Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I want to thank everyone in advance for any help you can give.

Here is the situation I've had my sulcata for about 2 years with no trouble... good eater plenty of room to roam the usual. Yesterday when i picked her up I heard the infamous clicking or popping sound you always hear about when people talk about RNS or a upper respiratory tract infection. I watched her for a while and there is no runny nose but i did notice one little bubble come out of her nostril. Here is where the help is needed....I was let go from my job a few months ago and have no money (may even lose the house) but i want to treat my tortoises infection. Is there any antibiotic or treatment I can give without having to take her to the vet? If there is how do I dose her and where can I buy it? from a website or store??

Again thank you so much for the help.

there is no antibiotic that i am aware of that you can buy over the counter for an ri. this is what i have done to cure it though. i got one of thoes heavy duty spotlight fixtures from the hardware store (make sure it has a ceramic base or can handle what you are about to put to it) the ones with the clamp and they have a aluminum piece that goes around the bulb. any way hopefully you know the one i am talking about. i get a 150 watt flood light and install it in the spot light. depending on the size of the sulcata i place the tort in a large rubbermaid container at LEAST twice the size of its body.turn on the spotlight so it is on half of the container make sure that the sulcata has plenty of room to get out of the light if it needs to dont overheat it! i usually place the bulb so that it is about 12 in. from the top of its shell. keep a close eye on it and feel the top of the shell after about 30 min. you want it to be hot kinda of like it has been sunning in the middle of summer, you dont want it to hot to where your like any body got some eggs? if its to hot of course back up the bulb. this is a solution i have used in the past as an alturnative to baytril or other antibiotics. yes the vet is the best solution but not always an option. i sent 3 to the vet this winter and it got pricey, about 300 with the scrip. also idk what part of the us you are in but it is warming up. the sulcata uses heat along with most other reptiles to activate its immune system. so it might just kick it all el natural. good luck!! i hope this helps

Thanks for the reply....That is actually what I'm doing right now so to hear you say the same thing makes me feel better. Hopefully things get better.

I just used this method on a box turtle-IT WORKED!! It took about a week. I also soaked him daily in warm water for about 20 minutes. I used a UV Heat bulb, but I'm sure any kind of heat bulb will do the trick. GOOD LUCK!!

I read this post awhile ago and kept it in mond when my Sulcata T.U.T., after two rounds of injectable antibiotics, continued to have a slight wheeze. Currently she is living in a 20 gallon tank. I took the screen off the top and afixed a 125W Solar Glo (Exo Terra) light bulb over half the tank. I placed two small bowls of water on the cool side to raise the humidity a bit and to allow her to coook off if she needs to. The hot side has reached temperatures of 110 degrees F, the cool side has remain a consistent 80 degrees F. Several times a day I touch the top of T.U.T.'s shell to ensure it is not getting too hot (it isn't).

As the weather is improving, I have been sunning her several hours a day.

I have been doing this for about a week and I have definantly seen an improvement. She s getting rather fiesty!!! And her appetite has returned FULL-FORCE!

Thank you to the poster of this recommendation.

try taking the humidity out of the air sulcatas like it arid. also this tecnique will help antibiotics do there job as most reptiles need heat to make the antibiotic work.