Hello everyone!
I know you probably get asked this all the time but I am having a little bit of concern regarding my 6 year-old red-foot tort, Caspian. For the last two days, he's been making squeaking sounds. It seems random.
Yesterday, it was obvious that he was straining to use the bathroom so I gave him an extra soak in warm water for about 25 minutes, a bit of organic canned pumpkin and a bit of cucumber, and that seemed to do the job. However, he's still squeaking.
I have increased his heat so his cage is around 80-85 degrees. His humidity is between 55-65% (is that too much? too little? I have read so many varying details on this.) and is maintained with a morning and evening spray down. He gets a warm water soak for about 10-20 minutes (depending on his attitude because he will deliberately do things to get himself taken out like flip himself over two or three times and keep his head submerged completely while staring directly at me like a brat then looking at me when I flip him back over and doing it all over again. I've switched bathing bins and even tried the bathtub and he's still doing it) every other day. I strive for daily but sometimes both he and I just don't agree on this.
His normal habitat is coconut coir with cyprus bedding. However, he's taken to eating the Cyprus mulch so when I changed his bedding today I gave him only coconut coir to see if that helps. In his hide, unfortunately, I only have the coir because he has a bad habit of eating all moss I give him and have yet to find something that he can have in there where he doesn't try to choke himself. I haven't tried towels or newspaper because he will try and dig his way to China and I don't want him to hurt himself with nothing to dig in. Any ideas on what else I could try to see if this is the problem? Reptibark and Reptisand just don't work either because once again, he's eaten it (like a brat). I clean up any excrements by scooping and change the bedding every week.
He has a regular water supply that is cleaned and refilled daily. He is fed in the evenings about 7pm and I remove any uneaten the next morning. His diet consists of Mazuri, greens (usually a mix of romaine, kale and butter lettuces), and a bit of fruit (usually a few blueberries or banana... he likes watermelon or a tiny piece of pineapple but when provided it's all he'll eat and won't touch the rest. Strawberries and Cherries made him cough and squeak for days after the last time that he'd had it, so I am a little scared to give it to him). He has a small dish of dried mealworms (oddly enough, he's scared of live ones and tends to immediately retreat into his shell when they move) and Exo Terra soft pellets that is available during the day. He gets a steady intake of calcium and at his last visit he was considered healthy.
My concern is that the squeaking seems to pop up every once in a while and it lasts for days at a time. He hasn't lost his appetite completely but he is eating less during these times (like now). His nose is clear and I haven't seen any discharge or wetness from his eyes (unless he tries to throw himself upside down in his water dish which I still have NO idea how he does it). He's not breathing with his mouth open. I do know he IS lazy and refuses to drink probably as much as he should, which I have tried to keep encouraging him to drink by placing him near his fresh water and keeping his enclosure with enough moisture.
Is it a dryness issue? If so, how do I keep his humidity level up at all times? If so, I can't constantly be there to spray every few hours so how do I fix that issue if it is? Is is a food issue? Bedding? Is it gas or an upset belly? I only ask these questions because he doesn't do any of this when I take him to the vet and he's normally a quiet guy.
Any help, concerns, gripes, angry remarks because I am doing something wrong would be greatly appreciated as I am at a loss and none of the material I have helps.
Thanks in advance and for reading this far.
I know you probably get asked this all the time but I am having a little bit of concern regarding my 6 year-old red-foot tort, Caspian. For the last two days, he's been making squeaking sounds. It seems random.
Yesterday, it was obvious that he was straining to use the bathroom so I gave him an extra soak in warm water for about 25 minutes, a bit of organic canned pumpkin and a bit of cucumber, and that seemed to do the job. However, he's still squeaking.
I have increased his heat so his cage is around 80-85 degrees. His humidity is between 55-65% (is that too much? too little? I have read so many varying details on this.) and is maintained with a morning and evening spray down. He gets a warm water soak for about 10-20 minutes (depending on his attitude because he will deliberately do things to get himself taken out like flip himself over two or three times and keep his head submerged completely while staring directly at me like a brat then looking at me when I flip him back over and doing it all over again. I've switched bathing bins and even tried the bathtub and he's still doing it) every other day. I strive for daily but sometimes both he and I just don't agree on this.
His normal habitat is coconut coir with cyprus bedding. However, he's taken to eating the Cyprus mulch so when I changed his bedding today I gave him only coconut coir to see if that helps. In his hide, unfortunately, I only have the coir because he has a bad habit of eating all moss I give him and have yet to find something that he can have in there where he doesn't try to choke himself. I haven't tried towels or newspaper because he will try and dig his way to China and I don't want him to hurt himself with nothing to dig in. Any ideas on what else I could try to see if this is the problem? Reptibark and Reptisand just don't work either because once again, he's eaten it (like a brat). I clean up any excrements by scooping and change the bedding every week.
He has a regular water supply that is cleaned and refilled daily. He is fed in the evenings about 7pm and I remove any uneaten the next morning. His diet consists of Mazuri, greens (usually a mix of romaine, kale and butter lettuces), and a bit of fruit (usually a few blueberries or banana... he likes watermelon or a tiny piece of pineapple but when provided it's all he'll eat and won't touch the rest. Strawberries and Cherries made him cough and squeak for days after the last time that he'd had it, so I am a little scared to give it to him). He has a small dish of dried mealworms (oddly enough, he's scared of live ones and tends to immediately retreat into his shell when they move) and Exo Terra soft pellets that is available during the day. He gets a steady intake of calcium and at his last visit he was considered healthy.
My concern is that the squeaking seems to pop up every once in a while and it lasts for days at a time. He hasn't lost his appetite completely but he is eating less during these times (like now). His nose is clear and I haven't seen any discharge or wetness from his eyes (unless he tries to throw himself upside down in his water dish which I still have NO idea how he does it). He's not breathing with his mouth open. I do know he IS lazy and refuses to drink probably as much as he should, which I have tried to keep encouraging him to drink by placing him near his fresh water and keeping his enclosure with enough moisture.
Is it a dryness issue? If so, how do I keep his humidity level up at all times? If so, I can't constantly be there to spray every few hours so how do I fix that issue if it is? Is is a food issue? Bedding? Is it gas or an upset belly? I only ask these questions because he doesn't do any of this when I take him to the vet and he's normally a quiet guy.
Any help, concerns, gripes, angry remarks because I am doing something wrong would be greatly appreciated as I am at a loss and none of the material I have helps.
Thanks in advance and for reading this far.
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