Sulcata Tortoise Illness

[Gavin_Herbelin]

My sulcata tortoise is 8 years old and I've had him since he was a hatchling. He always had this nasal discharge and I only had educated myself untill recently since he was bought for me. His nasal discharge ceases when he is warm and in sun, the nasal discharge is sometimes a little white foggy, but sometimes it is crystal clear. I am wondering the conditon, and solution before I add more tortoises to the family. He is generally healthy and active. We had another tortoise and he never got the same conditions even though they were kept together, so I don't think it is contagious.


With this being said, would Ivermectin, Hydroxychloroquine, or Colloidal Silver help this treatment. Any herbs? Nasal Flushes?
We are all natural, and into eastern medicine, as we have had negative experiences with western medicine.

All information is greatly appreciated. 🙏

​

 

[Tom]

My sulcata tortoise is 8 years old and I've had him since he was a hatchling. He always had this nasal discharge and I only had educated myself untill recently since he was bought for me. His nasal discharge ceases when he is warm and in sun, the nasal discharge is sometimes a little white foggy, but sometimes it is crystal clear. I am wondering the conditon, and solution before I add more tortoises to the family. He is generally healthy and active. We had another tortoise and he never got the same conditions even though they were kept together, so I don't think it is contagious.


With this being said, would Ivermectin, Hydroxychloroquine, or Colloidal Silver help this treatment. Any herbs? Nasal Flushes?
We are all natural, and into eastern medicine, as we have had negative experiences with western medicine.

All information is greatly appreciated. 🙏

​

Hello and welcome.

Let me start with this bit so that it doesn't get missed: IVERMECTIN IS TOXIC TO TORTOISES. Sorry for shouting, but I want to make sure that part is VERY clear. Those other things are not typically used on a tortoise, so I don't have an answer about those. Might be fine, or they might kill him.

In most cases, issues like this are a result of incorrect husbandry, so let's start with that. How is he housed? What sort of night shelter? What sort of heat is offered? What is the temperature in the sleeping quarters over night?

What happened to the other tortoise? What species was the other tortoise?

 

[Gavin_Herbelin]

Hello and welcome.

Let me start with this bit so that it doesn't get missed: IVERMECTIN IS TOXIC TO TORTOISES. Sorry for shouting, but I want to make sure that part is VERY clear. Those other things are not typically used on a tortoise, so I don't have an answer about those. Might be fine, or they might kill him.

In most cases, issues like this are a result of incorrect husbandry, so let's start with that. How is he housed? What sort of night shelter? What sort of heat is offered? What is the temperature in the sleeping quarters over night?

What happened to the other tortoise? What species was the other tortoise?

He has a heated area at night with lamps etc. The other tortoise is the same species tortoise and he escaped years ago. And I looked up that Ivermectin is toxic, but I was just confirming by including it in my post. Correction it is 'nano' colloidial silver and I really don't think it will harm him in any other way.
The discharge goes away when he is warm, so is it myco? I don't think antibiotics or any artificial crap will help him at all, it really isn't severe. What would you recommend?

It's going to be 100 degrees for us today, so I really don't think it's because of that. Sometimes if it is around 70 degrees at night I'll let him sleep outside.

Thanks brother. 🙏

 

[Yvonne G]

Not all drippy nose is R.I. Quite often it is stress. I don't know your circumstances, but when you say, "The discharge goes away when he is warm. . ." it leads me to believe he's sometimes not warm. That could be a stressor. He should always be warm. The temperature can lower a bit at night, but he should still be warm, not cold.

 

[Gavin_Herbelin]

Not all drippy nose is R.I. Quite often it is stress. I don't know your circumstances, but when you say, "The discharge goes away when he is warm. . ." it leads me to believe he's sometimes not warm. That could be a stressor. He should always be warm. The temperature can lower a bit at night, but he should still be warm, not cold.

Thank you man, I will definitely keep him as stress-free & happy as I possibly can. I always make sure he is warm if not at least room-temp to the touch. I will update you if his discharge lessens.

 

[Tom]

He has a heated area at night with lamps etc. The other tortoise is the same species tortoise and he escaped years ago. And I looked up that Ivermectin is toxic, but I was just confirming by including it in my post. Correction it is 'nano' colloidial silver and I really don't think it will harm him in any other way.
The discharge goes away when he is warm, so is it myco? I don't think antibiotics or any artificial crap will help him at all, it really isn't severe. What would you recommend?

It's going to be 100 degrees for us today, so I really don't think it's because of that. Sometimes if it is around 70 degrees at night I'll let him sleep outside.

Thanks brother. 🙏

Heat lamps are not safe or effective for larger tortoises. They need insulated shelters that are heated with safe and effective equipment. Once a tortoise gets more than 10-12 inches long, heat lamps tend to burn the top of the carapace while not being able to heat the tortoise's core. Because they don't feel warm enough at their core, they sit under the heat lamp too long and it does damage.

I looked up your weather and it is saying the daytime highs are in the high 70s or 80s, and nights dropping into the 50s. Typically when we see runny noses with sulcatas its because someone is using a dogloo with a heat lamp, or something similar, and the tortoise is simply getting too cold at night and breathing cold air.

Here are two examples of night boxes with safe and effective heating strategies. Night temperatures should not drop below 80 in the coolest corner of the box away from the heat sources. Because you are already dealing with a chronic runny nose, I would keep it set to 85 or 86 for a while. The tortoise needs a closable box so that it is breathing warm air all night.

Single Tortoise Night Box

I like my larger tortoises to live outside full time. My climate permits this year round with a little help. For people who live where it snows all winter, this type of box is still good for warmer weather, getting them out earlier in Spring, and keeping them out a bit later into fall. You'll...

tortoiseforum.org

Double Door Night Box

As the years have gone by and I build more of these boxes, I learn more and more each time. This one is the latest and I incorporated everything I've learned over the years. I also tried to take lots of pics so I can explain in more detail some of what is going on. It will take multiple posts to...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[Tom]

Thank you man, I will definitely keep him as stress-free & happy as I possibly can. I always make sure he is warm if not at least room-temp to the touch. I will update you if his discharge lessens.

Room temp is MUCH too cool. You need to get in there with a digital thermometer and see what you are dealing with.

 

[Gavin_Herbelin]

Room temp is MUCH too cool. You need to get in there with a digital thermometer and see what you are dealing with.

He rarely is room temp, and sometimes he actually prefers that micro-climate over the warm basking sun sometimes. I never knew that about heat lamps, and will keep that duly noted. We live on a mountain NEARBY gbville, and thats just the closest town. we are on a warm microclimate, we have a thermometer and the day highs IN THE SHADE are around mid 90s sometimes. The temp is mostly never the exact same as gbville. Thanks for all the advice, and the imagery on the tortoise houses. I'm going to be making a big new tortoise house next summer so I can house more comfortably. Are air heaters and heat pads okay? Thanks for all. What experience with tortoises have you guys had? You both sound very knowledgable!

 

[zovick]

He rarely is room temp, and sometimes he actually prefers that micro-climate over the warm basking sun sometimes. I never knew that about heat lamps, and will keep that duly noted. We live on a mountain NEARBY gbville, and thats just the closest town. we are on a warm microclimate, we have a thermometer and the day highs IN THE SHADE are around mid 90s sometimes. The temp is mostly never the exact same as gbville. Thanks for all the advice, and the imagery on the tortoise houses. I'm going to be making a big new tortoise house next summer so I can house more comfortably. Are air heaters and heat pads okay? Thanks for all. What experience with tortoises have you guys had? You both sound very knowledgable!

The tortoise may have a Mycoplasma infection which flares up every so often, making its nose run. If Mycoplasma is the culprit, it is incurable, and will come and go as long as the tortoise lives.

 

[Yvonne G]

He rarely is room temp, and sometimes he actually prefers that micro-climate over the warm basking sun sometimes. I never knew that about heat lamps, and will keep that duly noted. We live on a mountain NEARBY gbville, and thats just the closest town. we are on a warm microclimate, we have a thermometer and the day highs IN THE SHADE are around mid 90s sometimes. The temp is mostly never the exact same as gbville. Thanks for all the advice, and the imagery on the tortoise houses. I'm going to be making a big new tortoise house next summer so I can house more comfortably. Are air heaters and heat pads okay? Thanks for all. What experience with tortoises have you guys had? You both sound very knowledgable!

Look at it this way - YOUR body temperature is 98.6F. Do you think THAT is too hot? Your tortoise needs to get HIS inner core, like you, up past 85F in order to digest his food. And since tortoises are very slow, it take a while for the food he eats right now to go through the digestive process. That means he needs to be AT LEAST 85F for quite a while during digestion. His ambient temperature should always be 80-85 degrees, and there should be a light (imitation sun) for him to sit under to warm up even more than 80-85F

Get the temperature sorted and I think his nose will clear up.

 

[Gavin_Herbelin]

The tortoise may have a Mycoplasma infection which flares up every so often, making its nose run. If Mycoplasma is the culprit, it is incurable, and will come and go as long as the tortoise lives.

Thanks for the response man. If myco is the case (which i doubt), all our body cells can recreate itself every 8 years or so then I doubt any condition in any organism is permanently uncurable. The human body, or any body for that fact, is really amazing. Anything could be possible with math & proper science as myco has no cell wall.

Thanks for caring for my family member bro. 💪❤️

 

[Gavin_Herbelin]

Look at it this way - YOUR body temperature is 98.6F. Do you think THAT is too hot? Your tortoise needs to get HIS inner core, like you, up past 85F in order to digest his food. And since tortoises are very slow, it take a while for the food he eats right now to go through the digestive process. That means he needs to be AT LEAST 85F for quite a while during digestion. His ambient temperature should always be 80-85 degrees, and there should be a light (imitation sun) for him to sit under to warm up even more than 80-85F

Get the temperature sorted and I think his nose will clear up.

I try to keep him very warm at all times. I get that he is cold blooded. What do you mean 'imatation sunlight'? I though you said that lamps were bad?

All thanks.

 

[Yvonne G]

I try to keep him very warm at all times. I get that he is cold blooded. What do you mean 'imatation sunlight'? I though you said that lamps were bad?

All thanks.

Tortoises need a period of sunshine, whether it be real sun or a good UVB light (imitation sun).

The RIGHT KIND of lamps placed the correct distance from the top of the shell are not bad, but essential.

 

[Gavin_Herbelin]

Tortoises need a period of sunshine, whether it be real sun or a good UVB light (imitation sun).

The RIGHT KIND of lamps placed the correct distance from the top of the shell are not bad, but essential.

Is a red UVB at an appropriate distance alright?