My tortoise is limp and unresponsive, but her head is retracted. Also her eyes are a bit sunken. Could she just be hibernating or is she dead? We've had her for a decade and whenever she has hibernated she hasn't been like this.
Is my tortoise dead?
- Thread starter hh557
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- Nov 17, 2013
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It sounds as though it is dead. Does the tortoise move at all if you touch the eyes with something like a blunt toothpick or the end of a wooden matchstick? If not, it is a bad sign.
Are the legs stiff? Can you pull the legs or the head out? Do you detect any odor?
We've tried pulling her head out but it slowly retracts when we do. The legs aren't stiff either, they're limp. Also touching her closed eyes get no response. There's no detectable odour as she was up and moving around this morning. We only saw her like this after being out for the day.
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- Jul 16, 2014
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- South Eastern Florida (U.S.A.)/Rock Hill S.C.
Is it possible thar the tortoise could've overheated?
Keep him warm and calm for a while longer before you start making burial plans just to be safe.
It's just not normal for a tortoise who acted normal yesterday to be dead today
Put him in warm water for a soak. This may help if there is any hope.
I'm not sure about overheating. I'm planning on keeping her in her pen a day or two just to make sure either way.
Any update?
I'm sorry you are going through this.
I'm sorry you are going through this.
Yes, we buried her about an hour ago. We couldn't see or feel any breathing when holding either our fingers or a tissue up to her nose and she has started to smell a little bit. Thank you guys for the advice the other day.
Phil Fishinger
Member
I’m so sorry to hear this ! Any idea on the cause?
It could just be old age. She should've been at least 30-35 now, but that's not including how long she was with her original owner. We don't know how long her original owner had her for, as she was brought from Brazil and she passed through a few different owners. She's a red-footed tortoise so the average life span seems to check out when the missing years are taken into consideration. Also, she was refusing to eat or drink much for the past few weeks and we were trying to get her to eat and drink more, so that probably either contributed or was a sign. I'm not entirely sure about anything else as she was my father's tortoise, so he was the one who took care of her most of the time.
I'm sorry for your loss
Poor baby
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