This morning I woke up and found my tortoise not moving at all. She is about 10 years old and her legs are very stiff, also the eyes have sunken in. I took her outside and put a little water on her legs and shell but no reaction. Should I go to the vet? Sunk her in water? Please help
Im worried about my tortoise
- Thread starter MarcJacob
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- Nov 17, 2013
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It sounds as though your tortoise may have died. When was the last time you saw it move?
The_Four_Toed_Edward
Well-Known Member
You could try soaking him in shallow water luke warm water. Not sinking him. Could he have suffered from some sock caused by extreme heat for example?
Saw him move yesterday, but she was barely showing any emotion. But 2 days ago she climbed on to her wooden house closer to the light
Soaked her in water, nothing has happened yet. Her legs are pretty stiff, no bad odor yet. Just a week ago she went missing but shortly we found her in somebody’s backyard. Her shell had scratch marks on them propably from the neighbors dog. After that she hasnt been eating much.
Also a week ago she was doing pretty fine outside in our backyard, it was about 20-25 degrees celsius outside. But after that not so well in her akvarium and we bought her a new light like 3 weeks ago but i dont think thats the case.
Alex and the Redfoot
Well-Known Member
Can you check her plastron (bottom of the shell). Are there red/rose spots?
no spots
The_Four_Toed_Edward
Well-Known Member
Maybe you could send us some pictures of the scratches?
Attachments
Alex and the Redfoot
Well-Known Member
The reason I've asked is that bruises when tortoise was dropped hard or acute systemic infection (septicemia) are often seen as reddish areas on the plastron.
Damage to the shell doesn't look very serious. Unfortunately, I have no clues what might have happened. As you have it for only three weeks, I suppose something went wrong before you've got her (like bladder stone).
Should I wait for another 24 hours? Or take her to the vet?
I think this could be dehydration, from when she was missing, and maybe she will recover if you keep her soaking in lukewarm water to the level where her top and bottom shells meet. Keep soaking her in a plastic tub she can't get out of and watch her for any movement.
Thanks will try, although she has gone missing in the past and has come back totallt normal. So I dont know if thats the case
If your tortoise keeps escaping, it is more than likely that there will come a time when you don't find it back or you find it injured or sick. If she is alive and recovers, please make changes in how you keep her so she cannot escape again!
Littleredfootbigredheart
Well-Known Member
I’m so sorry this is happening😔
There are unfortunately a few things off with your set up, I don’t want to bombard you with a tonne of information whilst you’re going through this though😣
Once things hopefully improve, we can go over an appropriate set up with the right equipment, the red bulb for example isn’t appropriate😕
There are unfortunately a few things off with your set up, I don’t want to bombard you with a tonne of information whilst you’re going through this though😣
Once things hopefully improve, we can go over an appropriate set up with the right equipment, the red bulb for example isn’t appropriate😕
Thank you so much for the information. I really hope she can recover. Right now there is no movement and her limbs are a little stiff. I tried putting her into a lukewarm water bath. Still nothing. Should I try any other cooling methods? Or just leave her sitting with no light
Littleredfootbigredheart
Well-Known Member
Me too, I’m really wishing you the best here, but I do want to prepare you for worst case scenario, if you say the temperature can reach up to 55c using that red bulb, and the tortoise has been sat under it, there is a high possibility that they have unfortunately overheated and passed away😔I really am truly sorry if that is the case.
A soak and leaving them to try and cool off is all you can really do at this point, you could try getting into a vet for them to check for a heartbeat to know for certain
Just know, many folks like yourself have unfortunately had incorrect set ups and that sadly lead to some situations like this, so I don’t want you beating yourself up, I’m sure you had no idea things weren’t right.
Now you do, and should you need to tackle an appropriate indoor set up moving forward, we can all be here to help and advise, hopefully avoiding these situations in the future❤️
