Sudden death of subadult fem Egyptian tort

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hyacinth

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I have 2 female subadults that I let out in a small outdoor enclosure when the weather is nice. It was about 80deg on Sun, both were doing fine and eating grass, clovers, and dandelion leaves/flowers off the lawn (no fertilizer or pesticides). I brought them both in after a couple of hrs and noticed later that eve that the smaller fem was dead. Not sure what may have caused this--they seemed to have been doing fine. I am their 3rd owner and have had them for about 5 months although the previous owner admitted that the owner before her did not take care of them very well. She was around 4 yrs old and 175g, eating fine, seemingly relatively healthy apart from the bad start as hatchlings. Just wondering if anyone might have an idea what may have caused her demise.
 

Tortoise-Luke

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i dont really know for sure but until someone wiser on the subject shows up i would soak her just in case in warm water sometimes tortoises dehydrate and lower their metabolysm to a barely unnoticeable level...
 

dmmj

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Sorry to hear about your loss, but usually tortoises don't die suddenly, they usually harbor an illness for a long time. The exception to that rule is like animal predation, serious injury an such. Of course I am stumped since the other one is doing fine and the other died, if it was a husbandry problem I would suspect that the both would be doing bad, Do they eat well?
 

dmmj

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A toxic weed is another possibility
 

Kristina

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I am very sorry for your loss. Without a necropsy done by a veterinarian, it is hard to say for sure what could have caused her death.

I agree toxic weeds are possible, but not as likely as a lot of people assume. Tortoises do have good instincts, they have been around longer than us. Toxic weeds grow in their natural range in the wild too, and I generally give them the benefit of the doubt when it comes to knowing what is bad for them.
 

Laura

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check for mushrooms too.
also check her all over for a possible spider bite. Fire Ants?
Do you have a Vet that can do a Necropsy on her?
I'd be a bit concerned since she was eating and appeared fine a few hours prior.
Do you have Oleander plants near the yard?
 

hyacinth

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I'm pretty stumped too--unlikely that it was a toxic weed since they both have been out in the same area grazing but you never know. I had my wife place it in a bag in the freezer. About how much would a vet charge for a necropsy? thks for all the input.
 

Kristina

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Since it has been in the freezer, you cannot have a necropsy done. Freezing and thawing destroys the tissues.
 

Az tortoise compound

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I am so sorry to hear about this. Very hard to deal with, especially when you do not know what caused it.

kyryah said:
Since it has been in the freezer, you cannot have a necropsy done. Freezing and thawing destroys the tissues.

Kyryah is correct for the most part. The vet should still be able to tell if it choked or died from impaction, but not much else.
 
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