Vet bills for RI
- Thread starter Mea
- Start date
Best to solve the problem without the medicine. They get sick for a reason. Correct the reason, and they will often heal themselves. RIs are typically caused by cold conditions. Warm up the tortoise and enclosure to summer-like temperatures and leave it that way until two weeks after symptoms disappear.Hi everyone , does anyone know roughly how much antibiotics are for a horsefield tortoise before I take her back to the vet please, just so I know a rough idea how much I’ll need
Basking area 36-37C.
Over all ambient during the day 27-30C.
Keep it up around 26-27C at night.
If you don't correct the CAUSE of the sickness, treating the symptoms is futile.
How far gone is your tortoise? Is it sniffles, yawning, and clear discharge? Or has it progressed to lethargy, colored mucus discharge, and gaping?
Hiya! So I went to the vet 2 weeks ago and did everything she said, correct temps 24 hours a day, correct humidity , she’s squeeking sometimes, bubbles from nose , yawning quite a lot and she usually eats Amazing but today all she’s done is sleep and not barely eaten!! So I did get worried
Vets don't know tortoise care. Are you doing the temperature I said, or the temperatures the vet said? "Correct" doesn't tell us what we need to know to help you. What are your four temperatures? Warm side, cool side, basking area, and overnight low? What were the temps before the vet visit? What heating and lighting elements are you using? What type of UV lamp are you using? Not the brand, but the type?
I’m doing the temperatures people in this group have said , basking area 30 degrees to 35 degrees , cool side never lower than 20 sometimes a little higher . Night time also never goes below 20 and for night time I have the Arcadia deep heat projector. Then her normal lamp which has the bonlux bulb which has uva and uvb. Her temperatures before were a lot cooler at night as I’m a new owner I was told that I needed to turn lamp off which I did but then realised it was so cold at night (could be that) then now she’s had her new lamp every night for about 2 weeks . She’s also soaking in reptiboost every day
Your temps are too low for a sick tortoise
Follow the temps Tom gave you!
Follow the temps Tom gave you!
I have tuned it up since he commented, thankyou
No one here says 30C for a basking temp. 35C is close enough, but shoot for 36-37C directly under the basking bulb.
All the temps you just listed are for a normal healthy tortoise. Yours is sick. It needs higher temps to combat the sickness. Look at the temps I listed for you in post number 2. You made the tortoise sick with low temps. Normal temps aren't going to get it well again. It needs more heat than normal to heal itself and kick the sickness. Mercury vapor bulbs are not the way to go. Below is a list of the heating and lighting needed, with the regular temps that will usually prevent the onset of a RI. You need warmer temps than what is listed below for a tortoise already showing symptoms.
Here is a breakdown of the four heating and lighting essentials:
- Basking bulb. I use 65 watt incandescent floods from the hardware store. Some people will need bigger, or smaller wattage bulbs. Let your thermometer be your guide. I run them on a timer for about 12 hours and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. I also like to use a flat rock of some sort directly under the bulb. You need to check the temp with a thermometer directly under the bulb and get it to around 95-100F (36-37C).
- Ambient heat maintenance. I use ceramic heating elements or radiant heat panels set on thermostats to maintain ambient above 80 degrees day and night for tropical species. In most cases you'd only need day heat for a temperate species like Testudo or DT, as long as your house stays above 60F (15-16C) at night. Some people in colder climates or with larger enclosures will need multiple CHEs or RHPs to spread out enough heat.
- Ambient light. I use LEDs for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most bulbs at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish. Strip or screw-in LED bulb types are both fine.
- UV. If you can get your tortoise outside for an hour 2 or 3 times a week, you won't need indoor UV. In colder climates, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. 5.0 bulbs make almost no UV. I like the 12% HO bulbs from Arcadia. You need a meter to check this: https://www.solarmeter.com/model65.html A good UV bulb only needs to run for 2-3 hours mid day. You need the basking bulb and the ambient lighting to be on at least 12 hours a day.
Also, with all the extra heat, be sure to soak the tortoise in warm water every other day or more. Keep the water warm for the entire soak.
Give this a read through at least a couple of times:
Info For New People. Please Read This First.
Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...
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Thankyou so much , I’ll have a good read through this !No one here says 30C for a basking temp. 35C is close enough, but shoot for 36-37C directly under the basking bulb.
All the temps you just listed are for a normal healthy tortoise. Yours is sick. It needs higher temps to combat the sickness. Look at the temps I listed for you in post number 2. You made the tortoise sick with low temps. Normal temps aren't going to get it well again. It needs more heat than normal to heal itself and kick the sickness. Mercury vapor bulbs are not the way to go. Below is a list of the heating and lighting needed, with the regular temps that will usually prevent the onset of a RI. You need warmer temps than what is listed below for a tortoise already showing symptoms.
Here is a breakdown of the four heating and lighting essentials:
You won't be able to do this with a single bulb, and the tortoise still needs it to be dark at night, but still warm. This is easy to achieve with a CHE hooked up to a thermostat.
- Basking bulb. I use 65 watt incandescent floods from the hardware store. Some people will need bigger, or smaller wattage bulbs. Let your thermometer be your guide. I run them on a timer for about 12 hours and adjust the height to get the correct basking temp under them. I also like to use a flat rock of some sort directly under the bulb. You need to check the temp with a thermometer directly under the bulb and get it to around 95-100F (36-37C).
- Ambient heat maintenance. I use ceramic heating elements or radiant heat panels set on thermostats to maintain ambient above 80 degrees day and night for tropical species. In most cases you'd only need day heat for a temperate species like Testudo or DT, as long as your house stays above 60F (15-16C) at night. Some people in colder climates or with larger enclosures will need multiple CHEs or RHPs to spread out enough heat.
- Ambient light. I use LEDs for this purpose. Something in the 5000-6500K color range will look the best. Most bulbs at the store are in the 2500K range and they look yellowish. Strip or screw-in LED bulb types are both fine.
- UV. If you can get your tortoise outside for an hour 2 or 3 times a week, you won't need indoor UV. In colder climates, get one of the newer HO type fluorescent tubes. Which type will depend on mounting height. 5.0 bulbs make almost no UV. I like the 12% HO bulbs from Arcadia. You need a meter to check this: https://www.solarmeter.com/model65.html A good UV bulb only needs to run for 2-3 hours mid day. You need the basking bulb and the ambient lighting to be on at least 12 hours a day.
Also, with all the extra heat, be sure to soak the tortoise in warm water every other day or more. Keep the water warm for the entire soak.
Give this a read through at least a couple of times:
Info For New People. Please Read This First.
Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...
You are welcome. Hoping for a speedy recovery. If the sickness progresses, vet help may be needed, but just know that vets know medicines and proper doses, but they don't know husbandry.
David Steere
Member
Remember everyone here has you and your tortoise in the best of interest.
I had a tremendous learning curve, thought I knew everything, which this forum cured and my first baby tortoise will hopefully have a great life.
Bottom line its all about your tortoise.
Take pictures of your enclosure and tortoise and post them so everyone can look and comment on what you need to do. Amazing the things I thought was right and a picture to the experts broke my bubble for the betterment of my tortoise.
Listen with a open mind, read comments with an open mind and prioritize and execute the best you can. It is really that simple and can be done fairly cheaply in most cases.
The results will be a heathy tortoise and a very happy owner for decades.
I truly hope your tortoise gets better! Good luck!
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I'm sure the issue is universal and not just here in the 'States...
Most vets don't know much about tortoises. They will look at antiquated reference books that are not helpful. Then learn as you pay them. At the animals expense.
I'm not saying that your particular vet is a QUACK. Some are very good with tortoises. But the thing is, few vets with no idea will admit it to you.
The truth is that you're probably better off just following the help that you receive here.
Most vets don't know much about tortoises. They will look at antiquated reference books that are not helpful. Then learn as you pay them. At the animals expense.
I'm not saying that your particular vet is a QUACK. Some are very good with tortoises. But the thing is, few vets with no idea will admit it to you.
The truth is that you're probably better off just following the help that you receive here.
