Hi, I need some help. My greek tortoise, Aristotle, is not eating very well & he is making a weird sound when I go to pick him up. I'm afraid he may be sick. I've been keeping him inside because it has been so much cooler at night. Any suggestions?
Unhealthy Greek?
- Thread starter t-bone14
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Welcome to the forum!
Can you provide more information? A picture is worth a thousand words. How do you have him set up? Temps? lighting? substrate? How old? How long have you had him. This info will help readers make educated suggestions to help you and your tort.
About this sound he's making...what's it sound like? Wheezing? Croaking? Gurgling?
Can you provide more information? A picture is worth a thousand words. How do you have him set up? Temps? lighting? substrate? How old? How long have you had him. This info will help readers make educated suggestions to help you and your tort.
About this sound he's making...what's it sound like? Wheezing? Croaking? Gurgling?
Sorry. We got him in July from Petsmart but, we don't know how old he is. The sound he's making is almost like he's trying to breath through a stuffy nose. It's about 73 degrees in the tub right now.
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He looks dehydrated and cold. Do you give him baths? If not, start (warm, not hot water, 30 minutes). Most torts that go through pet stores are wild caught and go through very tramatic shipping conditions before they are put in a glass tank resulting in high stress levels. Stress can be deadly. If he's sounding like he's breathing through a stuffed up nose, I bet he has the start of a resp. infection. Because you are a new keeper, I recommend getting him to a reptile vet (an actual reptile vet - see listings on this site for one in your area) and having him looked at.
In the immediate future consider the following:
What is your temp for the warm end? 73F is not high enough for a warm end for a Greek, you need at least 90F. It also doesn't look like he has a hiding place. Can you provide one?
Do you have a uva/uvb source? Vital for health!
It looks like iceberg lettuce in the food bowl, do you feed him other greens? Iceberg lettuce has little to no nutritional value. How about vitamins and calcium?
Sorry if I'm throwing a lot of info at you at once.
In the immediate future consider the following:
What is your temp for the warm end? 73F is not high enough for a warm end for a Greek, you need at least 90F. It also doesn't look like he has a hiding place. Can you provide one?
Do you have a uva/uvb source? Vital for health!
It looks like iceberg lettuce in the food bowl, do you feed him other greens? Iceberg lettuce has little to no nutritional value. How about vitamins and calcium?
Sorry if I'm throwing a lot of info at you at once.
I don't have a hide for him since I brought him inside... I will get one. I do have a UVA light on him. The heat lamp has a new kind of bulb that I just bought today & you are right, it doesn't seem to be giving off enough heat. I give him various greens...romaine, kale, cabbage. I try to mix it up. Occasionally I give him some apple but not often. I do put him in the tub about once a week but only for 10-15 minutes. Does the heat on one end need to be 90 degrees even at night?
Oh and I do give him calcium about once a week since I brought him inside
Oh and I do give him calcium about once a week since I brought him inside
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t-bone14 said:
Yes, you need a hot area at night. Read over this care sheet: http://www.chelonia.org/Articles/tiberagoldengreekcare.htm
It may not be exact depending on what subspecies he is but it will get you started.
You also need not just UVA you need UVB as well. The light will say UVA/UVB. You need to mimic daylight hours in the summer. Leave it on 10 - 12 hours.
Do you have access to a Mazuri dealer (http://www.mazuri.com/tortoise.aspx)? Its a very high quality food designed for grassland torts that I've had really good success with. Remember, in captivity, we are trying to mimic their natural environment. They eat multiple varieties of plants a day and over the different seasons. The more variety, the better. Any Purina authorized dealer should be able to order it for you.
Hope this helps!
hi , t bone and welcome ,
yes you do need a hide if you dont have enough room for one in your encloseure, then get another tote and cut the sides out and put them together you can use duck tape for this. get some hard ware cloth at your local hardware store to cover the top. place your lights on top and cover the opened end to keep that heat in there ! he needs more heat .. (please make sure you dont put anything close to thoses lights that will catch fire)
best food for him is dandelion greens (mixed weeds) turnip greens, mazuri is also good ..
read as much as you can, there is alot of info and good people on here with good advise .
good luck! with your new friend.
yes you do need a hide if you dont have enough room for one in your encloseure, then get another tote and cut the sides out and put them together you can use duck tape for this. get some hard ware cloth at your local hardware store to cover the top. place your lights on top and cover the opened end to keep that heat in there ! he needs more heat .. (please make sure you dont put anything close to thoses lights that will catch fire)
best food for him is dandelion greens (mixed weeds) turnip greens, mazuri is also good ..
read as much as you can, there is alot of info and good people on here with good advise .
good luck! with your new friend.
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