Red foot tortoises eyes are watery

[marinadavis20]

I’m pet setting my son’s two young tortoises. I take them outside for an hour each day, providing them with shade, grass, food pellets, veggies, and two pools of water. Then I place them in a bin under the patio and fan with indirect sunlight for two more hours and move everything into the bin. This is a temporary setup, as we just moved. But I noticed today for the first time both boys have watery eyes when I picked them up from their “playground”. Even though there’s plenty of shade and a breeze, could it be too hot for them?

Checked on them in the bin now and their eyes are looking better but still a little watery.

 

[Kayleigh Smith]

Hmmm...there could be many causes so I will leave this to someone else to say except that it might be because the fan is blowing irritants into their eyes?

 

[Kayleigh Smith]

if their eyes swell or shut at all they might need anitbiotics so if by tomorrow they are still wierd a vet might be best

 

[marinadavis20]

Hmmm...there could be many causes so I will leave this to someone else to say except that it might be because the fan is blowing irritants into their eyes?

Well their eyes were watery when they were out in the open though, not under the fan. Maybe it’s the Sandy ground? They’re used to organic potting soil.

This setup is just temporary but here’s what I have at the moment.
I bring them inside around 4pm

 

[marinadavis20]

if their eyes swell or shut at all they might need anitbiotics so if by tomorrow they are still wierd a vet might be best

So far they’re looking better now that I placed them in the patio bin. Maybe they’re not used to the sandy ground. I’ll try a more grassy area tomorrow.

 

[Kayleigh Smith]

Oh good sand is not good at all for tortoises that was probably it

 

[Kayleigh Smith]

glad they're already improving!

 

[marinadavis20]

Oh good sand is not good at all for tortoises that was probably it

 

[marinadavis20]

Oh good to know! I figured red foots being from South America would be okay around Sandy soil.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Redfoot can and do overheat very easily.
Anything hotter than the lower 90s and they will desperately search for cooler areas.
How hot is it where you are?
Can you measure the ground temperature where they are?
You may need to modify your activities to keep them deeper into the shade.
I live in south Florida and have a sprinkler that I turn on for about 20 minutes in the middle of the afternoon to bring down the temperature a bit. I also have lots of shade areas.
Some types of enclosures if kept outside get very hot inside. And something like a glass enclosure can become a microwave oven.
Redfoot need shade.
They also shouldn't be kept together. But that will be another topic.
I see a few things in that photo that are troubling: That water bowl. That clutter. The two of them together. That food......
What is their diet?
What is their outdoor enclosure?

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Oh good to know! I figured red foots being from South America would be okay around Sandy soil.

They are forest tortoises.
Not arid land tortoises.
Think lots of bushy plants. Lots of shade and mostly indirect sunlight.

 

[marinadavis20]

Redfoot can and do overheating very easily.
Anything hotter than the lower 90s and they will desperately search for cooler areas.
How hot is it where you are?
Can you measure the ground temperature where they are?
You may need to modify your activities to keep them deeper into the shade.
I live in south Florida and have a sprinkler that I turn on for about 20 minutes in the middle of the afternoon to bring down the temperature a bit. I also have lots of shade areas.
Some types of enclosures if kept outside get very hot inside. And something like a glass enclosure can become a microwave oven.
Redfoot need shade.
They also shouldn't be kept together. But that will be another topic.
I see a few things in that photo that are troubling: That water bowl. That clutter. The two of them together. That food......
What is their diet?
What is their outdoor enclosure?

This is a temporary setup becauseI just moved. I feed them grassland pellets, bell peppers, greens, carrots, hibiscus, and bok choy just to name a few things. Red foot tortoises can be housed together, and they can live outside as they are a South American species. I’ve spoken with an expert that also lives in south Florida and he has over 20 living on his property.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

This is a temporary setup becauseI just moved. I feed them grassland pellets, bell peppers, greens, carrots, hibiscus, and bok choy just to name a few things. Red foot tortoises can be housed together, and they can live outside as they are a South American species. I’ve spoken with an expert that also lives in south Florida and he has over 20 living on his property.

They can often live in groups.
They should never live in pairs.
Not even temporarily.
And your diet is wrong.

But I'll stop trying to help if you already know everything

 

[wellington]

This is a temporary setup becauseI just moved. I feed them grassland pellets, bell peppers, greens, carrots, hibiscus, and bok choy just to name a few things. Red foot tortoises can be housed together, and they can live outside as they are a South American species. I’ve spoken with an expert that also lives in south Florida and he has over 20 living on his property.

Your temporary set up could cause those tortoises to get sick or die as you have them living in a very high stress level situation. Tortoises do not get along living in pairs! Your "expert" in your own words, have over 20 living together on their property, not 2! Get the big difference?
If you want to learn the proper way to care for these two, then I suggest listening to Zeropilot and separate these two ASAP, remove a bunch of the clutter in the way too small enclosure, even is it's only temporary, and give a proper water dish and feed a better diet!

 

[Kayleigh Smith]

The tortoises need the proper enclosures asap. I know you said you are only pet sitting but they need the proper home the entire duration of their time with you. You need to invest a little money and time into getting them some sort of enclosure, one for each (or sep. one into half), almost anything that will work for now which we can tell you more about, and putting some kind of substrate down. You could use a piece of plywood for now to cover the sandy soil and you could buy a nice substrate to cover it (just make it extra thick since there is not cushioning in plywood. Maybe ask your son if he is willing to invest in a complete enclosure for whenever you watch them and you can just seperate it into two halves, one for each.