HELP PLEASE WITH MY NEW GREEK

[mrsmorganray]

Hey guys. I just purchased my first Greek Tortoise (I was told he was less than a year old) yesterday from Petsmart. I noticed this morning that he has a runny nose (bubbles), sneezing, and rubbing his nose on his legs. I took him to my vet and he said that he has an RI and prescribed him Baytril injectable solution (0.35cc) for 7 days - through the front leg.

I do not want to take him back to Petsmart because I already care a lot for this little guy and would love for him to be healthy and happy. He is eating a lot of zucchini, broccoli, carrots, and cauliflower. My questions are... what do I do? How long until he will show signs of improvement? Do I need to be soaking him? How much should I handle him? Should he be drinking water (I haven't seen him drink any).

I just feel so bad for the little guy and I want him to be happy and healthy. ANY HELP/SUGGESTIONS WOULD BE GREAT! THANKS A TON!

Morgan

 

[dmmj]

RI's can take awhile to resolve, my russian took 2 months. I would handle as little as possible. If he is still eating that is a good sign, I would change his diet for the most part.

 

[wellington]

Hello and WELCOME. I can't help you with this, but I will send well wishes for a speedy recovery. Good luck

 

[chase thorn]

Good luck to the little one! just research and check up on him occasionally. Good diet can help with a nutritional recovery. Just follow the vets advise and others on here!

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Morgan:

Welcome to the Tortoise Forum!!

I don't know much about the Greek tortoise, however, I do have Steppe tortoises (Russians), and they are similar to the Greeks. They eat mostly dark, leafy greens, broad-leaffed weeds and plants. You can give some veggies as an occasional treat, but a nice variety of greens would be better.

You should start to see some improvement in the runny nose in a week or so. Its always a good idea to give lots of forced soaks while on antibiotics, as the medicine is hard on a tortoise's kidneys. You can use a plastic dish pan or tub with tall sides that he can't climb out of. Add some warm water so that the water comes up to about the middle of his sides. You don't want it so deep that he has to struggle to keep his head out of the water. Just leave him in there for about 15 or 20 minutes. Don't worry that the water gets cold. It won't get any colder than room temperature and that's ok.

While the tortoise is ill, you'll need to keep him warmer than normal, so set up a light over his habitat and try to keep it over-all about 80-85F degrees.

It would be good if you can set him up outside. Tortoises do much better outside than indoors.

May we know appx. where in the world you are?

---

I forgot to mention that it wouldn't surprise me to find out that your new tortoise is older than the pet store told you. Pet stores are notorious for telling their customers their tortoises are younger than they really are...especially the smaller species of tortoise. Can you post a picture of him?

 

[GBtortoises]

Hey guys. I just purchased my first Greek Tortoise (I was told he was less than a year old) yesterday from Petsmart. I noticed this morning that he has a runny nose (bubbles), sneezing, and rubbing his nose on his legs. I took him to my vet and he said that he has an RI and prescribed him Baytril injectable solution (0.35cc) for 7 days - through the front leg.

I do not want to take him back to Petsmart because I already care a lot for this little guy and would love for him to be healthy and happy. He is eating a lot of zucchini, broccoli, carrots, and cauliflower. My questions are... what do I do? How long until he will show signs of improvement? Do I need to be soaking him? How much should I handle him? Should he be drinking water (I haven't seen him drink any).

I just feel so bad for the little guy and I want him to be happy and healthy. ANY HELP/SUGGESTIONS WOULD BE GREAT! THANKS A TON!

Morgan

First, your Greek tortoise is most certainly more than a year old. In order to be legally imported and sold at a pet shop in the U.S. a tortoise (or turtle) must be 4" SCL (straight line carapace length). Most imported Greek subspecies and Russian tortoises are just barely 4", some a bit larger. That being the case your tortoise is more likely in the 5-8 year old range depending upon it's actual size and subspecies.

While your tortoise is being medicated it should be soaked daily in shallow tempid water to ensure that it remains well hydrated. Diet should consist of about 80-90% good quality weeds and other leafy greens. Vegetables should only be a very small percentage of any Greek tortoises diet. This is especially true when ill and/or being medicated. In such a situation a tortoise is usually under a lot of stress which means it's immune system is often weaker. Their digestive system is evolved to consume and process high fiber, often low nutrional value foods (weeds and other greens). While the additional vitamins contained in many vegetables may be beneficial they can also be harder to digest, especially when a tortoise is under stress. Of the foods you listed, carrots especially are high in sugar content. This food should be very limited and only fed to healthy, active tortoises.

 

[Casey666]

Hey guys. I just purchased my first Greek Tortoise (I was told he was less than a year old) yesterday from Petsmart. I noticed this morning that he has a runny nose (bubbles), sneezing, and rubbing his nose on his legs. I took him to my vet and he said that he has an RI and prescribed him Baytril injectable solution (0.35cc) for 7 days - through the front leg.

I do not want to take him back to Petsmart because I already care a lot for this little guy and would love for him to be healthy and happy. He is eating a lot of zucchini, broccoli, carrots, and cauliflower. My questions are... what do I do? How long until he will show signs of improvement? Do I need to be soaking him? How much should I handle him? Should he be drinking water (I haven't seen him drink any).

I just feel so bad for the little guy and I want him to be happy and healthy. ANY HELP/SUGGESTIONS WOULD BE GREAT! THANKS A TON!


Morgan

Something similar happened to me. I got a Russian from Petsmart and he was sneezing a lot. We went to the vet and he has a respiratory infection.
DON'T GET ANIMALS FORM PETSMART!