Sully Overheated?

hnnhflns

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I left my little footer in the sun while I talled to a friend for a few minutes. When I came back ~20 minutes later he had some foam around his mouth and neck. I got him soaking in a cool water bath immediately and washed the foam from his eyes with reptile eye drops. He didnt move much during his soak but he is out now and has moved a little. He isnt eating his lettuce that I offered but he did try to eat my pants. He is sleeping now. It's been less than an hour since I left him in the sun.

Is there anything else I can do for him? I am going to keep soaking him throughout the day and keep an eye on him. Thanks for your help!
 

Tom

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I don't want to sound overly harsh, but you NEED to realize you nearly killed him. People reading this need to realize it too, and learn from your mistake.

Tortoises benefit tremendously from access to real sunshine and grazing outdoors, but they must ALWAYS have access to shade, and WE, their keepers, must monitor temperatures very carefully. Every outdoor enclosure should have a remote temperature probe and infrared temps guns should be used to closely monitor surface and carapace temps. Failure to do so often results in a dead tortoise.

Please be careful out there, and share your story with others so they don't have to learn the hard way too. Thank you for sharing this, and I hope some other reader is more cautious about sunning in the summer sun after reading about your experience here.


To answer your question, no, there is not much else you can do. Daily soaks to help rehydrate, and maybe leave him indoors for a few days to recuperate and calm down a bit.
 

hnnhflns

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I know and he had access to shade, he just didnt utilize it like he usually would. His carapace wasn't any warmer than it would usually be after his morning sun.

I do care for him very much and normally when he suns I sit with him the entire time. I feel absolutely terrible that I didn't have eyes on him the whole time.

He is relaxing now. I will soak him again in about an hour. I will keep you posted on any changes.
 

Tom

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I know and he had access to shade, he just didnt utilize it like he usually would. His carapace wasn't any warmer than it would usually be after his morning sun.

I do care for him very much and normally when he suns I sit with him the entire time. I feel absolutely terrible that I didn't have eyes on him the whole time.

He is relaxing now. I will soak him again in about an hour. I will keep you posted on any changes.


Its not a matter of sitting with him. Its a matter of checking the temps with proper thermometers. Feel is so subjective for humans, we need devices to keep our tortoises safe. Let me give an example. My reptile room is kept quite humid. You can walk out of my 85 degree humid room into 105 degree outdoor temps and it "feels" much cooler outside due to the hot wind and built up perspiration.

Per chance, do you use a coil type bulb indoors for UV?
 

hnnhflns

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No. We use the T5 style fluorescent bulb for his enclosure. We are hesitant to use the coil style because of the fire hazard.
 

Yellow Turtle01

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Coil bulbs are never good, not just as a fire hazard. There are all kind of tortoise horror stories about coils. I'm glad he's up and about now :) Does he burrow? You could start one for him so he go down there and cool off, but a house in the pen is a must too.
 

ascott

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Yes, a tort can easily overheat....luckily you found that and I am certain you will never make that error again ;) If the space outdoors is new to the tort he may have been caught up in the "oh crap, where am I" thing and simply overheated....also, was he on earth ground? I find that the best thing to offer is almost all shade and a spot of sun....uv rays will move about even in the shade....my dear old passed on Uncle received third degree blister sunburn through pants sitting in the shade at Lake Mead.....he was such a white guy....lol....so more shade is better, especially for a baby.....also, if you are going to let the tort outdoors for a short stint....you can literally make it rain before placing the tort in the space....and then offer rain events to create a puddle or two while the tort is out....this will spark a natural behavior in torts to move towards the water to drink and soak....now, not always, but do keep in mind that when you begin to offer outings...be very vigilante in your observation of his behavior...this way you know what tweaking is needed....soaking and quite time will help the tort recover...wipe your brown and his too....a horrible event sidestepped here and a great lesson taken in the process.
 

hnnhflns

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Thank you for the great advice. I have many turtles but they have either been outside their entire lives and have copious access to whatever they need in their pond or live indoors because they are more tropical species. I want to get the sulcata outdoors more because he will eventually be moved out there when he is a big boy. For now I will let him rest a few days more and we will start again with short trips outside with water. He is doing much better now: eating like a pig and pooping like crazy. The only thing that has changed has been that there are more urates in his urine the past few days but he is getting regular long soaks several times a day and lots of food and mauzuri (his vet said more wet mauzuri to help rehydrate him).

I am sooo glad that I caught this in time and I will NEVER be making that mistake ever again!
 

ascott

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more urates in his urine the past few days but he is getting regular long soaks several times a day and lots of food and mauzuri (his vet said more wet mauzuri to help rehydrate him)
.

While mazuri is a good source for a multi type vitamin and mineral supplement, in my opinion, it is not the best choice for wet foods...."if it were me" I would offer some wet greens; cucumber, red and green leaf lettuce along with romaine...zucchini, bell peppers...these are all good wet food items that most tortoise hardly can refuse...especially if the tort shows interest in food....NOW KEEP IN MIND, that if you offer these items to your tortoise he may get a little hostile/picky if you remove the items entirely ...so perhaps offer bits for comfort vs for nutritional value....offer just enough to get the hydration in but not so much that the food equates to tortoise crack...then you will have a secondary issue on your hands...lol...as with the rest of life...balance is key....and to me, the increase you see in the urates passing is a fantastic thing...that means if they are coming out the system is being rid of the potential hazard they can create....soak and juicy up your tort...he will only benefit from it...
 
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