Wheezing in your herman tortoise may startle you, and for good reason, anything that affects your pet’s breathing should worry you as a tortoise owner.
This article is a look into why your Hermann tortoise is wheezing.
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Hermann tortoise wheezing:
Even the slightest change in your pet’s behavior may mean that there is something wrong with the animal, wheezing included.
Here is why your beloved Herman tortoise may be wheezing:
Dusty substrate:
One major reason why your pet may be wheezing may be because the substrate in your pet’s enclosure is too dusty for the reptile.
A substrate that is too dusty may get into the animal’s lungs and can cause the animal to develop breathing issues like wheezing.
Another substrate-related reason why your pet may be wheezing may be that the substrate is moldy, breathing in this moldy substrate can cause the animal’s breathing to become wheezy.
What to do:
Getting your pet a new substrate is recommended, not only is it recommended that you add new fresh substrate to your pet’s enclosure, it is also recommended that you use a nondusty substrate like compacted grass for the enclosure.
Avoid using straw or soil in your pet’s enclosure as a substrate. You can use newspaper for the short term while you wait for the new substrate to arrive.
Low humidity:
Another reason why your pet herman tortoise may be wheezing may be because the humidity in the animal’s enclosure is too low.
Tortoises love humid environments, it keeps them from dehydrating.
If the air in their environment is too dry then the animal’s body can start to build up mucus. The accumulation of mucus may make breathing more difficult and this may cause the animal to wheeze.
What to do:
Increasing the humidity in your pet’s enclosure will help the animal breathe better. You can do this by adding a humidifier to the enclosure or by misting or spraying the enclosure using a water bottle.
Adding water, to a shallow dish, to your pet’s enclosure should also help to increase the humidity levels.
Keep an eye on your pet while you implement these measures to make sure that the animal’s breathing improves.
Respiratory illness:
Another reason why your pet tortoise may be wheezing may be that the animal is suffering from a respiratory illness.
In addition to the wheezing, other signs that you should look out for, if you think that the animal has a respiratory illness, is lethargy, lopsided swimming, weight loss, or discharge from the animal’s nose or mouth and open mouth breathing.
What to do:
While this condition in tortoises is quite common it can be quite serious and even life-threatening. If this condition develops into pneumonia the the condition can be life-threatening.
Isolate your pet to keep your other tortoises from catching this illness. Isolating the animal will keep it from having to compete for food against the healthy tortoises in the enclosure.
Your vet will give your pet tortoise antibiotics if it is found that your pet does in fact have a respiratory infection, this should clear the infection up.
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other turtle/tortoise related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Why Is My Tortoise Panting?, Russian Tortoise Puffy Eyes, Tortoise Drooling, Why Is My Tortoise Screaming?, Why Does My Tortoise Walk Into Walls?