Persistent RI

[crimson_lotus]

So I took home a Red foot about 4 months ago with a bad respiratory infection. In January I immediately put her on antibiotics (Ceftazidime) and started injecting her once every 3 days.

After the initial injections, she seemed a lot better, or at least a lot better than she was before. I wasn't exactly a tortoise expert at the time and just considered it a full recovery, but when I took her to the vet to get her beak trimmed, she started blowing a bunch of snot bubbles because she was so scared.

We gave her another round of injections of the same antibiotic, once every 3 days. I administered a total of ten shots just like before.

She still sneezes profusely and I noticed some snot bubbles today during her soak. She didn't seem to improve the second time around.

Is there a chance that there could be something else wrong with her? Does it usually take a few rounds of injections before she gets completely better?

I have her in a 4x4 enclosure with cypress mulch for substrate, a misting system, and two CHE's that keep her temperature between 80 and 95 degrees. I also have a large light fixture for UVB and give her calcium supplements twice a week.

Please let me know if any of you have any insight, I'm taking Charlotte to the vet on Sunday for a check-up but I'm a bit worried my vet isn't very familiar with tortoises. Should I ask for an X-ray? Would pneumonia be treated differently?

 

[Yvonne G]

The tortoise's nares/nostrils/nose passages don't go down the throat into the lungs...they go to the roof of the tortoise's mouth. So you may occasionally see saliva coming out the nose.

I don't have science to back up my theory, but I'll be willing to bet that more than half of the bubbly noses people worry about are stress related and have nothing to do with R.I.

If the tortoise is eating and acting normal, I would not worry about the occasional bubble.

 

[crimson_lotus]

What about the continuous sneezing, though? She sleeps in my room so I can hear her during the night

 

[kimber_lee_314]

Sometimes trying a different antibiotic does wonders. I once had a DT on Baytril for 21 days and she did not get better. The vet switched her to Cipro and she got better immediately. It's worth a try. Good luck!

 

[ascott]

Is there a chance that there could be something else wrong with her?

Yes, you said in a prior post that the tort tested high end on parasites...drippy eyes, nose can also be an indicator of a parasite load to grand for the tortoise system to handle....I mean, some critters are beneficial....

However, I would either treat for RI with antibiotics OR treat for parasites...but not both--that is too taxing on the torts organs...way too taxing....just my opinion...

 

[Yvonne G]

...or it might be as simple a fix as changing the substrate. Maybe it's dusty, causing the sneezing.

 

[ascott]

or it might be as simple a fix as changing the substrate. Maybe it's dusty, causing the sneezing.

Yup....this should be one of the things that you check first off...

 

[crimson_lotus]

Is there a chance that there could be something else wrong with her?

Yes, you said in a prior post that the tort tested high end on parasites...drippy eyes, nose can also be an indicator of a parasite load to grand for the tortoise system to handle....I mean, some critters are beneficial....

However, I would either treat for RI with antibiotics OR treat for parasites...but not both--that is too taxing on the torts organs...way too taxing....just my opinion...

In my last post, the vet told me she had more balantidium than what was normal. On a scale of 1-4, she was a 3, and 4 was the highest. Yvonne sent me the only link I could find on the protozoa, and I read that these things are common in tortoises and should be perfectly normal.

I was a bit on the fence of treating it since they do require protozoa in their system and I didn't want to clean her out completely. Please let me know if you think otherwise, as I could not find any further information on balantidium and its effects.

---

And I would like to thank everyone else for their replies as well - I will definitely consider changing my substrate to coconut coir, as I have been thinking about it for a while.

Also if my tortoise still has the respiratory infection I will ask my vet about a different medicine.

Thank you for your help!!

 

[crimson_lotus]

Is snoring normal?