My star tortoises are dead

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-EJ

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You are right... there are no studies. My advice is based on experience... nothing more.

Whoever told you tortoises were easy captives... never kept a tortoise.

SWan said:
Redfoot NERD said:
SWan.. I mean the G. elegans from the 'mainland' of India.. AKA Indian Star tortoises. "Micoplasm"(sp?) is a disease common to Indian Stars. Sri Lankan stars are reportedly much more hardy.. virtually ploblem free.

From reliable sources: captive hatched kept separated from any/all others do not carry the disease. However at the younger ages they are more prone to respiratory problems. At 4" SCL they can tolerate high humidity as long as the temps are mid-80's F minimum.

I've never known sulcata to be problematic.

Terry K

How to differentiate a Sri Lankan star & an Indian star? I searched in the internet and am still unable to tell the difference. Is Mycoplasma contagious to human?

terracolson said:
We have you in our thoughts.

Thanks!

jobeanator said:
i have a sri lankan star and they are supposedly hardier species if kept at the right temps. as terry stated, i honestly believe IMO, keeping there basking temps at 90 degrees to 100 degrees is a necessity to keeping your star alive and healthy. i also believe daily soaking and calcium suppliement during feeding is essiential. this is just my 2 cents, hope this helps!
-joby

Thanks for your input. Appreciate it.

-EJ said:
This is quite common with imported Stars. This is also why I suggest treating with flagyl ASAP when they are acquired.

Odds are you didn't do anything wrong. Some Stars are extremely suseptable to renal failure.

I suspect it has to do with protozoa.

If you had them for 4 years... not to make you feel bad... it could have been prevented.

To put this in perspective... I just lost 2 that I had for longer than you had yours.

They can be very delicate and very hardy... depending... on what, I don't know.

You mean the protozoa caused renal failure? I think in general, there is insufficient study conducted on tortoise. Unlike fish, there are so many types of medication available in pet shops and the symptoms are easily identified and treated. But still, I was told tortoise is one of the easiest pet to keep and can easily live to more than 100 yrs old. After reading so many cases of tortoise deaths in this forum, I am not too sure anymore.



 

RichardS

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Unless I missed it, I am a little surprised no one suggested getting a necropsy done on both tortoises. These can be extremely telling and beneficial in preventing misfortune.

In the future, I would suggest finding a qualified vet to do the necropsy. Your best bet maybe a zoo vet or vet student who may do it for free. If not expect to pay at least $100 per animal (plus maybe shipping), but its well worth it and the findings will benefit every tortoise keeper on this board.

On a similar note, I would also strongly urge anyone to take their tortoise to a vet at the first sign of poor health and not attempt to administer medication without supervision.
 

fifthdawn

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Hmm, poison or disease sounds likely. If they both ate the same contaminated food or if one passed the disease to the other, it would explain the timing of the deaths. Any slow progressive problem wouldn't explain for why their time of death is so close apart (more specifically over night), so that should rule out MBD and parasites.
 

SWan

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RichardS said:
Unless I missed it, I am a little surprised no one suggested getting a necropsy done on both tortoises. These can be extremely telling and beneficial in preventing misfortune.

In the future, I would suggest finding a qualified vet to do the necropsy. Your best bet maybe a zoo vet or vet student who may do it for free. If not expect to pay at least $100 per animal (plus maybe shipping), but its well worth it and the findings will benefit every tortoise keeper on this board.

On a similar note, I would also strongly urge anyone to take their tortoise to a vet at the first sign of poor health and not attempt to administer medication without supervision.

Necropsy....unlikely, my pet stars had R.I.P.

fifthdawn said:
Hmm, poison or disease sounds likely. If they both ate the same contaminated food or if one passed the disease to the other, it would explain the timing of the deaths. Any slow progressive problem wouldn't explain for why their time of death is so close apart (more specifically over night), so that should rule out MBD and parasites.

I believe it's due to disease. But anyone has any idea how a tortoise would normally die....."head & limbs out" or "head & limbs hidden"?
 

bikerchicspain

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Oh i am so sorry, I had a hatchling die on me as every one knows , my little niabi died whilst away on a long weekend so i know how you feel. But when you fall of your bike you just get up learn from your mistakes and start riding again, if you get my drift,learn from yoour mistakes and make those little fellas death become usefull to you and then their death wouldnt be in vain..:(
 

RichardS

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SWan said:
Necropsy....unlikely, my pet stars had R.I.P.

fifthdawn said:
Hmm, poison or disease sounds likely. If they both ate the same contaminated food or if one passed the disease to the other, it would explain the timing of the deaths. Any slow progressive problem wouldn't explain for why their time of death is so close apart (more specifically over night), so that should rule out MBD and parasites.

I believe it's due to disease. But anyone has any idea how a tortoise would normally die....."head & limbs out" or "head & limbs hidden"?



This is exactly my point. There is no way to know without a necropsy. They run about $100 in the US. A necropsy would tell you if you need to treat your next tortoise for parasites or adjust your husbandry techniques. It has nothing to do with resting in peace, it has to do with preventing future death.
 
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