respitory infection

[voodoochild]

Hello,
I recently purchased a pair of redfoots. They were raised here in Central FL. I got them from Martins World Exotics (he sold me healthy tortoises). I had built a heated shelter fro them but did not lock them in. It got down to the 50s at night and I guess the male decided to enjoy the cool weather. Well he started to show signs of an infection so I took him to a vet yesterday that seems to be very knowledgeable about reptiles. He took an xray and the lungs showed a pretty bad infection. I was given an antibiotic to inject him with for the next couple of weeks. I have been trying to keep his body temp above 85f. He is still eating good and everything and I was surprised to find that the infection was as bad as it is. I guess I am just wondering if any of you have any tips. I really dont want him to die. I have experience with reptiles but these are my first tortoises. I just feel awful that I allowed him to get sick. I recently separated him from the female. So far she is not showing any signs of an infection. Any comments would be great.
Thanks you so much.
Jon

 

[Kenny]

welcome to the forum Jon.
at this point the best thing to do is to keep him warm, and hydrated, and follow through with the medication.
50* is too cold imo, I keep mine at 73* at night. Just be sure to lock the shelter in the future. We all make mistakes and its good to see that you've taken responsibility for yours , and done the right thing by your tort.
good luck

 

[voodoochild]

welcome to the forum Jon.
at this point the best thing to do is to keep him warm, and hydrated, and follow through with the medication.
50* is too cold imo, I keep mine at 73* at night. Just be sure to lock the shelter in the future. We all make mistakes and its good to see that you've taken responsibility for yours , and done the right thing by your tort.
good luck

Thank you. I agree 50 was too low and I just thought he would stay in there but he didn't I will definitely make sure I have him locked in from now on. I certainly don't want to go through this again. I just hope he makes it. So far he seems fine. He eats a ton and he's alert and active I just want to keep it from taking a turn for the worse.
I do have a question about hydration. I have always soaked them in warm water for 10 min or so but maybe that's a bad idea with his infection. Would a small water dish be better?

 

[Kenny]

welcome to the forum Jon.
at this point the best thing to do is to keep him warm, and hydrated, and follow through with the medication.
50* is too cold imo, I keep mine at 73* at night. Just be sure to lock the shelter in the future. We all make mistakes and its good to see that you've taken responsibility for yours , and done the right thing by your tort.
good luck

Thank you. I agree 50 was too low and I just thought he would stay in there but he didn't I will definitely make sure I have him locked in from now on. I certainly don't want to go through this again. I just hope he makes it. So far he seems fine. He eats a ton and he's alert and active I just want to keep it from taking a turn for the worse.
I do have a question about hydration. I have always soaked them in warm water for 10 min or so but maybe that's a bad idea with his infection. Would a small water dish be better?

Red Foots are pretty hardy so I think you'll be ok.

as far as a water dish I'd make sure that a large one ( big enough for him to soak in) should always be available. I use large planting saucers from loews/home depot. and as long as the temps are 85-95 (due to the RI) I don't see a problem.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Jon:

Welcome to the forum!!

That darned respiratory infection creeps up on them with no notice. I had a friend over this a.m. to help me insulate my leopard tortoise shed a little better than what it is, and when I pulled the tortoises out one of them has a big glob of stuff on the end of her nose.

Baytril is the antibiotic used most often for R.I. in tortoises. Just do what the vet told you to do and the tortoise will be fine.

 

[Madkins007]

There is also an article in the Articles section on 'Respiratory Infection for Tortoise Keepers', with a copy in The Tortoise Library's medical section in my signature below.

If most of the infection is in the lungs, you are actually rather lucky. That is a lower tract respiratory disease, or pneumonia, and responds well to antibiotics and treatment. It IS infectious, however, so keep an eye on the other one. Pneumonia does not have real obvious symptoms the way the Upper Respiratory Tract version does, but it is usually more treatable.

 

[Stev0623]

Hmm, I'm not one to make any kind of accusation, but I bought a red foot from Martins World Exotic last month, brought her home and she started coughing and had gunk up her nose...

I think I'll def avoid him from now on.

 

[dmmj]

I don't think it is fair to make an accusation when husbandry problems may be the reason why the RI popped up, I don't know of martins world exotic, so I can't say one way or the other. As for RI's last year I took in a russian who was turned over to me because the person no longer wanted it she had puffy eyes, so I suspected an RI by the time the vet saw her she also had a discharge coming from the nose. I would suggest that you follow the vets recommendation (if the vet is good like mine) I kept her warm and gave her meds every day once by mouth and once by nose. It may take awhile I had to do meds for 3 months and 2 vet visits more than 200 dollars for a "free" russian.

---

sorry I was referring to steve and not voodoo child.

 

[Whinhill]

I have a red got recovering from pneumonia right now. We started on batryl but it didn't resound so we changed to florenphenicol which successfully treated the problem.

If you get no success with batryl it would be worth talking to your vet about a chain in drug

---

Ian

 

[voodoochild]

The vet told me it is the beginning of pneumonia. I went ahead and seperated the male and female to be on the safe side. Hopefully she wont get sick too. The med that he is on is baytril. one injection per day for the first week then every other day for the second week. He sounded very clear this morning so I dont know but maybe its already working. I have also made sure to keep him very warm but not too hot. I dont let the room drop below 80 even at night. His hot spot is around 95.

 

[Kenny]

The vet told me it is the beginning of pneumonia. I went ahead and seperated the male and female to be on the safe side. Hopefully she wont get sick too. The med that he is on is baytril. one injection per day for the first week then every other day for the second week. He sounded very clear this morning so I dont know but maybe its already working. I have also made sure to keep him very warm but not too hot. I dont let the room drop below 80 even at night. His hot spot is around 95.

sounds like your doing everything right. Good luck , and keep us posted.

 

[Whinhill]

Yep the Florenphenicol is a second choice if you don't see an improvement, which you are, and that's excellent news

 

[voodoochild]

Well he seemed clear yesterday but this morning I could hear some congestion. How long should I wait before I will know for sure if it is working?
Thanks,
Jon

 

[Whinhill]

Well he seemed clear yesterday but this morning I could hear some congestion. How long should I wait before I will know for sure if it is working?
Thanks,
Jon

you should finish the first course of antibiotics, or, if they take a turn for the worst go back to your vet

 

[Crohnsaholic]

Raise the Temps, I keep mine around 70-75 at night. In the Day my hot side is between 80-85 with a basking spot, and my cool side is in the 70's. Good luck! Try giving him luke warm baths as well, that may help warm him up some; don't make it too hot though!

 

[voodoochild]

Raise the Temps, I keep mine around 70-75 at night. In the Day my hot side is between 80-85 with a basking spot, and my cool side is in the 70's. Good luck! Try giving him luke warm baths as well, that may help warm him up some; don't make it too hot though!

What would be considered too hot? I have raised the temps in that room. At night it gets down to 80 and in the day its 85 to 88. The hot spot is in the 90s. I keep a red bulb on his hotspot at night too. I shoot him with a temp gun and I have been trying to keep his body temp above 85. When I wake up I shoot him at 75. During the day hes between 85 and 98 depending on which side of the tank he is. I'm still real worried so I am sorry if I am being a pain. Do you think there are any vitamins that could help like vitamin C or something??