Please Help (leopard unresponsive)

[chorokplanet]

Hi,

I woke up to my full grown leopard tortoise, unresponsive. His legs are out but not moving. Already tried CPR, soaking and injections from the vet. His eyes are closed with no signs of it being sunk nor is there any discharge / foaming.

The vet said he was dead but i live in a country where tortoise care/knowledge is extremely limited and reptiles are easily announced dead before proper treatment.
His legs are still soft and there is no sign of decay/smell.

He was moving and eating perfectly fine yesterday. I even checked up on him sleeping fine last night. He has never showed any signs of sickness the 4 years i had him but rather a extremely strong healthy tortoise.

I put him on a heating pad for now. I am prepared to face the worst but not without trying everything I can.

He has been indoors as it is winter so there is no threat of food poisoning etc. I am so devastated as he was perfect fine and active yesterday.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

What did your vet inject?
Leave the tortoise alone and warm. I'd wait at least 48 hours. I've seen firsthand a tortoise seem 100% dead, only to completely recover

 

[chorokplanet]

What did your vet inject?
Leave the tortoise alone and warm. I'd wait at least 48 hours. I've seen firsthand a tortoise seem 100% dead, only to completely recover

Glucose shot only.
I did as you said and gave him some space to be alone and warm. Thank you for the reply.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Glucose shot only.
I did as you said and gave him some space to be alone and warm. Thank you for the reply.

Best of luck

 

[wellington]

Do not leave him on a heat pad unless there is also heat directly above it. He will get burned on just the pad. They heat from above and he will stay on the pad too long trying to heat the upper part of his body. Also if he can't move, he can't even try to get himself off it.
Day and night he needs to be kept at 85-90 temps while you are fighting for him.
Good luck, please keep us posted.
How have you raised him. Temps, humidity, diet, substrate, everything you can think of. There may be a clue in the way he was raised.

 

[TammyJ]

How is he now?

 

[chorokplanet]

Do not leave him on a heat pad unless there is also heat directly above it. He will get burned on just the pad. They heat from above and he will stay on the pad too long trying to heat the upper part of his body. Also if he can't move, he can't even try to get himself off it.
Day and night he needs to be kept at 85-90 temps while you are fighting for him.
Good luck, please keep us posted.
How have you raised him. Temps, humidity, diet, substrate, everything you can think of. There may be a clue in the way he was raised.

Noted. It’s quite late here so I will give more details tomorrow. Right now, our best guess is impacting as he has been constipated before. His environment and food has been more strict the past year and showed signs of happy & healthy tortoise.

He remains the same but now foaming around the mouth. His head is still inside and no stiffness / smell. We are still waiting out the 48 hours before making further decisions.

 

[chorokplanet]

How is he now?

He remains the same as morning. Foaming around the mouth. We have kept him in his enclosure for now hoping for more answers in the morning. His legs and arms still remain soft with head tucked inside.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Foaming at the mouth in a living tortoise could mean overheating or poisoning

 

[TammyJ]

I would not leave him on the heat pad!

 

[chorokplanet]

Foaming at the mouth in a living tortoise could mean overheating or poisoning

Watching him to see any other symptoms arise. In his enclosure for now.

 

[chorokplanet]

I would not leave him on the heat pad!

He was just not left on a heat pad but in his enclosure to control temperature range. Where I live is facing extreme winter so floor heating is just necessary.

 

[TammyJ]

Foaming at the mouth in a living tortoise could mean overheating or poisoning

Can they foam at the mouth if they are dead?

 

[wellington]

He was just not left on a heat pad but in his enclosure to control temperature range. Where I live is facing extreme winter so floor heating is just necessary.

He CAN NOT have a heat pad available to him at all unless there is a heat source above it and they both should be on a thermostat.
Have you soaked him at all? Warm water soaks and I would add piedialyte to the soak water.

 

[Jacqui]

Can they foam at the mouth if they are dead?

Sadly yes. They can leak bodily fluids.

 

[chorokplanet]

He CAN NOT have a heat pad available to him at all unless there is a heat source above it and they both should be on a thermostat.
Have you soaked him at all? Warm water soaks and I would add piedialyte to the soak water.

He is in his enclosure so on his substrate. The heat pad was after his doctor’s appointment where he was exposed to extreme cold. He always had exposure to heat source and UV.
Will try soaking him again thank you for your advice.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Can they foam at the mouth if they are dead?

It might be indicative of something else.
Some part of decomposition?

 

[Chefdenoel10]

Pump his front legs (at the same time) to get him to breathe and also brings his head out..?????
Stand him up right? That would bring his head out of his shell.
Maybe he is choking on something he ate?
Please keep us posted!!!!!!
🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏😭

 

[chorokplanet]

Pump his front legs (at the same time) to get him to breathe and also brings his head out..?????
Stand him up right? That would bring his head out of his shell.
Maybe he is choking on something he ate?
Please keep us posted!!!!!!
🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏😭

Thank you for your suggestion. It seems that he did pass away but was a little slow with showing us, as he always has been. But thank you again for giving your thoughts.

 

[wellington]

So very sorry.