Indian star tortoise is vomiting and dull.

[Golden Boi]

My Indian star tortoise is vomiting and seems dull since 2 days. Not moving much (mostly sleeping) or eating anything. His eyes also seems bit puffy.
Vomitted almost 2-3 times. Day before this he passed lot of watery faeces.
It'll take us 2 more days to visit vet since we live in remote area.
Please help us to understand what could be the underlying conditions.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Hello and welcome! I’m so sorry you’re joining the forum under stressful circumstances!
I can’t advise a whole lot here, but they’ll be more members along shortly that can hopefully help you out! In the meantime, more information on how you’re keeping them would be super helpful! Don’t worry if you can’t answer all the questions, any is good

Do you have an indoor or outdoor set up? How big?

Do you know the rough age of the tortoise?

What are their temperatures like? Ie basking spot, overall day temps and night temps, temp guns are a great way to check!

If inside, what kind of lights&heating are you using? Packaging photos are handy!

Do you use indoor uv? If so what kind?

What do you use for substrate? How’s your humidity?

What have you been feeding diet wise?

Any photos of your full set up(s) would be great also, and some of your tortoise, I hope you find the help you need!

 

[Golden Boi]

Thank you for your prompt reply.

Our set up is indoor (average size) but for sunlight we put him in the garden.

Temperature & humidity in my area are adequate for star tortoise around -
35-40 C.
Also Don't use UV light coz we get sufficient sunlight. He also bask for at least 1-2 hr.

Food :
cucumber, leafy vegetables,
pumpkin leaf, mostly leafy greens & vegetables.
But I think he ate alot before falling ill , it could be indigestion but he passed a lot of faeces & vommitted.

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

You could try adding some fiber to the diet to make his poops more solid. Do you have access to tortoise pellets like mazuri?

Cucumber and pumpkin leaf are dilurantic and can cause diarrhea when eaten too much.

 

[zovick]

My Indian star tortoise is vomiting and seems dull since 2 days. Not moving much (mostly sleeping) or eating anything. His eyes also seems bit puffy.
Vomitted almost 2-3 times. Day before this he passed lot of watery faeces.
It'll take us 2 more days to visit vet since we live in remote area.
Please help us to understand what could be the underlying conditions.

This sounds serious. The tortoise may have Cryptosporidium or Intranuclear Coccidiosis, both of which are very difficult to treat and require medications which are costly and hard to administer. Not sure exactly where you are located, but you may have a hard time getting any medications which might help. Both of these illnesses are quite often fatal, so be prepared.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

No problem! Thank you for the additional info, hopefully it’ll help when the others come along to advise, hang tight, everyone is on different time zones but they’ll be more folks eventually

I don’t suppose you happen to have a photo of both the tortoise and your set up? Sometimes members spot things that might not have been thought of.
When you say average sized, I don’t suppose you have a rough estimate in feet? Eg 8x4 feet or 10x5 feet? I only ask because as your guy is housed indoors a majority of the time, they need a pretty big enclosure for adequate roaming room, roaming helps with their digestion.
You don’t need indoor uv if you’re able to get them out for daily sunlight so that’s fine
What is it you’re using substrate wise? Again I ask because if you’re using a top soil, unless you’ve composted it yourself there’s no way of knowing if there’s a toxic plant gone into it which is why they aren’t recommended. Not to say that’s definitely caused vomiting but it’s just a thought.
I’m not sure if the reply cut off before you gave the humidity level in the enclosure? It’s important for their hydration levels, even if your climate is naturally humid, as they are housed indoors, humidity still has to been maintained in the enclosure itself

Is it a baby or adult you have?

 

[Golden Boi]

This sounds serious. The tortoise may have Cryptosporidium or Intranuclear Coccidiosis, both of which are very difficult to treat and require medications which are costly and hard to administer. Not sure exactly where you are located, but you may have a hard time getting any medications which might help. Both of these illnesses are quite often fatal, so be prepared.

Hi, thanks for your response.

Can you please tell me more about the symptoms of diseases caused by these parasites.
Actually my tortoise doesn't seems to have diarrhea. He is vomiting some white mucus or saliva like thing.
He is quite lethargic also.

 

[TammyJ]

It seems as if it may be some kind of poison, if it's not a disease like Zovick said it could be. Try to hydrate your tortoise by soaking him in warm water but make it to the level just where the top and bottom shells meet, not too deep.

 

[Golden Boi]

You could try adding some fiber to the diet to make his poops more solid. Do you have access to tortoise pellets like mazuri?

Cucumber and pumpkin leaf are dilurantic and can cause diarrhea when eaten too much.

Hey, Thank-you for responding.

I think he had lot of cucumbers before falling ill. So it could be indigestion or something.

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

Either way soaking is a good idea as the tortoise is losing hydration when throwing up