Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, I have a 1 yr old red-foot tortoise named Riggy, and she has a respiratory infection. I've been giving her a liquid medication that i got from my vet called zithromax for several months now. She has bubbles in her eyes and when she yawns it looks like she has a mucus bubble in her mouth. I dont think the medicine is working as well as the vet expected, although she has gained weight. Also, just recently in the past few days she has had diahrea. I'm very worried about her.If anyone has any suggestions or anything that could help me, please reply back. My email address is ginabivona@yahoo.com

Thank you so much.
Sincerely,
Gina Bivona

Last year at about this time I discovered an RI in my yearling Redfoot. I vetted him and tried injections for a couple weeks. After the last injection he began to gag, thrash, and bring up lots of mucus and blood. I thought he was dying on the spot. The vet was also a bit shaken and immediately put him in a nebulizing (sp?) chamber for 10 days. He survived this ordeal and since then has tripled his size and weight. I do believe that the treatment has to be pretty agressive to actually cure and bring complete remission. If after several months I would ask the vet for another and perhaps more aggressive plan.

You might want to up the little guys heat for awhile until he is all better. Keep heat on at night too. That helped when mine were sick. One of mine showed signs recently that he might be getting sick so I upped his heat and made his pen smaller so he couldn't go hide in a cool spot and it cleared him right up. Good luck! I hope he gets well soon.
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Becki

1 Husband
4 kids
2 Hermans
1 Dog
2 Finches
2 Betta
1 Cat

The diarrhea is likely from long term antibiotic use. Try feeding the animal some plain Yogurt which contains active culture or feeding it stools from a tort of the same species that is known to be healthy (just be 1000% sure!).
As far as the bubbles in the corners of the eyes. That, at least in my opinion, suggests humidity related issues versus RI.
As far as making a bubble when it yawns that typically is not a big issue and can be seen quite frequently after feeding and drinking.
I would suggest talking with your Vet about your concerns and if not satisfied with the results try to find a more qualified Vet to assist you with your worries.
Best of luck

I wouldn't jump to say "more qualified" vet yet as for all we know her vet is Scott Stahl or Ken Harkewicz.

With RI's they are generally caused by less then adequate husbandry that was only tolerated until symptoms arise. Treatment will not work until this is improved. The above posts are heading in the right direction with the increased heat but also look at humidity and any other factors that may lead to stress.

In this case I would not feed yogurt as something so exotic to what is normally eaten may increase GI tract irritation. Also see my recent post in the herp health and breeding forum on probiotics for more information on this topic.

If the veterinarian previously suggested a culture and sensitity or any other tests I would perhaps reconsider and go with them to better treat this problem as well.

Good luck with your red-foot, I'm sure you'll enjoy it for a long time

From her description, what exactly leads you to believe the animal has/still has a RI. What little information that was given doesn't sound like the typical course of infection.
If you reread my post you will notice I said consult with her current Vet and if she feels like no progress is being made then get a second opinion.
In an ideal world probiotics would be nice. Unfortunately many people prefer to use what is readily available (Yogurt, dropping, etc.). It is an old trick and proven over the course of decades to help with GI scouring caused by antibiotics. The fact that the animal has apparently been on antibiotics over the course of months leads me to believe maybe the Vet didn't do a sensitivity test in the first place.
Just my thoughts

Kidding here.
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Ed @ Tortoise Keepers
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

everyone thank you so much for your help. i really really appreciate it.
-gina