This may be a silly question but could my Tortoise get Covid-19?

Gillian M

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I believe that anyone can catch corona, whether he/she took the vaccine or no, and whether one wears one's mask or not.

By the same token, I do not know if pets/animals can get it. Let's wait and see answers of members.

Wishes for a speedy recovery.
 

ZEROPILOT

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Of course no one knows the answer to that question, we can only guess.
Most likely No, you couldn't give or get Covid from your tort.
I think this is a mammalian virus only. Though I'm no expert on the matter.
 

Cathie G

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I always wash my hands between my animals all of the time and everytime I handle them. I keep their food and water dishes as clean as is possible with animals. That's about all you can do. When Joe and I had COVID my doctor gave me a care sheet that said to put our cat and bunny in quarantine because we could give it to them. Exactly how were we supposed to do that and still take care of them? Just regular hand washing and cleanliness is about all you can do.?
 

Maro2Bear

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What You Need to Know
  • Based on the available information to date, the risk of animals spreading SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, to people is considered to be low.
  • We are still learning about this virus, but we know that it can spread from people to animals in some situations, especially during close contact.
  • More studies are needed to understand if and how different animals could be affected by COVID-19.
  • People with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 should avoid contact with animals, including pets, livestock, and wildlife.
Source - https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/animals.html

Another Source - https://www.cdc.gov/healthypets/covid-19/index.html
 

Lyn W

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I know there was a tiger in a zoo that caught it last year
Hopefully torts will be Ok but it wouldn't hurt to be cautious and follow the advice Mark linked above.
I hope you're feeling better soon.
 

mark1

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Cathie G

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I think it just pays to try to stay clean with your animals in the first place. As clean as you can, not in the way to be absolutely sterile because you can't. That's impossible. That's impossible between humans too. It seems like the world has forgotten about all the other diseases we've been fighting before this disease joined the forces trying to do us all in. I hope you don't have a bad case of it. Hopes and prayers ? to you. I had it in January and can't see anything different about my little Russian. I also took care of my bunny and my brothers cat and they are fine. So are my birds.??
 

jcase

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I think this is a mammalian virus only. Though I'm no expert on the matter.
I wouldn't bet money on that.

While SARS-COV2 has not been seen in reptiles, we have seen other corona-viruses in non mammals like birds. I doubt the jump from mammal to bird is impossible here, so I believe the jump to reptiles is possible.
 

zovick

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I wouldn't bet money on that.

While SARS-COV2 has not been seen in reptiles, we have seen other corona-viruses in non mammals like birds. I doubt the jump from mammal to bird is impossible here, so I believe the jump to reptiles is possible.
Just an observation here. Most infectious viruses have very specific temperature ranges at which they can thrive and replicate, etc. Just a few degrees from that optimum temperature can make them fail to thrive. This is one reason we get fevers when sick. It is our body attempting to raise its temperature to one above that at which the infection can thrive.

That being said, since birds and mammals have similar high body temps, it is possible that the same virus could affect both mammals and birds. With the body temp of reptiles being so much lower than ours, it seems less likely that the same virus could affect both mammals and reptiles.

Not impossible, I suppose, but it seems rather improbable from what I learned in school.
 

jcase

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Just an observation here. Most infectious viruses have very specific temperature ranges at which they can thrive and replicate, etc. Just a few degrees from that optimum temperature can make them fail to thrive. This is one reason we get fevers when sick. It is our body attempting to raise its temperature to one above that at which the infection can thrive.

That being said, since birds and mammals have similar high body temps, it is possible that the same virus could affect both mammals and birds. With the body temp of reptiles being so much lower than ours, it seems less likely that the same virus could affect both mammals and reptiles.

Not impossible, I suppose, but it seems rather improbable from what I learned in school.
It's also been seen in frogs and fish, so I still wouldn't bet money on coronaviruses not being able to infect reptiles. I do agree it's an unlikely jump for COVID-19.

https://www.mdpi.com › pdfPDF
Aquatic Biota Is Not Exempt from Coronavirus Infections: An Overview
 

zovick

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It's also been seen in frogs and fish, so I still wouldn't bet money on coronaviruses not being able to infect reptiles. I do agree it's an unlikely jump for COVID-19.

https://www.mdpi.com › pdfPDF
Aquatic Biota Is Not Exempt from Coronavirus Infections: An Overview
Agreed.

I was saying what I would expect of COVID-19 based on my training. Additionally, just because one corona virus may be found in reptiles and amphibians, does not necessarily mean all of the corona viruses would affect reptiles.

A lot of info has been discovered SINCE I was in school (50+ years ago), so I do not have all the current data, especially on the new corona viruses.

If it were me, however, I would NOT worry about my tortoise getting COVID-19 as I believe it to be a more specialized mammal (and possibly bird) pathogen until I see scientific proof that that is not the case.
 

jcase

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Agreed.

I was saying what I would expect of COVID-19 based on my training. Additionally, just because one corona virus may be found in reptiles and amphibians, does not necessarily mean all of the corona viruses would affect reptiles.

A lot of info has been discovered SINCE I was in school (50+ years ago), so I do not have all the current data, especially on the new corona viruses.

If it were me, however, I would NOT worry about my tortoise getting COVID-19.
Yes, sorry for the confusion. I was careful to say coronavirus and not to say sars-cov-2. I couldn't find anything about sars-cov-2 in reptiles, but everything is so flooded with sars-cov-2 research that its impossible for me to go through it in a timely fashion.

Your schooling 50 years ago is still way more current and useful than my medical training (hint I have none). I just read a lot of white papers, only armchair knowledge.

I did dig a lot into coronaviruses with sars was a thing, because my friend was spending a lot of time in those markets during all of that.

I have no worries about covid 19 and my animals, far more worried about tortoise viruses, like what wiped out most of my neighbor's collect last year. After seeing all the cleaned remains he has, I started making everyone wash before (always required after) touching any of mine.
 

Farcryjj

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I know that COVID can easily spread to and affect animals in the cat family, and not as common in the dog family. I don't think it impacts animals below mammals in the animal tree.
 
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