I’ve always gone to the Tortoiseforum to look for anything i needed help with. Whether it was enclosure to tortoise diet to tortoise behaviors. I never thought my first post here was going to be about the passing of my red foot. I figured I should put this here so that others can read and maybe help me come to an understanding as to why he passed away and if it was something I need to do as an owner or if my red foot passed away for something not in my control.
For context, my red foot tortoise was 7 years old and he’s been always the baby of the group/family. He’s not my first tortoise. Back in the early 2000s I had a female Ornate Box Turtle. She was sold to me from a reptile store and I had her until 2012. It was then where Florida was hit with a tropical storm (flooded certain parts of the city) and my fence went down. Back then I was young and my father didn’t want the tortoise inside unless it was for emergencies only (meaning it was too cold for her). So the night before we lost her, I said my good night to her and then the next morning she wasn’t there in my backyard. I searched around thinking maybe she went underground. But then i noticed my fence that connects to my neighbors yard fell down. And then that’s where I saw the fence of my neighbor that connects to the street also fell down. So, after checking the backyard and the neighbors, we came to the conclusion that she escaped and disappeared. I was stricken with grief that my parents decided to do something about it. And later that year, we went and got a tortoise. By this time I moved to a different part of the city and decided that I would raise it differently. I got my first tortoise (Red Foot Male) and I had him in an indoor enclosure (he looked about 3yrs old when i bought him). Had heat/uv lamp, basking area, nice substrate and had access to food/water. I felt confident enough where I decided to get another tortoise. In 2013 I got my second tortoise (Red Foot Male) and they were both around the same age (again he looked about 3yrs old when i bought him). By this point we expanded the enclosure. But we continued with the same life style that the first tortoise had. They became close and everything was good for a while. Once they got older, we moved them to an outdoor enclosure. I believe it was in 2016 when we fully moved them into the outdoor enclosure. We took baby steps at first and then they became comfortable with their new tiny house that my father built. They had a nice little space in the yard. And it was good. Then in 2017, I decided to get another tortoise. But i decided to get a baby. Same deal, Red Foot. Had them inside for a while before introducing him to the older tortoises. I’ve read before that I need to take small steps (plus i was a bit nervous that they would step on the little dude) when introducing a smaller tortoise to an adult one. So for a few months I would have them eat together or walk around each other in the yard. After that, I felt comfortable enough to have him live outside with the others. And for years it was like that. The enclosure was remodeled so that they had plenty of space to walk around, and their house was also renovated to accommodate all 3 of them. They all were close. Didn’t have much problems at all.
Unfortunately, as the title suggests, my youngest tortoise has passed away. I’ve been working 2 jobs recently and I had my father take care of my tortoises for me. At least until the summer ends and then i’ll go back to school and only have part time. This is what he told me leading up to my youngest passing. Apparently on June 16, he saw my youngest tortoise have his penis out (this has happened before and when i read about it, i’ve read it was normal but that if the penis becomes prolapsed then you need to soak it and hopefully it’ll make it go back inside the body. Most of the time, whenever I see my tortoises do that, they will put it right back inside. Even when i try to soak them when I think it’s been out for a bit too long, they’ll retract it). And he thought nothing of it. But he noticed that Pancho wasn’t eating that much and when he went to fetch him for his afternoon snack, he was in the corner of the enclosure. Away from the other 2 tortoises. Again, it’s a bit strange but they sometimes do that. The other ones will sometimes sleep outside and then go back inside (they have shade from the bamboo that grows behind the enclosure). So my father puts him back inside the house and left him there. Then comes today, June 17, and he says that when he went to feed them, he saw Pancho outside with his penis still out (dried up) and he was smelling. And when he tried to move him, flies started flying around. And so my tortoise passed away. After he told me that, I concluded that he may have passed away to a combination of a prolapsed penis and heat stroke. I’m trying to still make sense of it. And yes the house does have 2 little holes to have circulation and when it’s cold we close it or we just bring them inside. The older tortoises have never tried biting nor harming the youngest tortoise. They are really passive with Pancho. They have 2 water bowls in their enclosure and their diet is a combination of different fruits (we try to mix it up from time to time), lettuce, collard greens, and the occasional earth worms. They have plenty of shade from the bamboos covering half of the enclosure. And i don’t really worry about the humidity since i live in florida. So im just trying to understand if it was something I did wrong or if it was something out of my control. I wish I could’ve done something. Noticed anything. Even said my last goodbye.
Right now, Pancho is buried in my yard. The other two tortoises haven’t eaten much today and they’re just inside their house. I don’t know if they’ll notice Pancho missing but i hope they’re okay. I’ve decided that I’m going to take the other 2 to a vet so that if there’s some sort of virus/bacteria going around, then I can prevent it.
Any thoughts or ideas will be appreciated. Right now, I’m just hoping that Pancho is resting peacefully now.
Here’s his grave.
For context, my red foot tortoise was 7 years old and he’s been always the baby of the group/family. He’s not my first tortoise. Back in the early 2000s I had a female Ornate Box Turtle. She was sold to me from a reptile store and I had her until 2012. It was then where Florida was hit with a tropical storm (flooded certain parts of the city) and my fence went down. Back then I was young and my father didn’t want the tortoise inside unless it was for emergencies only (meaning it was too cold for her). So the night before we lost her, I said my good night to her and then the next morning she wasn’t there in my backyard. I searched around thinking maybe she went underground. But then i noticed my fence that connects to my neighbors yard fell down. And then that’s where I saw the fence of my neighbor that connects to the street also fell down. So, after checking the backyard and the neighbors, we came to the conclusion that she escaped and disappeared. I was stricken with grief that my parents decided to do something about it. And later that year, we went and got a tortoise. By this time I moved to a different part of the city and decided that I would raise it differently. I got my first tortoise (Red Foot Male) and I had him in an indoor enclosure (he looked about 3yrs old when i bought him). Had heat/uv lamp, basking area, nice substrate and had access to food/water. I felt confident enough where I decided to get another tortoise. In 2013 I got my second tortoise (Red Foot Male) and they were both around the same age (again he looked about 3yrs old when i bought him). By this point we expanded the enclosure. But we continued with the same life style that the first tortoise had. They became close and everything was good for a while. Once they got older, we moved them to an outdoor enclosure. I believe it was in 2016 when we fully moved them into the outdoor enclosure. We took baby steps at first and then they became comfortable with their new tiny house that my father built. They had a nice little space in the yard. And it was good. Then in 2017, I decided to get another tortoise. But i decided to get a baby. Same deal, Red Foot. Had them inside for a while before introducing him to the older tortoises. I’ve read before that I need to take small steps (plus i was a bit nervous that they would step on the little dude) when introducing a smaller tortoise to an adult one. So for a few months I would have them eat together or walk around each other in the yard. After that, I felt comfortable enough to have him live outside with the others. And for years it was like that. The enclosure was remodeled so that they had plenty of space to walk around, and their house was also renovated to accommodate all 3 of them. They all were close. Didn’t have much problems at all.
Unfortunately, as the title suggests, my youngest tortoise has passed away. I’ve been working 2 jobs recently and I had my father take care of my tortoises for me. At least until the summer ends and then i’ll go back to school and only have part time. This is what he told me leading up to my youngest passing. Apparently on June 16, he saw my youngest tortoise have his penis out (this has happened before and when i read about it, i’ve read it was normal but that if the penis becomes prolapsed then you need to soak it and hopefully it’ll make it go back inside the body. Most of the time, whenever I see my tortoises do that, they will put it right back inside. Even when i try to soak them when I think it’s been out for a bit too long, they’ll retract it). And he thought nothing of it. But he noticed that Pancho wasn’t eating that much and when he went to fetch him for his afternoon snack, he was in the corner of the enclosure. Away from the other 2 tortoises. Again, it’s a bit strange but they sometimes do that. The other ones will sometimes sleep outside and then go back inside (they have shade from the bamboo that grows behind the enclosure). So my father puts him back inside the house and left him there. Then comes today, June 17, and he says that when he went to feed them, he saw Pancho outside with his penis still out (dried up) and he was smelling. And when he tried to move him, flies started flying around. And so my tortoise passed away. After he told me that, I concluded that he may have passed away to a combination of a prolapsed penis and heat stroke. I’m trying to still make sense of it. And yes the house does have 2 little holes to have circulation and when it’s cold we close it or we just bring them inside. The older tortoises have never tried biting nor harming the youngest tortoise. They are really passive with Pancho. They have 2 water bowls in their enclosure and their diet is a combination of different fruits (we try to mix it up from time to time), lettuce, collard greens, and the occasional earth worms. They have plenty of shade from the bamboos covering half of the enclosure. And i don’t really worry about the humidity since i live in florida. So im just trying to understand if it was something I did wrong or if it was something out of my control. I wish I could’ve done something. Noticed anything. Even said my last goodbye.
Right now, Pancho is buried in my yard. The other two tortoises haven’t eaten much today and they’re just inside their house. I don’t know if they’ll notice Pancho missing but i hope they’re okay. I’ve decided that I’m going to take the other 2 to a vet so that if there’s some sort of virus/bacteria going around, then I can prevent it.
Any thoughts or ideas will be appreciated. Right now, I’m just hoping that Pancho is resting peacefully now.
Here’s his grave.
