Sick? (lethargic russian)

[Tortimer]

I think my tort is sick. I tried feeding him today, and he ate absolutely nothing. He's also NEVER awake. In order to get him to wake up, I have to move him around myself. I saw bubbles coming out of his nose, once or twice, today, and I had something that sounded like wheezing, but very faint. It's May.. should Russian Torts be lazy around now? THe first few days we had him, he'd move around himself, but not much. Now he literally does nothing. Help? If this is serious, I'll try to convince my parents to let me take him to the vet, as they seem quite reluctant, thinking that it will be a waste of money and time.

 

[Yvonne G]

RE: Sick?

So we all don't have to go back and re-read your first 23 posts, why don't you tell us a bit about Tortimer and how you have him set up?

Can you get him set up outside? Russian tortoises do much better out in the real world.

 

[Tortimer]

RE: Sick?

We've had him for about a month now, from a neighbor who didn't give him any light for a year, and fed him once a week. She kept him in an aquarium tank, which I heard was bad for him and too small. However, for now, that's all we can provide for him. I'm planning to get him all the necessary materials to make a tort box, hopefully he won't be in there for long.

I really would like to set up a place for him outside as well, but in my neighborhood, there's plenty coyotes, raccoons, and snakes around at night and day. To make up for him not being able to stay outside, on the school days, at around 3 pm, we take him outside for as long as we can.

But since the first day we had him, we had problems, such as him biting his tongue when eating, and other days not eating at all.

 

[mike taylor]

Re: Sick?

You have to give us temps./humidity levels and do you have uv
lighting for it . It sounds like your tort has RI. Sometimes you can fix this by getting the temps.right sometimes you will have to take it to the vet. Send pictures of your enclosure every bit of info.you can give us the better we can help.
Sent from my C771 using TortForum mobile app

 

[Tortimer]

RE: Sick?

Okay, as I said, I am still trying to give him a much better place to live. I know that his enclosure is waaay too small. It's a regular tank, around 36x12, and he does not have a UV light, as we take him outside as much as possible. One side is lighted, and he has a little house he can hide under if he chooses to be away from it. But this past week, he hasn't moved at all, unless we make him... In order to get the right temperatures, do I need multiple lights?

 

[Tom]

RE: Sick?

What is your temperature directly under the light?

 

[Tortimer]

RE: Sick?

Nearly 95