squeaking out of nowhere

[Kaitltnboyce78]

hi everyone, i'm posting this on my school laptop because my phone is broken so i'm sorry if i don't respond straight away. my tortoise poppy moved to my mums house yesterday and everything was normal she was acting fine. this morning she was climbing about acting like her usual self but then she ate some of her dirt, i don't know how much but she's never done that before.(at least not that i have seen) and ever since she has been squeaking a lot not all the time but a lot of it and sometimes its small short squeaks and others its long squeaks and i'm worried about her, she's still eating fine but she's just been under her light all day since. i gave her a bath hoping that would help her but it made no change. is she okay, will it go away after a while?

 

[Tom]

Sitting under the light all day is the clue. Its too cold. When the while enclosure is too cool, they tend to sit under the heat lamp too much. The squeaks could be the start of a respiratory infection. The dirt eating is likely unrelated.

Warm up the ambient temp. Get the whole enclose up to 23-26C all day and night for a while. Basking area needs to be around 36C.

 

[Kaitltnboyce78]

Sitting under the light all day is the clue. Its too cold. When the while enclosure is too cool, they tend to sit under the heat lamp too much. The squeaks could be the start of a respiratory infection. The dirt eating is likely unrelated.

Warm up the ambient temp. Get the whole enclose up to 23-26C all day and night for a while. Basking area needs to be around 36C.

but i don't understand she has been fine and then randomly started squeaking? her temp is usually at 23-26 at my dads but my mums is a lot colder but i can try to get it up higher. i'm going to check the temp of her basking area now but her light set up is a little complicated right now as her lights are hung up at my dads because there is a slanted wall but i don't have that here so i'm trying to figure out how to do it.

 

[wellington]

If you have to, lay two pieces of wood across the enclosure and set the rim of the heat and light on top.
You have to get her warmed up before it's too late

 

[Kaitltnboyce78]

If you have to, lay two pieces of wood across the enclosure and set the rim of the heat and light on top.
You have to get her warmed up before it's too late

before it's too late? her heat lamp is hot enough and she feels warm to the touch im checking the temp of the rest of her enclosure right now but keep in mind its cold in scotland at night i'll reply when i know

 

[wellington]

before it's too late? her heat lamp is hot enough and she feels warm to the touch im checking the temp of the rest of her enclosure right now but keep in mind its cold in scotland at night i'll reply when i know

It's cold in a lot of our areas day and night in winter. That's why the temps for our tortoises have to be warm enough for them and stable.
Yes, too late as in if you can get the temps all over the enclosure where they are supposed to be, what Tom said, you can ward off a possible RI. Which you don't really want to deal with if at all possible.
Something that might help in the future, if you have to take her back and forth from your dad's to your mom's, is to get two of all the heat and lights and leave one set at each place. This way you can get the temps at each place set up where they are suppose to be, and then you just have to move the enclosure in place. Or set up an enclosure at each place. Unless of course you already do that, then I would suggest turning all heat and lights on two days before you transfer the tort. This way you can do any adjusting before the tort arrives
Keep us posted

 

[Kaitltnboyce78]

It's cold in a lot of our areas day and night in winter. That's why the temps for our tortoises have to be warm enough for them and stable.
Yes, too late as in if you can get the temps all over the enclosure where they are supposed to be, what Tom said, you can ward off a possible RI. Which you don't really want to deal with if at all possible.
Something that might help in the future, if you have to take her back and forth from your dad's to your mom's, is to get two of all the heat and lights and leave one set at each place. This way you can get the temps at each place set up where they are suppose to be, and then you just have to move the enclosure in place. Or set up an enclosure at each place. Unless of course you already do that, then I would suggest turning all heat and lights on two days before you transfer the tort. This way you can do any adjusting before the tort arrives
Keep us posted

okay i understand, she does not get moved around a lot she's moved to my mums because my dad is going on holiday. so she only moves around once a year if that. I just checked the temp of her enclosure away from the heat lamp and its 24C so it will be a few degrees up in the day time, so the temps are right. also i only have one set of lights for her so i wouldn't be able to do that but the reason i am unprepared is because she had this sort of wooden arch that attaches to the enclosure so i was just going to put the light on that but my dad didnt bring it.

 

[Kaitltnboyce78]

but i don't understand she has been fine and then randomly started squeaking? her temp is usually at 23-26 at my dads but my mums is a lot colder but i can try to get it up higher. i'm going to check the temp of her basking area now but her light set up is a little complicated right now as her lights are hung up at my dads because there is a slanted wall but i don't have that here so i'm trying to figure out how to do it.

okay i have just checked the temps and i underestimated how warm it actually is so i think the 23-26 is doable and her basking area is around 33, i can try and put it down a bit tomorrow

 

[wellington]

I would try to get it closer to 26C all over day and night if possible and the basking area to 36C.
The warmer temps will help to ward off any possible RI, specially seeing you caught it early if that's what is coming on.
If the squeaking doesn't stop with the warmer temps, then she may just have some dirt stuck in her nostrils or throat. Try to look into her nostrils.

 

[Kaitltnboyce78]

I would try to get it closer to 26C all over day and night if possible and the basking area to 36C.
The warmer temps will help to ward off any possible RI, specially seeing you caught it early if that's what is coming on.
If the squeaking doesn't stop with the warmer temps, then she may just have some dirt stuck in her nostrils or throat. Try to look into her nostrils.

okay thank you!, but as i said it's night right now so the temps will go up in the day and it will get up to 26C. tomorrow i will try and put the heat lamp down a bit. i will look into her nostrils in the morning.

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

If there is some dirt in the nostrils soaking might help your tortoise to pass the dirt out on their own.

 

[Kaitltnboyce78]

If there is some dirt in the nostrils soaking might help your tortoise to pass the dirt out on their own.

i gave her a bath yesterday and it didn't help but i'll try again today

 

[Tom]

i gave her a bath yesterday and it didn't help but i'll try again today

Keep the water warm for the entire soak. Keep adding warm water and dumping cooler water, or have two containers and switch to the warmer one when the first one cools, and keep doing that every few minutes. Also try to do the soak somewhere warm like in the enclosure.

 

[Kaitltnboyce78]

Keep the water warm for the entire soak. Keep adding warm water and dumping cooler water, or have two containers and switch to the warmer one when the first one cools, and keep doing that every few minutes. Also try to do the soak somewhere warm like in the enclosure.

okay i'll try that! also she hasn't been squeaking as much today only a few times.

 

[Kaitltnboyce78]

Keep the water warm for the entire soak. Keep adding warm water and dumping cooler water, or have two containers and switch to the warmer one when the first one cools, and keep doing that every few minutes. Also try to do the soak somewhere warm like in the enclosure.

It's cold in a lot of our areas day and night in winter. That's why the temps for our tortoises have to be warm enough for them and stable.
Yes, too late as in if you can get the temps all over the enclosure where they are supposed to be, what Tom said, you can ward off a possible RI. Which you don't really want to deal with if at all possible.
Something that might help in the future, if you have to take her back and forth from your dad's to your mom's, is to get two of all the heat and lights and leave one set at each place. This way you can get the temps at each place set up where they are suppose to be, and then you just have to move the enclosure in place. Or set up an enclosure at each place. Unless of course you already do that, then I would suggest turning all heat and lights on two days before you transfer the tort. This way you can do any adjusting before the tort arrives
Keep us posted

so i've adjusted her temps to the proper ones and i thought she was getting better but my mum says she saw her nose running a lot and now she's squeaking a lot and earlier when she was finished eating her food she made this sort of croak noise. the runny nose is a sign of a RI isn't it?? should i make her a vet appointment?

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

so i've adjusted her temps to the proper ones and i thought she was getting better but my mum says she saw her nose running a lot and now she's squeaking a lot and earlier when she was finished eating her food she made this sort of croak noise. the runny nose is a sign of a RI isn't it?? should i make her a vet appointment?

When making a vet appoitment make sure the vet actually has some experience in tortoise care, not all reptile vets have. Try to look at what vets other people on this forum recommend in your area. Don't accept a vitamin injection as treatment.

I can't recommend a vet, but hopefully someone from Scotland/near you can chime in. Here is a older lists on tortoise vets in Scotland:

UK Vets by Area

UK Vets by Area

www.thetortoisetable.org.uk

 

[Kaitltnboyce78]

When making a vet appoitment make sure the vet actually has some experience in tortoise care, not all reptile vets have. Try to look at what vets other people on this forum recommend in your area. Don't accept a vitamin injection as treatment.

I can't recommend a vet, but hopefully someone from Scotland/near you can chime in. Here is a older lists on tortoise vets in Scotland:

UK Vets by Area

UK Vets by Area

www.thetortoisetable.org.uk

thank you for the link! but literally just after i posted that reply i had to make a emergency vet appointment because she had bubble coming out of her mouth, her nose was running, her eyes were watering and she was extremely squeaky. they said in past appointments that they have had experience with tortoises and every time i've had a problem with my tortoises they have helped, so i trust them with the care of my tortoises. i think they said they gave her baytril and gave me medicine to take home to give to her, before she had a similar thing to a respiratory infection and they gave her that medicine and it helped her. she's already acting better i haven't heard her squeak since we came back from the vet. she's sitting under her heat lamp now sleeping.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

thank you for the link! but literally just after i posted that reply i had to make a emergency vet appointment because she had bubble coming out of her mouth, her nose was running, her eyes were watering and she was extremely squeaky. they said in past appointments that they have had experience with tortoises and every time i've had a problem with my tortoises they have helped, so i trust them with the care of my tortoises. i think they said they gave her baytril and gave me medicine to take home to give to her, before she had a similar thing to a respiratory infection and they gave her that medicine and it helped her. she's already acting better i haven't heard her squeak since we came back from the vet. she's sitting under her heat lamp now sleeping.

I'm glad she is better now. What medicine did the vet give to use at home?

Keep temperatures high enough to help her recover. For a couple of weeks after finishing medications course.

 

[Kaitltnboyce78]

I'm glad she is better now. What medicine did the vet give to use at home?

Keep temperatures high enough to help her recover. For a couple of weeks after finishing medications course.

they gave me baytril to put on her food once a day for 5 days i think it was