Ricky the redfoot

about 10 am yesterday, i checked on my tortoise habitat. i found ricky foaming at the mouth and gasping for breath. at 10:50, i was at the vet's office. doc gave ricky some antibiotics and fluids, then asked if i wanted x-rays done. i said yes, and the x-rays revealed some big pocket of gas in ricky's digestive system that was putting massive pressure on the rest of ricky's internal organs. doc then used a needle to get some of the gas out and relieve some of the pressure, but told me if that did not work the first time, it was likely that my tortoise was going to die. he gave me more antibiotics to inject, and recommended at least one warm soak a day. got home around 1 pm, and immediately gave ricky a warm soak, and the little guy was breathing much easier. i kept checking on ricky every 20-30 min, but around 5 pm, i found my poor little tortoise unresponsive. i honestly could not tell if it was alive or not, so i put ricky in a plastic carrier in a seperate room. at 2:45 am, i was sure my pet was dead, due to the onset of rigor mortis. :tears:

http://i1381.photobucket.com/albums/...psorzc8ved.jpg

http://i1381.photobucket.com/albums/...pshxdglvae.jpg

http://i1381.photobucket.com/albums/...pswqml1f3v.jpg

So sorry for your loss.
Ricky is in tortoise heaven :floating:

Sorry for the loss man! Never gets any easier dealing with the death of a beloved member of the family/collection. Kudos to you for getting him to the vet office ASAP.

I'm sorry this happened. It hurts. It's good that you tried.

about to take my little buddy to the vet for a necropsy :(

Sorry for your loss.
Some of our critters come with expected shorter life spans, but with a tortoise, one does expect to be with it for the long haul.

Beautiful little guy.

Sorry for your loss.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by distaff

Sorry for your loss.
Some of our critters come with expected shorter life spans, but with a tortoise, one does expect to be with it for the long haul.

Beautiful little guy.

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ricky would have been two at the end of august

We had 4 for many years (I think they would be 15 now). One of the four died last year and it was pretty devastating :-( . The other three just keep bopping along, as curious as ever. They still run over to eat. They still crash through the food to find their favorites. They still walk over to their favorite places to sleep when all is done. They are huge now. I imagine these three will live on for a very long time, but I always expected to have all four of them. They have taught me many things, but watching them "move on" is like nothing else.

As much as I miss the 4th one, I appreciate these three more than I ever could have if I hadn't lost one.

To anyone who has never looked in the eyes of a tortoise, it's something that is beyond amazing when you realize that they are looking back at you with very intelligent eyes. You can't help but wish you knew their thoughts.

It doesn't make it better, but I'm really sorry for your loss :( .