HELP Red foot screaming at night

[Jaregaray]

Hi, I just bought a baby red footed tortoise (3 months old according to the petshop). On the first day of caring for the tortoise I noticed it made clicking sounds that were made by small snot bubbles coming form one of it’s nose holes. I went to the vet that same day and he told me it had parasitic worms (he analyzed a poop sample and found worm eggs) he told me that the snot bubbles were caused by the worms migrating to the tortoise’s nose and that I had to bring the tortoise to the vet every week for two more weeks so that they could give it deworming medicine. He also told me that the snot bubbles should go away after just a week. It’s been a month since I bought the turtle, I have taken it to the vet three times to receive it’s deworming medicine and supposedly it’s cured now, but the snot is still there. And at night, it makes a horrible sound that sounds like a scream but it looks like it is sneezing because it retracts it’s head while doing it. That screaming sound happens about 4 times each night and occasionally during the day (specially while eating). The temperatures are always between 83-87 and the humidity never drops below 60%. It has a uv-b light that stays on for 13 hours. I try to give it a varied diet of kale, spinach, lettuce, watercress, zucchini, apples, coriander, carrots and tortoise pellets. It eats a lot of food, it’s poop looks normal according to the three vets (it also poops 2 times a day), it is active when it’s awake but mostly sleeps all night and most part of the day. I soak it everyday in warm water and sometimes two times per day.
I don’t know what to do now. I read every information I could find on the internet but can’t figure why it makes those sounds at night.
Please help me
(Enclosure photo is attached. The uvb light doesn’t show in the photo but I have one)

 

[Carlos-NL]

My red foot tortoise when it was 3 months old also used to make the sound even more than 3 times. Sometimes 3 times in an hour. The poop was normal, eating good, also active considering a baby behavior. In my case it was a dehydration issue. I soaked him 15 min in water daily, maintain the humidity between 80% to 85% during the day and between 90% to 100% at night. Kept the temperature also slightly warm at night about 77 and in the day about 86. After 2 weeks I hardly heard that sound anymore, and then it was gone completely.

You need to make sure that the small snot bubbles coming from the nose is not because of URTI.

I would not be scared if I were you as long as you setup the precise environment measurements, but keep monitoring of course and maybe it'll get better.

 

[Jaregaray]

My red foot tortoise when it was 3 months old also used to make the sound even more than 3 times. Sometimes 3 times in an hour. The poop was normal, eating good, also active considering a baby behavior. In my case it was a dehydration issue. I soaked him 15 min in water daily, maintain the humidity between 80% to 85% during the day and between 90% to 100% at night. Kept the temperature also slightly warm at night about 77 and in the day about 86. After 2 weeks I hardly heard that sound anymore, and then it was gone completely.

You need to make sure that the small snot bubbles coming from the nose is not because of URTI.

I would not be scared if I were you as long as you setup the precise environment measurements, but keep monitoring of course and maybe it'll get better.

Thank you. I'll try to keep the humidity higher at night

 

[Guts]

Worms migrating to its nose makes absolutely no sense, thats just not how intestinal parasites work in the least. Snot is an obvious sign of a sinus/respitory infection and your vet not knowing that makes me think they are not remotely qualified to be offering care to a tortoise.

I don’t have enough experience with young redfoots to offer care advice but you definitely need to find a new vet...

 

[Yvonne G]

I don't know about the screaming sounds, however, I can make a few suggestions on how to better care for the tortoise, and once that's fixed, maybe the sound will have gone away:

Let's start with the aquarium - It's not big enough. You can get a large plastic tote/bin for a lot cheaper than the glass aquarium, and you can modify the lid to hold the lights/heat. Get the biggest tub you can find, one with a large floor space. You don't care about the depth or how tall the sides are, you want a big floor space.

The screen top is filtering out the good UVB rays. So when you get your tub, cut circles in the lid slightly smaller than the diameter of the light fixture and line the circles with aluminum foil. You should have once fixture for a CHE (ceramic heat emitter), which will provide heat without light, and set it up on a thermostat which is set at 80F degrees. Buy a tube type fluorescent UVB light and mount it on the underside of the tub's lid.

CHE -




tube type UVB -




Get rid of those dishes and replace them with a flat tile for feeding and a plant saucer a little bigger than the tortoise, for water. Sink the saucer down into the substrate.

Throw away the moss. If he eats it it causes impaction. Your substrate looks ok, however, you should pour a pitcher of water over it and mix it up with your hand. You want it to be moist underneath and fairly dry on top.

I think once you get the overall temperature up to 80-85F day and night, all over the whole enclosure, the baby will start acting better, and maybe the sound will have stopped.

 

[Jaregaray]

I don't know about the screaming sounds, however, I can make a few suggestions on how to better care for the tortoise, and once that's fixed, maybe the sound will have gone away:

Let's start with the aquarium - It's not big enough. You can get a large plastic tote/bin for a lot cheaper than the glass aquarium, and you can modify the lid to hold the lights/heat. Get the biggest tub you can find, one with a large floor space. You don't care about the depth or how tall the sides are, you want a big floor space.

The screen top is filtering out the good UVB rays. So when you get your tub, cut circles in the lid slightly smaller than the diameter of the light fixture and line the circles with aluminum foil. You should have once fixture for a CHE (ceramic heat emitter), which will provide heat without light, and set it up on a thermostat which is set at 80F degrees. Buy a tube type fluorescent UVB light and mount it on the underside of the tub's lid.

CHE -
View attachment 311837



tube type UVB -

View attachment 311838


Get rid of those dishes and replace them with a flat tile for feeding and a plant saucer a little bigger than the tortoise, for water. Sink the saucer down into the substrate.

Throw away the moss. If he eats it it causes impaction. Your substrate looks ok, however, you should pour a pitcher of water over it and mix it up with your hand. You want it to be moist underneath and fairly dry on top.

I think once you get the overall temperature up to 80-85F day and night, all over the whole enclosure, the baby will start acting better, and maybe the sound will have stopped.

Thank you so much for the suggestions ?

 

[Chefdenoel10]

Thank you. I'll try to keep the humidity higher at night

maybe try getting one of those baby snot squishy things to suck the snot out?
You know.... the ones they use in the hospital when a new baby is born. I don’t know the name of it though ..?
snot sucker?
it’s worth a try?
Maybe it’s just so uncomfortable for him to not be able to breath?
This could help..
They sell them at Walmart, cvs, Walgreens...etc.
Good luck and keep us posted!!!!
???
Also maybe longer soaks?
What kind of light bulb are you using too might affect him..
Certain light “bulbs” bother them and some can blind them!!
just a thought....

 

[KarenSoCal]

They sell them at Walmart, cvs, Walgreens...etc

I wonder if Mexico City has Walmart, CVS, Walgreens, etc. ? ?

 

[Chefdenoel10]

I wonder if Mexico City has Walmart, CVS, Walgreens, etc. ? ?

ooohhhh??? I don’t know?
But surely there is somewhere there like that?
I am POSITIVE there is a “Dunkin Doughnuts” and a “Starbucks” on every corner. ?

 

[KarenSoCal]

ooohhhh??? I don’t know?
But surely there is somewhere there like that?
I am POSITIVE there is a “Dunkin Doughnuts” and a “Starbucks” on every corner. ?

Maybe the OP will let us know, since that's where he lives. ?