Tortoise opening and closing mouth

[Tyler n]

I have a Herman tortoise. He just started opening and closing his mouth. Making a chomping noise. He still eats. And dosnt make noise when breathing unless I pick him up. Wandering if I should be worried about RI?

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

Are there any bubbles from the nose? Are the eyes watery? Does he gasp like this when resting?

What are your temperatures?
What about humidity?
What is his substrate?

 

[Tyler n]

Are there any bubbles from the nose? Are the eyes watery? Does he gasp like this when resting?

What are your temperatures?
What about humidity?
What is his substrate?

There are no bubbles at the nose. No watery eyes. Have not seen him do it when he is resting. I try and keep it at 85 degrees in the day and about 80 at night. Humidity is at 50 most the time. I’m not completely sure what substrate I use at the moment. Id have to look when I’m home

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

Okay, some substrates could irritate their respitory systems. I meant does he to this when he is just standing or laying down? Is it like one yawn or gasping for air?

Rising the overall temperatures to 85 at night too using a CHE on a thermostat often help combat respiratory symptoms.

How old is your tortoise? How is his appetite? What about activity?

 

[Tyler n]

I’ve seen him yawn. It dosnt look like a yawn but no sure. He did it was he was sitting in basking light. I believe he is about 1-2 years old. He eat lettuce hay and a salad topper. I also have an outdoor enclosure for him to get natural sunlight.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Hello and welcome! 50 humidity is too low for one as young as yours, they do need to be in a closed chamber to maintain humidity around 80 24/7, as mentioned above, certain substrates can be an irritant, the safe options are coco coir, orchid fir bark and forest floor/cypress mulch.

Hopefully you’ll find this thread below useful to go over, I cover correct types of equipment, correct levels, appropriately maintaining humidity, there’s lots of visual examples for everything and a good link for the diet side of things, give it and read and let us know if you have any questions

Housing young Russian/Herman

Hello there! In this thread, I’m going to include some information on an effective way to tackle a starter set up/a way you can build a bigger size once your baby is an adult. I know it looks a lot to go over, I like to make sure all bases are covered, I’m happy to break down any information...

tortoiseforum.org

This one is also handy to avoid the wrong bulb types(very easily done), materials etc

Common keeping errors

Hello everyone! I’d been a long time lurker on this site long before joining just under a year ago now, over that time I’ve seen these husbandry issues come up time and time again, sometimes with dire consequences☹️ I thought this thread might serve as a good visual guide for these common...

tortoiseforum.org

Hope they help!