AboutMark Adkins Expertise I will be glad to help with your tortoise- and turtle-related questions. My specialty is Red-foot and other Tortoises, but I can help with many aspects of turtle care.
Understand- I am not a vet, and the more information you can give me, the more accurate my answer can be.
(Because of the number of questions I get, I reserve the right to direct you to a good website that will help rather than re-inventing the wheel.)
Experience Tortoise and other reptile keeper since 1964.
Member of the Nebraska Herpetological Society.
Author of books and articles on tortoise care.
Currently own five Red-foot Tortoises.
Expert: Mark Adkins Date: 7/7/2008 Subject: red foot not interested in greens & bubbles in eyes
Question Hello. I just purchased a possible 6 month to a year old red foot tortoise. When I bought him his eyes were watery but it just got worse and worse. I took him to the vet twice since June 18th and now his eyes are covered with bubbles and it looks horrible. My vet said it could be from stress from being moved to a new home. At first the vet said it was a possible respiratory infection but they didn't want to risk giving me antibiotics. Also my tortoise does not eat ANY greens!! I've bought so much different types of stuff and he only seems interested in fruit. I thought tortoises love greens!!
Answer The most common cause of watery eyes in Red-foots is dehydration. This is a rainforest species that spends most of its time in areas with humidity pushing 100%, and they quickly dehydrate in typical tortoise set-ups. If the dehydration continues, it will also affect the shell development and it will get 'bumpy', what we call pyramiding.
Another indicator that it is dehydrated is that it is eating 'juicy' foods.
Red-foots are great tortoises- with a major challenge. How to provide high humidity (95%+ in at least part of the habitat, 60%+ in most of it), moderate heat (80-88F for most), and plenty of fresh air?
