Hello! Can anyone direct me to a good article regarding Respiratory Infections or Disease in Tortoises? I cannot seem to find any information about this such as, how they get it, what causes it, and how to prevent and treat. If I type in anything about a watery eye or nose I am directed to tons of pages where everyone is freaking out left and right and automatically diagnose a watery eye or nose as a respiratory infection or disease. I want to fully understand this topic so I can educate myself. I have 2 juvenile Sulcatas that are kept indoors in a controlled environment and have never had a runny nose or eyes and are very healthy so far, they are almost 2. A few days ago a co worker gave me 2 male sulcatas that are 12 years old that he has had in his back yard/home since they were hatchlings. His wife did want to deal with them anymore and he cared about them too much to sell them to a stranger so he gave them to me knowing that we would give them a good home. I am not an experienced Sulcata owner, I'm pretty new but I do what I can and I really enjoy owning these creatures and I am happy with the way my youngsters and doing... The 2 adults I received on friday have free roam of my large backyard and a insulated dog house to sleep with with a heat lamp that is only turned on in the winter time (this was what the previous owner did and instructed me to do). We live in So. California so right now its 80ish-90 during the day and high fifty - 60's at night. I have only had them two days but I noticed immediately that they appear to whistle lightly when they breathe and they have wet eyes and nose sometimes. The eye and nose is clear and thin like water. When I tried to google this to read about it everything pops up negative like they are deathly ill and automatically says it's a respiratory thing! My co-workers back yard was very shady, kinda cool, and in some parts damp. I have a feeling that they have the wet eyes/nose because they needed to be kept warmer? They eat like COWS and are practically running around the yard and do not act sick at all. Tonight, I am going to turn the heat lamp on and keep the dog house in the 70's because I think it's too cool they way he has been keeping them at night even though it is summer. I notice the watery eyes/nose in the mornings... I spoke to a experienced sulcata owner in my area who has a massive 25 year old sucata, and 2 other's that are around 15 and a little smaller. He told me not to worry about this because in his experience one of his males had a watery nose and even blew bubbles at one point many years ago and he freaked out at first and took it to the vet who said it was respiratory just from looking at him and gave him antibiotics. A year or so later the tortoise again had a watery nose and this time he just kept an eye on him and it went away on it's own and it's been a few years with no other problems. I guess what I want to get from this is a better understanding of respiratory infections in tortoises and I also what to know your experiences with watery eye/nose. I would assume if they had an infection they would act differently and the watery eye/nose would be thicker and probably cloudy, like mucous. Their eyes are clear and do not appear to be swollen either.
And another thing, IF (IF!) a tortoise had a respiratory issue, is there a way to treat it at home?
Your personal experience is appreciated!
And another thing, IF (IF!) a tortoise had a respiratory issue, is there a way to treat it at home?
Your personal experience is appreciated!