Young Sulcata has URI, should I bring her to the vet?

[ashleymiller28]

Hello, about a month ago I took my sulcata to the vet and she prescribed her ciprofloxacin to be taken orally every other day over the course of two weeks. As my tortoise finished up her medicine, she began to go back to normal (being very active, eating and going to the bathroom regularly), however, about a week ago she started showing the same symptoms of sleeping often, her appetite has decreased, occasional clicking when eating, and I sometimes see bubbles come out of her nose. Some days she will be walking around all day, and other days she will stay sleeping for the majority of the day. She also tends to eat most directly after removing her from her daily soaks.

My question is, do I return to the vet to receive another dose of ciprofloxacin??

For housing conditions, she is on coco choir mixed with organic potting soil, basking is mid-90s in one corner and a CHE light ranging from 80-85 degrees in the other corner. Humidity fluctuates between 70-80% throughout the day. She has access to water at all times, a humid hide, and a feeding area that is away from both heating sources. At night I turn off both my UV bulb and heat light source, and only keep my CHE on during the night, along with having a heating pad underneath her hide and the area surrounding it. I also soak her every day for 15-20 minutes and leave her to soak within her tank to keep the water temperature warm. The past three soaks I have mixed organic pumpkin baby food and water that she would drink frequently hoping that she would get some nutrients as she has not been eating her normal amount.

I received this tortoise in May 2020 and do not know the exact hatch date, and currently she is approximately 65 grams.

 

[Tom]

Hello, about a month ago I took my sulcata to the vet and she prescribed her ciprofloxacin to be taken orally every other day over the course of two weeks. As my tortoise finished up her medicine, she began to go back to normal (being very active, eating and going to the bathroom regularly), however, about a week ago she started showing the same symptoms of sleeping often, her appetite has decreased, occasional clicking when eating, and I sometimes see bubbles come out of her nose. Some days she will be walking around all day, and other days she will stay sleeping for the majority of the day. She also tends to eat most directly after removing her from her daily soaks.

My question is, do I return to the vet to receive another dose of ciprofloxacin??

For housing conditions, she is on coco choir mixed with organic potting soil, basking is mid-90s in one corner and a CHE light ranging from 80-85 degrees in the other corner. Humidity fluctuates between 70-80% throughout the day. She has access to water at all times, a humid hide, and a feeding area that is away from both heating sources. At night I turn off both my UV bulb and heat light source, and only keep my CHE on during the night, along with having a heating pad underneath her hide and the area surrounding it. I also soak her every day for 15-20 minutes and leave her to soak within her tank to keep the water temperature warm. The past three soaks I have mixed organic pumpkin baby food and water that she would drink frequently hoping that she would get some nutrients as she has not been eating her normal amount.

I received this tortoise in May 2020 and do not know the exact hatch date, and currently she is approximately 65 grams.

RIs are caused by cool temps. They can be cured by warmer temps.

Soil should never be used as substrate. Heat mats should never be used under tortoises.

Mid 90s in one corner, and 80 in the other corner. What about the middle?

You should be using a closed chamber and keep the whole thing 85+ day and night, plus the basking lamp around 100 all day. This will kick the RI.

The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. Babies hatch during the...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[ashleymiller28]

RIs are caused by cool temps. They can be cured by warmer temps.

Soil should never be used as substrate. Heat mats should never be used under tortoises.

Mid 90s in one corner, and 80 in the other corner. What about the middle?

You should be using a closed chamber and keep the whole thing 85+ day and night, plus the basking lamp around 100 all day. This will kick the RI.

The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. Babies hatch during the...

tortoiseforum.org

What is the reason about the soil/heat mats not being used? I’ll be changing my substrate tomorrow to strictly just coco choir

RIs are caused by cool temps. They can be cured by warmer temps.

Soil should never be used as substrate. Heat mats should never be used under tortoises.

Mid 90s in one corner, and 80 in the other corner. What about the middle?

You should be using a closed chamber and keep the whole thing 85+ day and night, plus the basking lamp around 100 all day. This will kick the RI.

The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. Babies hatch during the...

tortoiseforum.org

Thank you. I’ll be changing out the substrate tomorrow to only coco choir. The temperature in the middle is reading to be 83 degrees. I’ll be adjusting the lights tomorrow to get it a bit hotter within the tank. Thank you for the response!

 

[Tom]

Heat mats are dangerous. Many torts get burned by them. Its counter to their instincts. When they get hot, their instinct is to dig down way from the sun's heat. When they dig down toward the heat mat, they get hotter, so they dig down deeper. Pretty soon they are resting directly on the bottom of the tank above the mat. They don't possess the powers of reason and logic that we do.

Soil is made from composted yard waste. There is no way to know what it is made of. Could be grass clippings recently sprayed with insecticides. Could be oleander or azalea clippings. No way to know. The makers/sellers of soil do not intend for it to be used as substrate under living animals in small enclosures.