?

 

[Jlallen013]

I wish! I live in Tampa so that's quite far of a drive. I will call tomorrow to get the xray! Better safe than sorry!

My tortoise is outside free-roaming ALL day so whatever the temp is outside in FL (which as you know is anywhere between 80s and high 90s all day). Note - she has plenty of shade throughout the yard that she goes under to nap and lately has been digging a burrow i keep covering until i can get her to dig where i want. I dug one out for her myself and of course she doesnt use it and wants to do one in the least convenient area of the yard. She has access to water all day, gets misted daily and gets soaked every few weeks.

At night she goes into her outside shed on her own. I have a Kane heat pad attached to the wall but right now i dont use it until our "winter" starts.

I had a whole inside set up but I feel it's irrelevant as she has been outside full-time for 3 years now.

Any suggestions are welcomed, especially since you live in FL and know the weather.