Help with tortoise...is he sick?

[TobesterTort]

Hello everyone,

I've had Toby since October, and everything seemed fine until now. For the last week, he has been hidden in his substrate or his tunnel all day. He will not come out, and the only exception to this is if I remove him myself. He does not come out to look for food, but will eat if I remove him from the substrate. He has no problem eating and his appetite is fine, and there is no discharge from his nose or mouth. His eyes look clear, and there are no apparent problems breathing.

Previous to this inactivity, Toby would come out of his substrate in the morning when I turned on the ceramic heater and his heat lamp, and stay out near the lamp until I would turn his heater and lamp off. Now he will not come out at all

I brought him outside last week, about a day before his inactivity began. I have brought him outside once before. The lawn was free of pesticides, and I watched him wander around. I did not see him eat anything.

The current temperature by his lamp is around 95 degrees.

I am getting ready to take him to the vet, but I don't want to jump the gun. But it still doesn't make sense to me that it's been at its warmest here lately (it got up to 90 degrees yesterday and was about 75 today) and he has been so inactive, unless there is a connection between the two. I live in the north east, so this is the first bout of warm weather that we've had since I've had Toby.

If anyone could please give me some input, that would be great. Toby was never extremely active, as I believe he is older, but he has never been this inactive but does not seem "ill" at the same time. I'm really worried and I don't know what to do.

I'm sorry if the answer(s) to my questions are obvious, but I really need to know so I can figure out what's going on.

Thank you everyone!

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi "Tobstertort":

Its very important for us to know what kind of tortoise we are giving help on, so I looked back through all your posts and I finally found one where you said he is a Russian. So I've moved this thread to the Regarding Russians forum, that way you'll get better answers to your question.

Russian tortoises are a little more cold hardy than other types of tortoise, but I still am thinking that he's not warm enough. He's been in the house, so you might not be thinking "hibernation," but have you been running his lights and heat for 12 to 14 hours a day? In the wild, Russian tortoises sometimes will hibernate for 6 months out of the year. If you don't run your lights like summer time, he might be thinking its time to wind down and clear out his digestive tract.

So, warm up the habitat...at least 95 on the warm end and 75 on the cool end, and run those lights like summertime - 12 to 14 hours a day.

Give him a warm soak too.

Let us know if that perks him up any.

 

[TobesterTort]

Thank you for your reply. I apologize that I forgot to mention that he is a Russian tortoise, that would have helped some

It's weird to me that the temperature has always been the same, but he's inactive now.

I will take your advice soak him again, as I usually soak him once a week.

And do you think it's a good sign that he's not having difficulty breathing, or any nasal discharge? Would that indicate greater problems?

Thanks for your help!

 

[Tom]

I agree with Yvonne. My standard OP in a case of lethargy and lack of appetite is warm up the whole enclosure, increase the temp at the basking site, and daily warm soaks. Especially at this time of year. These things will fix the problem most of the time. You might try taking a fecal sample to the vet, just to find out if you are dealing with a heavy parasite load. Most Russians are still wild caught and this could be a contributing factor.

 

[TobesterTort]

Just an update on Toby....

I'm currently soaking him in warm water after I removed him from his tunnel, but he hadn't left his tunnel in 24 hours. I also have not noticed any excrement in his enclosure, which also has me worried because he is usually pretty "regular."

Is it about time to call the vet? Still no problems breathing, no discharge from eyes, mouth or nose, but still very inactive.

 

[goodsmeagol]

Just an update on Toby....

I'm currently soaking him in warm water after I removed him from his tunnel, but he hadn't left his tunnel in 24 hours. I also have not noticed any excrement in his enclosure, which also has me worried because he is usually pretty "regular."

Is it about time to call the vet? Still no problems breathing, no discharge from eyes, mouth or nose, but still very inactive.

No real advice from me sorry...
Might as well find a good knowledgeable vet in the mean time tho.
From reading around, it seems vet visits are either a hit or miss, heavily dependent on the qualifications of the vet.
Seems as if a visit to some one who is not qualified is a waste of money.
So I would find that good vet who knows torts, and have him on standby...