Leopard Tortoise Breathing hard

Hello,

 

I have our first baby leopard, born in July 2018 and has arrived at our home two weeks back. Since its arrival, it has not eaten much and seems to like to sleep a lot (at least 18 hours a day). I have read that they are shy when they come to a new place, however, I am concerned about its health, especially after a 2gm loss in weight in a week. 

Currently, it gets is of grass pellets- Grassland Tortoise Food from Zoo Med, some rocket salad (rucculo) and hibiscus leaves and Dandelion flowers (maskros). But it prefers to eat very little portions of the salads leaving behind the flower and the softened grass pellets. 

Also, it seems to be breathing hard at times with the throat swelling in and out while it breathes. Sometimes, little bubbles pop out from its nostrils, which gives me a feeling that it might have caught a cold. The other times, the breathing seems okay but we hear chuckles or squeaks which occasional grinding of its beaks. The faeces is also quite watery unlike the first two times after its arrival.

I am not sure if these are signs of stress or RI (respiratory tract infection) and should I need to bring it to a vet for a check-up.  It will be great to get some advice from experienced tortoise keepers regarding this situation. I will try an upload a video showing its breathing movements.

Thank you.

Regards,

Somnath Dana.

 

 

Yes is propably RI, and it will die from it very soon if it doesn`t get treated. Food is not the issue.
What`s the temperature in the terrarium? Maybe you can rise the temp a bit? It can be enough to treat it.

It`s a typical syndrome for turtles who got cold.

Thank you Formula 76 for your valuable feedback.

The temperature inside the terrarium around 36 to 38 C. Also I have added the video where the breathing of the Tortoise can clearly be seen. Please let me know its better to take it to the vet in this condition? Or what could be the alternative for this condition?

 

Best wishes,

Somnath. 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=272Mruknkao

You will need to contact a veterinarian and obtain a prescription for Baytril for oral use to treat RI

Best regards

Allan

Thank you Allan for your valuable advice. We have contacted the vet and they did not give any medicine and told us to increase the heat in the terrarium. So we have added Heat Cable under the resting place so that during the night the temperature remains the same. Hopefully, it will get better for the tortoise.

All good,

Somnath