water from nose

Question
QUESTION: hey tina my start tortoise is having some problem....some sticky water is coming from his nose...is it kind of cold???? what i have to do to recover it?? do i have to keep him in sun light...??

ANSWER: Hemali,   This is a sure sign of respiratory infection. VERY bad !!!!! He needs to get to a Veterinarian. He may need systemic antibiotic. I don't think we have ever spoken about his habitat, mostly his eating habits. I assumed you had a complete set up for him. That is my fault. He may be sticking to the foods that are easier to digest for a different reason. When he is taken out of the wild he can not get to the heat sources and things he needs. I am going to send you a care sheet. You need the lighting for heat, for calcium production, and a basking area about 90 to 100 degrees or between 35 and 40 C. The basking area is where he digests his food and suns. Let me know how you are keeping him housed please. Also the eating habits will affect his ability to fight off infections too. Which is why I stress the importance of variety. Please get back to me so we can make sure he has everything he needs to stay healthy. Listen to him closely for whistling or wheezing or holding his mouth open all the time. You have a start to something that could become very life threatening for him. Let me know how things go. This is the way  his habitat should be made for him. Get him more sun definitely!!!! http://www.reptilechannel.com/care-sheets/star-tortoise.aspxice flat low stone in the sun. , Tina

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: hey tina i try to feed him different grass n all but he is not ready to eat that grass..i what veggie shoud i feed her...he is not ready to eat any veggie..well otherwise i put him under the sum for 1 hour daily...i dont find any food products for tortoise here at ma place...he is wheezing n whistling some time as i said b4 that some water is coming out from his nose..otherwise from y'day he is doing potty 2 time a day..may be its kind of lose motions i dont no...i m taking him to the veterinarian today...

Answer
Hemali,   Please read the guides I sent you regarding feeding and the one I sent you yesterday regarding living conditions again. He is not going to eat without the right kind of heat and light to digest his food. It is as simple as that. He needs at least 10 to 12 hours of sunlight a day. When he is in the heating and lighting still has to be available. Because the nights are cooler I would go with a red light UVA mostly for heat at night. He still needs a basking area around 100 degrees. I am sorry your baby definitely has a respiratory infection. Make sure these guides are followed closely. This is not a novice tortoise as I said in the beginning. You can not catch or buy one and not reproduce his natural habitat you removed him from. Trust me he never just spends an hour a day in the sun. I am surprised he is still alive. Do whatever the vet says to the letter, please. He is dehydrated and malnourished. Let me now what the vet says. If you can not give it the habitat which is pretty easy, I would get rid of him to someone who can. Without the heat and light this COLD-BLOODED reptile can not warm to move and can not digest his food and ends up with a respiratory infection. Good Luck, Tina