Tilly Tortoise has a runny nose.

Question
QUESTION: I have a 7 month old red foot tortoise, for the past month that we have had her she has been very happy, (we dont even know if she is a girl i have just guessed as she is too young to tell!)She lives in a wooden tank with a glass window, has a sandy area with a water dish, her food dish and this is her cooler side, in the middle is half a plant pot for her to hide. To the left of her tank is a wooden log that is like a bridge this is her warmer side with a heat lamp bulb this side is usally about 30degrees. She also has a UV light - both the UV and heat bulb is on throughout the day and then she has a heat mat on through the night. Eats really well and I am conscious of her diet making sure she has greens one day / fruit the next etc. She eats nothing that is advised not to. Today I noticed she sounded as though she was having small sneezes and her nose was bubbling. I soaked her in a luke warm bath so she could have a drink and then I have put the heat mat on as well as her lamp and UV to get the tank warmer. Sorry my ? is huge... but i guess the more detail that i give you the easier for you to adivise me of what i need to do. Will she be okay ? Im going to try and ring the vet tommorow - but any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you

ANSWER: Hi Sarah,

Don't call the vet just yet.  I think if you make a few changes to her enclosure you'll find that the respiratory symptoms go away.  Redfoots have high humidity requirements and it sounds like she's too dry.  This can often cause weepy eyes and a runny nose.  

If the tank is entirely enclosed, you do need to make sure there is good air flow.  For a redfoot as young as she is, substrate should be all sphagnum moss (also called orchid moss here in the U.S.) or a mix of cypress mulch and moss, and should be quite moist.  You'll need to add warm water on a daily basis to keep the moisture level up.  Take the sand out as it won't hold humidity and is an impaction risk.  When she's older, you can use a coir/sand mix (not sand alone!) with moss mixed in.  I would see if you can boost the basking temperature (directly under the basking bulb) to 90 degrees F, and check to see that the temperature on the cooler side is in the high 70s F.  Heat for tortoises should come from above, so if you need supplemental heat at night I would get a ceramic heat emitter or infrared bulb (I use a CHE).  You don't want to overheat the enclosure, but redfoots do need it fairly warm.    

Redfoots do like to soak, so the water dish should be large enough for her to get into it completely, and deep enough for about an inch of water.

You should see an improvement within a few days with the humidity boost.  Please post back and let me know how she's doing!

Whoops, forgot to give you this link.  It's an excellent website and the author has many years of experience with a number of different species, including redfoots.  www.redfoottortoise.com

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QUESTION: Thank you -
Tilly does have a large dish for her to soak - ive seen her drink from it but never soaking in it? Should this be in the warmer or cooler side? At the moment its in her cooler?

The sand stuff we use is called tortoise sand propprep? Its meant to be made of all naturals soils etc that would be in their natural surroundings? Shall I still remove it? Its meant to contain lots of natural calcium? Also I used to put sphagnum moss in and kept it wet but she never bothered with it? Is it more the effect upon the atmosphere - the humididty that this helps? My husband to be is going to get a higer watt bulb to inctrease the temp today. When i have checked her this morning she is not wheezing and the bubbley nose has gone! Also she has ate something this morning so I am not panicing as much as i was! Many thanks and if you could just claify for me to take the sandy mix soily stuff away. Also about the water where to put it?
Cheers again Sarah

ANSWER: Hi Sarah,

I think the soil/sand mix is OK to leave in there, although it's probably meant more for Hermann's or Horsfields.  Redfoots are tropical, and their natural environment would be very heavy leaf litter, bark, and moss, with a relative humidity up around 80%.  I would put in a layer of sphagnum moss to keep the humidity up, and put the dish of water on the warm side, or halfway between the two sides.  It doesn't have to be directly under the basking light.  My redfoots usually go in their water in the morning.  I don't see them do it often, but it's always at the same time so they probably go in it daily.

Good luck with her!

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QUESTION: Thank you again...
Ive done as suggested - we have out a higher watt bulb so her basking area is now just over 90 and cooler side is fine, i have opened her wooden tank glass front door very slightly to increase air flow, ive put an area of sphagnum moss and keep it damp with warm water. Moved her dish nearer the warmer end - and it has worked wonders. She is no longer snotty or wheezy! But......
She seems so energetic - which is fab - we have both never seen her up and moving aorund so much even drinking out of her water dish much more often. But y.day we were at a wedding all day and hwen i got home i went to check on her and she was lying on her back not moving - she was lying in her water dish which was filled with her poop. I thought she was dead but i gently lifted her out and as i turned her over she began to wiggle, i gave her a wash as she was covered!!! i let her have a luke warm bath and she was missioning walking around. Now im worried. Do you know how long a red foot can survive on their backs. Im not even sure how she managed it... She must have climbed to tilt over on something!

~If it aint one thing its another!

A huge thank you for your previous adviced as that has worked really well.

Answer
Hard to say how long she was like that.  They can last on their backs for several hours at least, but obviously it's not an ideal situation and you want to avoid it where you can.  She probably flipped going in or out of the water dish, so make sure it's easy for her to access and there aren't any rocks, logs, etc. nearby.  Most likely it was a one-time accident, but keep an eye out to make sure it doesn't happen again.  You also don't want the water dish to be directly under the basking lamp to avoid rapid overheating if it does happen again.

You want the moist moss in the *entire* enclosure--if you want to leave a small, dry area without moss, that's fine, but most of the habitat should be moist.  Moisture and humidity are important to overall health, and will help her shell to grow smoothly.  I'm glad she's doing so much better!