Nose whistles

[sulcata101]

My 7 year old sulcata tortoise whistles when he breathes. I’ve noticed it’s been going on for over a month and didn’t think much of it at first. He’s very active, has a big appetite, and overall seems happy and healthy. It wasn’t till recently I thought I’d better look into it since it wasn’t going away. Could it be a respiratory infection? I don’t see any discharge come from his nose. Is this something I should be worried about and bring him to the vet?

 

[Ben02]

Does he do it all the time. What substrate does he have?

 

[sulcata101]

Does he do it all the time. What substrate does he have?

I notice it almost all the time but some days its louder than others. He lays on a heating pad without anything else due to fire hazards.

 

[Ben02]

Can you see anything that shouldn't be there in the nose or mouth. Your lucky you have a big tortoise

 

[sulcata101]

Can you see anything that shouldn't be there in the nose or mouth. Your lucky you have a big tortoise

No, nothing out of the ordinary I make sure to check up on stuff like that. Thanks he’s definitely a big boy haha

 

[Ben02]

hes eating and active so that's good. Keep an eye on him and keep up your temps

 

[sulcata101]

hes eating and active so that's good. Keep an eye on him and keep up your temps

Ok [emoji4]

 

[EllieMay]

Can you post a picture of him? I’m also a Sulcata keeper so I love to see them and how others keep theirs I would do some more research on the whistling though. Usually a change like that is symptomatic of something.. Hopefully nothing important but it’s always good to know...

 

[sulcata101]

Can you post a picture of him? I’m also a Sulcata keeper so I love to see them and how others keep theirs I would do some more research on the whistling though. Usually a change like that is symptomatic of something.. Hopefully nothing important but it’s always good to know...

Ok I’ll definitely keep looking into it. I recently built him a heated enclosure (the picture of the house was taken as it was getting finished so it’s not the best). I’m thinking of doing a whole post about his enclosure but I have to wait for the rain to stop before taking better pictures. Also my yard isn’t entirely concrete even though that’s all you see in the picture haha.

 

[EllieMay]

Awww.. he’s very handsome! .. what’s he weigh??

 

[sulcata101]

Awww.. he’s very handsome! .. what’s he weigh??

Thank you I actually haven’t weighed him in a while and don’t have a way to do so at the moment. I’m guessing like 8-10 lbs? But I’m sometimes very off with my guesses haha sorry

 

[Yvonne G]

It's difficult to mess with the larger sulcatas' face, but it sound to me as if he has something stuck in his nares. You can pick it out with a toothpick, or flush it into the roof of his mouth with sterile saline in a squeeze bottle, but good luck with that!

 

[Pearly]

My RFs do that often, that’s why I like to clean/rinse off their faces after any mushy food (ie Mazuri) and have a good light handy during/after bath. I agree with Yvonne. Any whistling or other SOUND with breathing (other than soft/quiet „wooosh”) is likely due to some narrowing of some part of the airway. If the nose is clear, then it may be some mucous somewhere down the sinuses or trachea. I’d bump up the humidity to 90% or more. And heat to 85f of course. Let your torts sit in this sauna for few hrs see if it clears up. Can also try to wash/suction the nasal passages, but I’m not sure if your tort will let you do that. I thing the „sauna” plus daily warm (105F) bath should take care of it, help loosen things up, and help get things to move up and out

 

[sulcata101]

It's difficult to mess with the larger sulcatas' face, but it sound to me as if he has something stuck in his nares. You can pick it out with a toothpick, or flush it into the roof of his mouth with sterile saline in a squeeze bottle, but good luck with that!

Ok, I’ll try the flushing method. However I don’t see anything lodged in his nose, is it possibly too small and far up there for me to see?

 

[sulcata101]

My RFs do that often, that’s why I like to clean/rinse off their faces after any mushy food (ie Mazuri) and have a good light handy during/after bath. I agree with Yvonne. Any whistling or other SOUND with breathing (other than soft/quiet „wooosh”) is likely due to some narrowing of some part of the airway. If the nose is clear, then it may be some mucous somewhere down the sinuses or trachea. I’d bump up the humidity to 90% or more. And heat to 85f of course. Let your torts sit in this sauna for few hrs see if it clears up. Can also try to wash/suction the nasal passages, but I’m not sure if your tort will let you do that. I thing the „sauna” plus daily warm (105F) bath should take care of it, help loosen things up, and help get things to move up and out

As for humidity, i wasn’t told I needed a kind humidifier in his enclosure, do I need one? (Probably a stupid question haha). I’ll definitely give the bath method a try. Pretty sure he has food stuck in his nose then because he’s a very messy eater. I usually try to wipe his face after he eats (he doesn’t mind me doing that) but I can see your point of it getting lodged in his nose.

 

[lizysexpistol]

My 7 year old sulcata tortoise whistles when he breathes. I’ve noticed it’s been going on for over a month and didn’t think much of it at first. He’s very active, has a big appetite, and overall seems happy and healthy. It wasn’t till recently I thought I’d better look into it since it wasn’t going away. Could it be a respiratory infection? I don’t see any discharge come from his nose. Is this something I should be worried about and bring him to the vet?

Hello, i recently had this same problem with my 8yr old sulcata. I learned that my heating house wasnt warm enough. I was advised to bring up the temperature. Once i brought up the temp it went way in a couple of days.

 

[sulcata101]

Hello, i recently had this same problem with my 8yr old sulcata. I learned that my heating house wasnt warm enough. I was advised to bring up the temperature. Once i brought up the temp it went way in a couple of days.

Oh ok! I have it at about 85-86 right now, and his basking temperatures is about 89. I’ll turn the basking temp up a bit

 

[Sydgeo21]

Hi! I know this post is old, however this is exactly what is happening to my tortoise. Did you ever figure out what it was??