Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So the kids have been here for 36 hours or so, and being the anal retentive veterinarian, I am scrutinizing them for any problems- so I have spent a lot of time "just watching" the kids.The male looks good he is eating well and eyes and nose are clear. He weighs 15 oz, I still need to measure him.
The little girl weighs 11 oz. I noticed her eyes looked a little watery and she was rubbing them, and I thought I saw a bubble or two from her nose. So I packed them up and took them to a Dr. who does a lot of exotic work. She thought it would be best to start her on Baytril and b-complex, even though the discharge was clear, since she was able to see a little bit of bubbles and the tort was reluctant to withdraw into her shell, she was worried. She rec. that I keep her at a temp of 90*. I have a 150watt ceramic heater and it is 90* underneath it, does this seem good enough, or should I move her to a smaller tank that would be easier to keep consistently warm? I have a 10 gallon tank and a 20 gallon hex. Right now she is in a 40 gallon rubbermaid, and he is in a 50 gllon rubbermaid container.
I also have a question about humidity. What is an appropriate humidity % for cherryheads? right now it is about 60-70%.
I am using reptibark, but it did not seem to hold the heat very well, so I added bed-a-beast. Any comments on this- good idea, bad idea? Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Foods I ahve tried with her are- mazuri, dandelion, rose blossom,grape, apple, banana, watermelon, endive,and a night crawler- she shows no interest. She was eating mazuri and strawberries before she was shipped.
In your experience do most torts recover from URI ?
Thanks for the help!
Becky

most of rf??? like your's has been here b4 ...check them out if you have the time...(see ya later i'm late for work but i bet some rfters will be here in no time )

It might not have a upper respiratory infection. If you don't hear any labored breathing, watch it but don't worry too much. It usually takes them a week or 2 to acclimate. Keep them warm and well hydrated. Soak them every day to every other day.

Redfoots are very drought tolerant so don't be too concerned too much about the humidity. If your using bed a beast, moisten a section of the enclosure near the heat source and keep it moist. Leave the rest of the enclosure dry.

Try feeding greens like Romaine, Endive, redleaf Lettuce, Green leaf... Try and find the darkest greens you can find. If you only have the 2 tortoises try any or all of the packaged greens. They offer a good variety. Also try berries. You can find a good variety in the frozen secton. Don't depend too mucy on the watery fruits.
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Ed
Tortoise_Keepers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

They show no interest in endive, but he loves strawberries and the mazuri and grapes.
She still shows no interest in anything.
I will try some of the others tonight.
Thanks for all the advice.

First let me say that I am in no way a vet, nor do I pretend to play one, I am simply an enthusiast that does a lot of homework. However, I'd bet that my vet would first say to just try keeping the tort WARM (85-90 all the time), for a few days maybe. My vet is always reluctant to start shooting a tort w/ batryl right away. Many times heat alone will help the trt fight off a mild URI without any antibiotics. However, Your vet is the one doing the diagnosis, and you yourself are a vet. What do you think is correct, I know you say you only work with dogs and cats but I think that everyone in the medical field would agree to some extent that administering antibiotics to a paitent that has not been 100% diagnosed is risky.

I personally would say to try and raise the animals temp for 1-2 days and them start the batryl if it doesnt clear up quick.

On a side note, I'm sure you allready know this but it is usually considered OK for a tort (espically a redfoot) to have mildly "watery eyes" (I think this is usually a sign of low humidity), also its normal for a tort to have some bubbles after drinking or soaking...

Do what you, professionally, think is the best plan...

-Ian

When I got one of my leopard, she was blowing big clear bubbles out of her nose and my herp vet suggested I give her a daily soak and increase the heat for a week to see what happens. But after a week she started wheezing and still blowing bubbles that's when my vet told me to bring her in. She received a baytril shot at the office and I was sent home with 5 more doses of injection to be given every 48 hours. I was also given drops for her eyes & nose. I was told to soak her daily because baytril could be hard on their systems and she didn't eat at all while she was being treated. The wheezing stopped 4 days after the initial injection and her nose cleared up a week later. 2 days after the treatment was completed she started eating again. Upper respiratory is fairly common in torts, watch them and if the discharge doesn't clear up or if she started wheezing then you need to go to your herp vet. Good luck!

I agree 100%, first try to increase heat and soakings, then go for antibiotics...

Thanks~ Im a Fellow redfoot owner too !!! Sorry to hear about your cherry heads Ailments, My Condolences are w/ you and there Speedy Recovery~

I have a 150watt ceramic heater over her, the temp under it is 90*, the cool now is about 80, I was going to add another 100watt to the cool end to make sure it stays up there. She has been hanging out under the heat lamp. I am soaking her once a day for 20 minutes. I think I might have her too humid , so I am going to change her bedding so it is a little drier.
I don't have a digital camera yet, but will have one soon and then will try to post some.
Thanks everyone for all the help- Nervous mom syndrome!

...how about some patience?...

>>I have a 150watt ceramic heater over her, the temp under it is 90*, the cool now is about 80, I was going to add another 100watt to the cool end to make sure it stays up there...
...don't overkill the entire range or that tort won't have any cooler spot to hide.

>>I think I might have her too humid , so I am going to change her bedding so it is a little drier.
...just hold off that camera for now and get that humid gauge/meter right away to make sure. if you have not read my other posts, keep a spritzer in that enclosure, many a torts will get stimulated with overhead sprays which usually triggers their appertite.

again, now that you are being a tort mom; be prepair to add that "patient" to your vocab...i mean LOTS of it...

I do have a humidity gauge- the question is what should it read?
Initially it was about 65-70, last night it was 45. I have a water bowl in there and the cool end is right around 78-80.
Thanks.

>>I do have a humidity gauge- the question is what should it read?
65-90 (cool warm) gradient if you can...