Is Otis ill?

[lokenica]

Is Otis ill? I am taking care of him over the summer for a fellow Science teacher at school. When I got him home in June, his bulb was only 13 watts, and a coil household bulb. His eyes were puffy and white and he didn't look too hot. I took the liberty to add more greens to his diet and up his bulb. I went today and even upped it more to a 150 WATT UVB bulb since I also moved him from a 20 gallon setup to a 40 gallon setup that is wider. I also added a terra cotta saucer and a slate feeding rock instead of the two feeding bowls that he had.

Here's the latest....when we brought him home a month ago, my daughter said he was sneezing. I never saw it, until today. Although, I'm not sure that's what it is. He makes a sneezing noise, but yanks his head in each time he does it. He mainly does this when he is eating. I only saw two small clear bubbles come out of his nose once in the past hour. When I took him out of the cage to hold him, he made weird noises at me as he struggled to get down, but the noises stopped when I put him down. It was like he was chirping at me? He has eaten his little butt off today, mutiple times. I am giving him Kale, romaine, squash and sedum. He also has been nibbling on the cuttle bone I bought him. The sunning area is a warm 95 degrees and he has spent most of the day wandering around the enclosure now that he has more room, alternating from digging himself in a spot under the lamp or walking across the dish of water or eating. I moved him into the new area yesterday and upped the bulb today, before I even noticed his behavior.

Any thoughts on this? Should I contact the owner to get him and take him to the vet? Or is this normal?

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I forgot to mention that I noticed that he is using his front legs to wipe at his eyes, but they look clear and are not runny or puffy.

 

[graine]

You have identified several tortoise illnesses: his eye condition was probably caused by the coil light-stick with the power sun light with a stand helps you control the temperature. The magic number is 100f. He should be soaked 10-30 minutes in chin deep water-I use a five gallon bucket every couple days until he improves. That will help with allot of his problems. What you have is: an eye infection caused by the coil light, a potentially fatal respiratory infection...if you have the money take him to an exotic vet and keep reading this chat. Good luck and keep plugging along.


Gary tortise fan

 

[lokenica]

Thanks. I have reached out to the owner again and am waiting to hear back from her....I have been waiting ot hear from her for a while now....it's frustrating when they are not yours. He seems fine today....weird....no sneezing, but I am going to soak him....I left the light on overnight to keep him warm, per another helpful member....he is eating this morning....heartily....I will sit with him in a few minutes for a while and soak him and also watch for signs I saw yesterday.....many thanks

 

[WillTort2]

Your tort needs night time to be dark. If you want to keep your tort a little warmer to ward off the respiratory infection the use a CHE (ceramic heat emitter) which will screw into your ceramic fixture just like your bulb does. I use a open wire frame for my CHE rather than the metal dome.

Many of the keepers on this forum advise warm temperatures for torts developing respiratory issues. Daily soaks in luke warm water are also advised. For the eye problem try soaking in water mixed with carrot baby food for the vitamin A boost.

Don't give squash as a regular food item; it has too much sugar. Add some weeds to your Russian's diet. They go bonkers over dandelions.

Get him out doors for some sunshine. Watch him carefully...they will disappear in just a few seconds. They can climb walls that are almost vertical. They can dig under the turf being impossible to find. Millions of year of breeding for evasion and survival make them true masters of deception and escape. Houdini could have taken lessons.

Use the search function on this forum. You'll find hundreds of torts with similar conditions. Most improve to thrive with proper care.

Good luck.