Ponera
New Member
I have had my male Russian tortoise for around 14 years. He was about 5 when I got him, so he's somewhere around 20. In that time, he does try to brumate but I don't change the day/night cycle etc. He just kinda slows eating and sleeps more for a few months, no biggie. The basking temps are around 100F, lower temps are whatever they are ambiently from 70F and up. He's never had a problem with basking in the 14 years I've had him. In fact, nothing has changed in his diet, lighting, tank etc etc in 14 years. I use sunglo mercury vapour for his basking light, it has worked great. Substrate varies. At the time this started it was dry dirt, but that has been changed to wood bark.
This year, thanks to the heat dome that came through, he brumated in the fall and woke up in December. That is kinda odd, but he was healthy otherwise. Then in March/April he began "brumating" again with less basking, less eating and less activity. I thought it was odd, but rolled with it for a few months. After a few months of not really eating, I turned up the temps by a few degrees and he began foaming at the mouth because he was overheating. I rapidly cooled him and got him some electrolytes directly in the mouth, as well as electrolyte bath (I used diluted Gatorade, it was night nothing was available and it worked great.)
We took him to the vet. This wasn't a specialist vet, the only specialist vet is backed up two months for appointments. So we found one that has experience with tortoises. She said he is in fantastic shape, we did a great job trimming his beak this spring (he was a rescue and doesn't like trimming his upper beak no matter what we try.) No sign of the shell rot he had when I got him. Solid shell, good muscle tone, no sign of lung issues and he is alert and grouchy as russians can be. She said he is dehydrated from not eating much and prescribed antibiotics and daily baths. It has been a few weeks of antibiotics and baths, but he is still not really interested in food. When he is interested, it has to be his idea- he won't really mess with food if we put him next to it. We've used a needleless syringe to get some sugarless baby food in his mouth (basically puree veggies.) Gonna try taking him outside to see if he wants to graze. He likes scooting about and smelling like 100 flowers before settling on a specific one to eat.
I suspect maybe he has had issues with his jaw because he doesn't ever trim it himself (he does the lower one just fine), but there is no sign of mouth rot when he does open up. Everything looks great! So maybe it's an infection, maybe something went wrong with the trimming (we used a foredom in short bursts, vet said it looks good.)
We have a follow up next month with the vet, she said it could take months of antibiotics to get him feeling better. Anyone with any similar experiences?
This year, thanks to the heat dome that came through, he brumated in the fall and woke up in December. That is kinda odd, but he was healthy otherwise. Then in March/April he began "brumating" again with less basking, less eating and less activity. I thought it was odd, but rolled with it for a few months. After a few months of not really eating, I turned up the temps by a few degrees and he began foaming at the mouth because he was overheating. I rapidly cooled him and got him some electrolytes directly in the mouth, as well as electrolyte bath (I used diluted Gatorade, it was night nothing was available and it worked great.)
We took him to the vet. This wasn't a specialist vet, the only specialist vet is backed up two months for appointments. So we found one that has experience with tortoises. She said he is in fantastic shape, we did a great job trimming his beak this spring (he was a rescue and doesn't like trimming his upper beak no matter what we try.) No sign of the shell rot he had when I got him. Solid shell, good muscle tone, no sign of lung issues and he is alert and grouchy as russians can be. She said he is dehydrated from not eating much and prescribed antibiotics and daily baths. It has been a few weeks of antibiotics and baths, but he is still not really interested in food. When he is interested, it has to be his idea- he won't really mess with food if we put him next to it. We've used a needleless syringe to get some sugarless baby food in his mouth (basically puree veggies.) Gonna try taking him outside to see if he wants to graze. He likes scooting about and smelling like 100 flowers before settling on a specific one to eat.
I suspect maybe he has had issues with his jaw because he doesn't ever trim it himself (he does the lower one just fine), but there is no sign of mouth rot when he does open up. Everything looks great! So maybe it's an infection, maybe something went wrong with the trimming (we used a foredom in short bursts, vet said it looks good.)
We have a follow up next month with the vet, she said it could take months of antibiotics to get him feeling better. Anyone with any similar experiences?