Tortoise making a quacking sound?

Zoeee2426

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Apr 11, 2020
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Hi all!
I have had my Mediterranean spur-thighed tortoise since early march this year and she took a while to settle in and eat properly but after about 3 months we got there and she was happy and healthy and eating well. However, since late August, I have noticed she has started making this strange quacking sound and I have been doing some research and all I could find was other keepers having their tortoises 'squeak' and they mentioned this was a symptom for a respiratory infection. I then decided to do some research into that and she has shown no other symptoms for this (no runny nose, gunk around the eyes, or labored breathing), but I thought better safe than sorry and went ahead and treated her for this in any way. I upped her temperatures and bathed her daily for a month but I didn't see any improvement in the quacking noise. I have now recently gotten rather concerned as I cannot find any information on this and the noises are becoming more and more frequent (especially when getting fed). I am now wondering if it is a behavioral thing or something that is worth getting looked at by a professional. I have 3 other tortoises kept in the same environment and on the same feeding routine as her and this has never been a problem with them. Just wanted an outside opinion on what steps I should take next. She is 17 months old.

Thanks for reading and hopefully you can help! (Sorry it's long!)
 

tacotort654218

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Sep 30, 2020
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Hi Zoeee2426,
Im not an expert, but what I noticed from my 11 Leopard tortoise group is that 3 of them made the same exact noise that you mentioned, 2 out of the 3 Leopard tortoise would develop RI eventually, one of them even require tube feeding, but the other one never develop any RI symptoms. My humble advice is to pay attention to your torts, and be ready & call your Vet first, so if your tort eventually got RI you are ready for it. (in my case, I stock Oxbow critical care and some syringes to tube feed when the tort stopped eating)

My leopards are housed in a closed chamber with 34 deg C on basking side and 30deg C on the cooler side and 80-100% humidity.
 

Yossarian

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Torts do make this noise naturally, Ive seen males make it in rythym with their thrusts while mating for example. I have also seen my greek boy do it for no apparent reason. Both in my case are rare, he doesnt make noise normally. How often does yours do this?
 

Zoeee2426

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Apr 11, 2020
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Cornwall, United Kingdom
Hi Zoeee2426,
Im not an expert, but what I noticed from my 11 Leopard tortoise group is that 3 of them made the same exact noise that you mentioned, 2 out of the 3 Leopard tortoise would develop RI eventually, one of them even require tube feeding, but the other one never develop any RI symptoms. My humble advice is to pay attention to your torts, and be ready & call your Vet first, so if your tort eventually got RI you are ready for it. (in my case, I stock Oxbow critical care and some syringes to tube feed when the tort stopped eating)

My leopards are housed in a closed chamber with 34 deg C on basking side and 30deg C on the cooler side and 80-100% humidity.

Hi! Thank you for the advice, I will continue to monitor her health closely to see if anything changes and I have a general checkup appointment coming up soon anyway so will be sure to mention all of this to her vet just to get another opinion and see if we need to take action. Thanks again
 

Zoeee2426

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Apr 11, 2020
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Cornwall, United Kingdom
Torts do make this noise naturally, Ive seen males make it in rythym with their thrusts while mating for example. I have also seen my greek boy do it for no apparent reason. Both in my case are rare, he doesnt make noise normally. How often does yours do this?

Hi! Yes i have read some things about this as mating behaviour however i did see it isn’t common in females. She will usually make this noise when she is about engage in activity such as eating or before going on a walk, when she does it she will normally make the noise 10-20 times in one go and then won’t make it again for a while. Thanks for the help
 

Zoeee2426

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Apr 11, 2020
Messages
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Cornwall, United Kingdom
Hi Zoeee2426,
Im not an expert, but what I noticed from my 11 Leopard tortoise group is that 3 of them made the same exact noise that you mentioned, 2 out of the 3 Leopard tortoise would develop RI eventually, one of them even require tube feeding, but the other one never develop any RI symptoms. My humble advice is to pay attention to your torts, and be ready & call your Vet first, so if your tort eventually got RI you are ready for it. (in my case, I stock Oxbow critical care and some syringes to tube feed when the tort stopped eating)

My leopards are housed in a closed chamber with 34 deg C on basking side and 30deg C on the cooler side and 80-100% humidity.

Also it is very reassuring knowing that other keepers have heard this noise too, at least now I can rule out the absolute worst and focus on finding the cause of this.
 

Toddrickfl1

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I dunno if other species do it but my redfoot clucks like a chicken when he's....I guess you could say "In the mood". ?
 
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