Respiratory infection vs blockage

[nadiagl]

Hello, recently took my 3 year old tortoise to the vets due to lack of eating and doing this action where it looks like she's gasping for air, she hasn't been eating or pooping, the vets said it could either be a respiratory infection or a blockage so he's doing a dosis of antibiotics to test which one it could be , however he said that because the Tortoise is so little it would be hard to do an x-ray or an operation. I'm sort of really panicking and want to know if anyone can give me some signs to differentiate between the two of them or how to deal with a blockage at home , we are scheduled to do a shot of antibiotics every 3 days and the wait is making me really anxious .

 

[Tom]

Hello, recently took my 3 year old tortoise to the vets due to lack of eating and doing this action where it looks like she's gasping for air, she hasn't been eating or pooping, the vets said it could either be a respiratory infection or a blockage so he's doing a dosis of antibiotics to test which one it could be , however he said that because the Tortoise is so little it would be hard to do an x-ray or an operation. I'm sort of really panicking and want to know if anyone can give me some signs to differentiate between the two of them or how to deal with a blockage at home , we are scheduled to do a shot of antibiotics every 3 days and the wait is making me really anxious .

What species and what size and age?

How are you housing it? Indoor or out? What size enclosure? What substrate?

What are your four temperatures? Warm side, cool side, basking area, overnight low?

What heating and lighting equipment are you using?

They don't get sick for no reason. We need to figure out WHY the tortoise got sick and correct that problem. Treating the symptoms will do nothing if we don't first fix the problem. RIs are usually caused by cold night temps, or over all cold temps. Warming things up with usually solve the problem.

 

[nadiagl]

What species and what size and age?

How are you housing it? Indoor or out? What size enclosure? What substrate?

What are your four temperatures? Warm side, cool side, basking area, overnight low?

What heating and lighting equipment are you using?

They don't get sick for no reason. We need to figure out WHY the tortoise got sick and correct that problem. Treating the symptoms will do nothing if we don't first fix the problem. RIs are usually caused by cold night temps, or over all cold temps. Warming things up with usually solve the problem.

1. russian herman tortoise, 0.54 kg / shell is 2.5 inches , 3 years old
2. indoors , enclosure is 90cm length, 60 cm width and 60cm height (these might be not accurate since i had to use a ruler i dont know where my measuring tape is), substrate= topsoil
3. temperatures are uncertain i dont own a digital thermometer but i will get one ASAP
4. probably arcadias brand heating lamp and light
i will order a digital thermometer and will update on the temperatures which one do you recommend?

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

1. russian herman tortoise, 0.54 kg / shell is 2.5 inches , 3 years old
2. indoors , enclosure is 90cm length, 60 cm width and 60cm height (these might be not accurate since i had to use a ruler i dont know where my measuring tape is), substrate= topsoil
3. temperatures are uncertain i dont own a digital thermometer but i will get one ASAP
4. probably arcadias brand heating lamp and light
i will order a digital thermometer and will update on the temperatures which one do you recommend?

You mean a Russian or Herman? do you have a photo of the tortoise? It sounds small for age

Enclosures for an adult tortoise need to be much bigger, top soils are best avoided as substrate, unless compared yourself, there’s no way of knowing each and every plant/ingredient, safest substrate options are damp coco coir, orchid bark or cypress mulch.

Temperatures are very important to know at all times, did the vet not ask? Most vets really don’t know how to treat/house tortoises very well.

Hopefully you’ll find these useful to go over.

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

This one covers correct equipment(uvb, heating bulbs, lighting etc, with visual examples on mounting your lighting, definitely double check bulb types), sizing(you can get away with slightly smaller indoors if you can build a larger outdoor space when weather permits, but still sizeable, the bigger the better), appropriately maintaining the humidity, safe substrates, there’s lots of visual examples for everything, and a really handy diet link to check out!

Housing adult Russian and Hermans indoors

Hello there! In this thread I’m going to include some information an example of an appropriate indoor set up for an older Herman/russian. As much as it’s encouraged to have tortoises in a safe outdoor enclosure, I understand being from the uk myself, that some climates make it difficult to...

tortoiseforum.org

This includes lots of inspiration for an adult set up both indoors and out! The indoor bit has some good ideas to tackle indoor space whilst still providing the needed roaming room! Check comments too, I’m always adding to it. I know the recommended adult size is intimidating to some, especially if you’ve been lead into thinking he’ll be fine in a smaller set up(very common) but tortoises long term health really does rely on lots of roaming room

Enclosure inspiration

Howdy folks! Hope everyone is well! As you all know, I’m a big fan of making threads that cater more towards visual learners like myself, I’ve really been wanting to create a thread full of adult enclosure inspiration for a while now, I’ve managed to find some great references over time! I do...

tortoiseforum.org

Toms care guide:

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

This one here is good to go over and keep on hand, it’ll help you avoid the wrong bulbs, substrates, housing etc, I always encourage double checking purchases on the forum too before buying

Common keeping errors

Hello everyone! I’d been a long time lurker on this site long before joining just under a year ago now, over that time I’ve seen these husbandry issues come up time and time again, sometimes with dire consequences☹️ I thought this thread might serve as a good visual guide for these common...

tortoiseforum.org

Hope they help, priority will be making sure temperatures are all good, hope your little guy starts improving!

 

[nadiagl]

You mean a Russian or Herman? do you have a photo of the tortoise? It sounds small for age

Enclosures for an adult tortoise need to be much bigger, top soils are best avoided as substrate, unless compared yourself, there’s no way of knowing each and every plant/ingredient, safest substrate options are damp coco coir, orchid bark or cypress mulch.

Temperatures are very important to know at all times, did the vet not ask? Most vets really don’t know how to treat/house tortoises very well.

Hopefully you’ll find these useful to go over.

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

This one covers correct equipment(uvb, heating bulbs, lighting etc, with visual examples on mounting your lighting, definitely double check bulb types), sizing(you can get away with slightly smaller indoors if you can build a larger outdoor space when weather permits, but still sizeable, the bigger the better), appropriately maintaining the humidity, safe substrates, there’s lots of visual examples for everything, and a really handy diet link to check out!

Housing adult Russian and Hermans indoors

Hello there! In this thread I’m going to include some information an example of an appropriate indoor set up for an older Herman/russian. As much as it’s encouraged to have tortoises in a safe outdoor enclosure, I understand being from the uk myself, that some climates make it difficult to...

tortoiseforum.org

This includes lots of inspiration for an adult set up both indoors and out! The indoor bit has some good ideas to tackle indoor space whilst still providing the needed roaming room! Check comments too, I’m always adding to it. I know the recommended adult size is intimidating to some, especially if you’ve been lead into thinking he’ll be fine in a smaller set up(very common) but tortoises long term health really does rely on lots of roaming room

Enclosure inspiration

Howdy folks! Hope everyone is well! As you all know, I’m a big fan of making threads that cater more towards visual learners like myself, I’ve really been wanting to create a thread full of adult enclosure inspiration for a while now, I’ve managed to find some great references over time! I do...

tortoiseforum.org

Toms care guide:

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

This one here is good to go over and keep on hand, it’ll help you avoid the wrong bulbs, substrates, housing etc, I always encourage double checking purchases on the forum too before buying

Common keeping errors

Hello everyone! I’d been a long time lurker on this site long before joining just under a year ago now, over that time I’ve seen these husbandry issues come up time and time again, sometimes with dire consequences☹️ I thought this thread might serve as a good visual guide for these common...

tortoiseforum.org

Hope they help, priority will be making sure temperatures are all good, hope your little guy starts improving!

hello thank you so much for this , the vets had no questions about the enclosure nor its temperature, i brought my tortoise on a little pot with substrate straight from her enclosure and the vet didnt comment anything about it (even though i mentioned it is from her enclosure) , it is a bit upsetting how most vets don't know how to care for tortoises properly.

You mean a Russian or Herman? do you have a photo of the tortoise? It sounds small for age

Enclosures for an adult tortoise need to be much bigger, top soils are best avoided as substrate, unless compared yourself, there’s no way of knowing each and every plant/ingredient, safest substrate options are damp coco coir, orchid bark or cypress mulch.

Temperatures are very important to know at all times, did the vet not ask? Most vets really don’t know how to treat/house tortoises very well.

Hopefully you’ll find these useful to go over.

Info For New People. Please Read This First.

Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...

tortoiseforum.org

This one covers correct equipment(uvb, heating bulbs, lighting etc, with visual examples on mounting your lighting, definitely double check bulb types), sizing(you can get away with slightly smaller indoors if you can build a larger outdoor space when weather permits, but still sizeable, the bigger the better), appropriately maintaining the humidity, safe substrates, there’s lots of visual examples for everything, and a really handy diet link to check out!

Housing adult Russian and Hermans indoors

Hello there! In this thread I’m going to include some information an example of an appropriate indoor set up for an older Herman/russian. As much as it’s encouraged to have tortoises in a safe outdoor enclosure, I understand being from the uk myself, that some climates make it difficult to...

tortoiseforum.org

This includes lots of inspiration for an adult set up both indoors and out! The indoor bit has some good ideas to tackle indoor space whilst still providing the needed roaming room! Check comments too, I’m always adding to it. I know the recommended adult size is intimidating to some, especially if you’ve been lead into thinking he’ll be fine in a smaller set up(very common) but tortoises long term health really does rely on lots of roaming room

Enclosure inspiration

Howdy folks! Hope everyone is well! As you all know, I’m a big fan of making threads that cater more towards visual learners like myself, I’ve really been wanting to create a thread full of adult enclosure inspiration for a while now, I’ve managed to find some great references over time! I do...

tortoiseforum.org

Toms care guide:

The Best Way To Raise Any Temperate Species Of Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies and care for adults? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. What is...

tortoiseforum.org

This one here is good to go over and keep on hand, it’ll help you avoid the wrong bulbs, substrates, housing etc, I always encourage double checking purchases on the forum too before buying

Common keeping errors

Hello everyone! I’d been a long time lurker on this site long before joining just under a year ago now, over that time I’ve seen these husbandry issues come up time and time again, sometimes with dire consequences☹️ I thought this thread might serve as a good visual guide for these common...

tortoiseforum.org

Hope they help, priority will be making sure temperatures are all good, hope your little guy starts improving!

Hello ! Thank you so much for this. Unfortunately no the vets did not ask for temperatures nor did they raise awareness of what substrate my tortoise was using. I brought her in with the substrate for her enclosure and mentioned it to the vet and he didn't mention anything. Also, I've only used topsoil because other tortoise owners recommended it to me and it feels as though you can't trust anyone nowadays! . I do think it's a russian tortoise. For some reason I thought that was the whole name.
This is a photo of her:

 

[Anastasia 22]

She so cute! I hope she will get well soon!
Did the vet mention anything about nebulization? My tortoise with the respiratory infection had it twice and it helped. We are still getting antibiotic shots though.

 

[nadiagl]

She so cute! I hope she will get well soon!
Did the vet mention anything about nebulization? My tortoise with the respiratory infection had it twice and it helped. We are still getting antibiotic shots though.

The vet didn't really mention anything, he just said we'll test which one it is , what is nebulisation? And thank you so much for the wishes!

 

[Anastasia 22]

The vet didn't really mention anything, he just said we'll test which one it is , what is nebulisation? And thank you so much for the wishes!

"Nebulization, using a nebulizer to deliver medication as a mist, can be a helpful treatment for respiratory issues in tortoises. It allows for direct application of medication to the lungs, potentially more effective than oral or injectable treatments, especially for conditions like bacterial or fungal pneumonia."
The vet put my tortoise in a container and used several bottles of medication. But before doing that the doctor scanned my girl in front of me...
I know your pain. I went to several vets before I found the one who knows something about tortoises.... and even that doctor calls my tortoise "turtle "......

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

hello thank you so much for this , the vets had no questions about the enclosure nor its temperature, i brought my tortoise on a little pot with substrate straight from her enclosure and the vet didnt comment anything about it (even though i mentioned it is from her enclosure) , it is a bit upsetting how most vets don't know how to care for tortoises properly.

Hello ! Thank you so much for this. Unfortunately no the vets did not ask for temperatures nor did they raise awareness of what substrate my tortoise was using. I brought her in with the substrate for her enclosure and mentioned it to the vet and he didn't mention anything. Also, I've only used topsoil because other tortoise owners recommended it to me and it feels as though you can't trust anyone nowadays! . I do think it's a russian tortoise. For some reason I thought that was the whole name.
This is a photo of her:

They really can be useless sometimesif no one better is available though, it’s good if you can get a response from one of the super experienced folks like Tom, for a rough treatment plan based on the results, that way you can go in and tell the vet what course of action you want to take. The fact they asked nothing about housing is a huge red flag

A lot of people do use top soils, whilst reactions to something potentially toxic in the soil are few and far between, because of how damp the soil has to be, with top soil you end up creating mud that sticks to everything, if it’s not then the substrate is too dry in general.
I feel you on the trust thing, what I like about this place is you can ask as many questions as possible, members can always back their answers up which has definitely helped me gain trust here

Yeah she’s a Russian, she actually looks captive bred which isn’t all that common with Russians in the states, have you had her from a tiny hatchling?

I don’t suppose you have a photo of her plastron/legs? Not sure if it’s the picture but the back ones look swollen? Almost like edema? I could be wrong.. A better side profile would be good too, because I’m noticing it looks as though her carapace(top of shell) slopes downwards, could just be the angle of the photo though

 

[nadiagl]

Unfortunately the only vets that did ask for her housing conditions disappeared? (Permanently closed) And around my area no vets accept reptiles even though their website says they do which is all very confusing? so I went to the only option I had , he's supposed to be really good too, he was late to the appointment because he was doing an operation on a snake so maybe that's why he didn't ask? Maybe he was still stressed by the operation, hopefully next time it will be better . And yeah there's so many mis information online! It's kind of really scary. But here are some pictures of my tortoise from different angles:

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Unfortunately the only vets that did ask for her housing conditions disappeared? (Permanently closed) And around my area no vets accept reptiles even though their website says they do which is all very confusing? so I went to the only option I had , he's supposed to be really good too, he was late to the appointment because he was doing an operation on a snake so maybe that's why he didn't ask? Maybe he was still stressed by the operation, hopefully next time it will be better . And yeah there's so many mis information online! It's kind of really scary. But here are some pictures of my tortoise from different angles:

Shell shape looks fine in these so was definitely just the angle, her back legs look ok too here, though now looking at these ones I feel like she’s looking a bit puffy up front, but maybe it’s just how she’s looking in the pics lol

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

She’s a cutie by the way!

 

[MaNaAk]

1. russian herman tortoise, 0.54 kg / shell is 2.5 inches , 3 years old
2. indoors , enclosure is 90cm length, 60 cm width and 60cm height (these might be not accurate since i had to use a ruler i dont know where my measuring tape is), substrate= topsoil
3. temperatures are uncertain i dont own a digital thermometer but i will get one ASAP
4. probably arcadias brand heating lamp and light
i will order a digital thermometer and will update on the temperatures which one do you recommend?

You can buy a couple of digital thermometers on Amazon for a good price.

 

[nadiagl]

I would like to mention some next steps:
- we are going to change the substrate to orchid bark.
- digital thermometer and change of temperature
- we will try to stimulate poop
Some questions I have:
Is it okay to force feed my tortoise pumpkin?
What can I do to stimulate poop
Does rubbing her tummy help?

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

I would like to mention some next steps:
- we are going to change the substrate to orchid bark.
- digital thermometer and change of temperature
- we will try to stimulate poop
Some questions I have:
Is it okay to force feed my tortoise pumpkin?
What can I do to stimulate poop
Does rubbing her tummy help?

Good plans

No don’t force feed anything, you could risk her aspirating, she should hopefully go for it on her own, it’s like a sweet treat to them.

Soaks are the best thing you can do to try and get her pooping, rubbing her plastron(tummy) won’t help no, they don’t feel tummy rubs the way we or a dog would, that said, there’s been instances of tortoise being dangerously blocked up, as in not passing anything for weeks on end, where vibration therapy has helped, essentially they’ve taped an apparatus that vibrates(use you imagination there) to the tortoises plastron and it’s eventually got things moving lol

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

A quick car ride can sometimes do the trick too

 

[MaNaAk]

I would like to mention some next steps:
- we are going to change the substrate to orchid bark.
- digital thermometer and change of temperature
- we will try to stimulate poop
Some questions I have:
Is it okay to force feed my tortoise pumpkin?
What can I do to stimulate poop
Does rubbing her tummy help?

Soaking helps (20 mins in a shallow tub twice a week)

 

[MaNaAk]

A quick car ride can sometimes do the trick too

And this

 

[nadiagl]

You can buy a couple of digital thermometers on Amazon for a good price.

Is this one okay?

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Is this one okay?

That looks a fine infrared temperature gun, but also get yourself some digital monitors that go inside the enclosure, you can get cheap dial ones like this

There’s different types and price ranges out there