For starters, I have an 8 year old male Russian Tortoise. I bought him from a pet store and unfortunately wasn’t very educated on how to care for him, so I apologize for anything I say in the following message that may seem like an obvious red flag or something!
Anyway, mid February I noticed he went from being very active and eating everything I put in front of him, to slowing down and not finishing everything I put in his dish, to not eating at all. He was halfway under a log I have in his enclosure (tail end was sticking out) and I thought he was hibernating so I left him alone. I kept the basking light on and poked his foot every now and then and he would react to it so I let him be thinking all was okay. 4 or 5 weeks had passed though and I was getting worried since he hadn’t moved in so long. He never spent this much time without moving like this. So I took him out and put him in warm water under his basking light.
I started to notice that he was turning red under his top shell near his back end and immediately started to panic. I searched the internet and couldn’t find anything that sounded like his symptoms. I would put my hand in front of his face and he wouldn’t pull in to his shell like he used to, he would let me touch his face before making an attempt to pull his head in but he still didn’t pull in all the way. He was sort of limp too. My mom said he was probably just dazed from hibernating and that I should keep him warm to wake him up from his hibernation, so that’s what I did. I soaked him again and he was moving back and forth a tiny bit and I thought it was a good sign! The next day went about the same way and I thought he was waking up/getting back to normal.
Well, when I left my house at 9am the next morning he was still in this state but when I got home around 8pm I found him with dried blood all over his mouth/chin and coming from his nostrils. I feel like maybe he got too hot because the light was pretty much right over him all day long. I panicked and put him in water but he wasn’t reacting. I opened his mouth and it was full of blood too, and his mouth wouldn’t close all the way anymore after I did this. Limbs still limp and eyes seemed sunken in. His plastron is all red/pink too. I read that tortoises can look dead without actually being dead though so I’m just really looking for some closure. There are no reptile vets near me but my mom called a few and left voicemails telling them what happened, they called back and didn’t have much to say though.
It has been 2 days since I found him with blood on his face and when I pick him up a smelly clear yellowish liquid leaks from his butt. I’m pretty sure he’s dead but I just want to be sure that he is before I bury him. I feel terrible about this and blame myself for not taking the best care of him. Anything someone could tell me though would really be appreciated! I hope the pictures can help too.
Anyway, mid February I noticed he went from being very active and eating everything I put in front of him, to slowing down and not finishing everything I put in his dish, to not eating at all. He was halfway under a log I have in his enclosure (tail end was sticking out) and I thought he was hibernating so I left him alone. I kept the basking light on and poked his foot every now and then and he would react to it so I let him be thinking all was okay. 4 or 5 weeks had passed though and I was getting worried since he hadn’t moved in so long. He never spent this much time without moving like this. So I took him out and put him in warm water under his basking light.
I started to notice that he was turning red under his top shell near his back end and immediately started to panic. I searched the internet and couldn’t find anything that sounded like his symptoms. I would put my hand in front of his face and he wouldn’t pull in to his shell like he used to, he would let me touch his face before making an attempt to pull his head in but he still didn’t pull in all the way. He was sort of limp too. My mom said he was probably just dazed from hibernating and that I should keep him warm to wake him up from his hibernation, so that’s what I did. I soaked him again and he was moving back and forth a tiny bit and I thought it was a good sign! The next day went about the same way and I thought he was waking up/getting back to normal.
Well, when I left my house at 9am the next morning he was still in this state but when I got home around 8pm I found him with dried blood all over his mouth/chin and coming from his nostrils. I feel like maybe he got too hot because the light was pretty much right over him all day long. I panicked and put him in water but he wasn’t reacting. I opened his mouth and it was full of blood too, and his mouth wouldn’t close all the way anymore after I did this. Limbs still limp and eyes seemed sunken in. His plastron is all red/pink too. I read that tortoises can look dead without actually being dead though so I’m just really looking for some closure. There are no reptile vets near me but my mom called a few and left voicemails telling them what happened, they called back and didn’t have much to say though.
It has been 2 days since I found him with blood on his face and when I pick him up a smelly clear yellowish liquid leaks from his butt. I’m pretty sure he’s dead but I just want to be sure that he is before I bury him. I feel terrible about this and blame myself for not taking the best care of him. Anything someone could tell me though would really be appreciated! I hope the pictures can help too.