Russian Tortoise Not Moving Legs and Rubbing Face

GilbertP24

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Okay, so I just flushed him with saline and sucked out with a baby nose sucker thing. Should I expect results immediately? I mean, he certainly isn't "mouth breathing" as much as he was, but he is still kind of doing it. He keeps pulling his head until his shell now too. Is that normal?
 

Pearly

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That "flush n'suction" is something of "do it till you get results" kinda thing, you know, just like with human newborn baby or infant, when they are all stopped up you keep at it until you get the crud out their little nose. The poor tort will probably not like it and I'd say if he's fighting you hard, that's a good sign. Just keep at it till you see improvement. Bring your toom humidifier that you use in a winter, and place it right next to his enclosure. Remember: WARM & VERY HUMID!
 

GilbertP24

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That "flush n'suction" is something of "do it till you get results" kinda thing, you know, just like with human newborn baby or infant, when they are all stopped up you keep at it until you get the crud out their little nose. The poor tort will probably not like it and I'd say if he's fighting you hard, that's a good sign. Just keep at it till you see improvement. Bring your toom humidifier that you use in a winter, and place it right next to his enclosure. Remember: WARM & VERY HUMID!

When you say keep at it, do you mean over and over all at once? Or every ________ minutes? Or what?
 

Pearly

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I mean over and over very gently but persistently until you can hear clear breath with no whistles, gurgles, crackles or any other sounds. It should be just like a sound of quiet breeze on very calm summer day, nothing else
 
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Pearly

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Of course be sensitive to your tortie being distressed by it and if you feel the distress level outweighs the benefit, stop, put her under the fogger, let her rest.
 

Pearly

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Another thing you can try if the tortie is VERY CONGESTED with heavy thick secretions, you can (after a good warm soak/humidifier inhalation/saline drops) put her on a clean towel on your knees, tip her her down (not vertical, but let gravity work for you) and gently tap on her back, then suction. You can repeat that few times: suction, then saline flush, head down and tap, then suction again. Always SUCTION FIRST before any other steps to make sure you are not pushing in deeper dome glob of mucous that was "right there" ready to come out.
 

GilbertP24

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Another thing you can try if the tortie is VERY CONGESTED with heavy thick secretions, you can (after a good warm soak/humidifier inhalation/saline drops) put her on a clean towel on your knees, tip her her down (not vertical, but let gravity work for you) and gently tap on her back, then suction. You can repeat that few times: suction, then saline flush, head down and tap, then suction again. Always SUCTION FIRST before any other steps to make sure you are not pushing in deeper dome glob of mucous that was "right there" ready to come out.

Thank you very much. I will try that. He seemed like he was getting really stressed out, so I stopped for now. He is now under his heat lamp. I got a thermometer gun, and the top of his shell is at 95° currently.
 

GilbertP24

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I have done the saline flush and suck twice (3 times each time) and it doesn't seem to be making any improvements. I'm not sure what to do.
 

GilbertP24

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I would like to thank you all for all of your responses and time. It is greatly appreciated. Unfortunately, Gilbert passed away today. I am devastated. But thank you for all of your help.
 

Tidgy's Dad

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I would like to thank you all for all of your responses and time. It is greatly appreciated. Unfortunately, Gilbert passed away today. I am devastated. But thank you for all of your help.
I am so terribly, terribly sorry for your loss, you did your best.
My deepest condolences.
 

ParleG

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So sorry to hear about your tort... My tortoise, Mango, did likewise. He would still very still and stare until we picked him up or moved him. While giving him a warm bath, he would itch the right side of his face and gasp for air while sticking his neck out... I put him under a heat lamp, but he kept coughing up this water/saliva mix and expelling water from his nose...Just went to check on him, and it seems that he passed. He is completely limp, and his eyes are half closed and very glassy. Absolutely no movement at all :(. There is this weird yellow liquid coming from his backside, and I feel like that may have been paired with his condition. From the research I've been doing, this is a very acute form of pneumonia that leads to death extremely quickly. I pray that both of our tortoises will rest peacefully.
 

Tidgy's Dad

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So sorry to hear about your tort... My tortoise, Mango, did likewise. He would still very still and stare until we picked him up or moved him. While giving him a warm bath, he would itch the right side of his face and gasp for air while sticking his neck out... I put him under a heat lamp, but he kept coughing up this water/saliva mix and expelling water from his nose...Just went to check on him, and it seems that he passed. He is completely limp, and his eyes are half closed and very glassy. Absolutely no movement at all :(. There is this weird yellow liquid coming from his backside, and I feel like that may have been paired with his condition. From the research I've been doing, this is a very acute form of pneumonia that leads to death extremely quickly. I pray that both of our tortoises will rest peacefully.
Terribly sorry for your loss.
I'm sure you loved Mango very much and he had a good life.
 

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