What to Do: Are my Aldabras Sick?
Nathaniel:
Q: Good day sir. I want to ask
I have 2 Aldabras.
I live in Indonesia.
Sometimes in the morning they get some foaming at their mouth.
I give them medicine for 3 months until now.
I dont hear a clicking noise, but sometimes there are some bubbles, that come from their mouth (you can see in the beginning of the 2nd vidio, my 2nd aldabra)
They have good appetite and active.
I dont know whats is happenning to my Aldabra tortoises
I ll give you a today video
Its the video from my 1st and 2nd aldabra
Thank you for your attention
Nathanael S. K
Sam:
A: Hi Sir, I am not sure your animals are sick.
Aldabras can display this abnormality and not be sick.
Please read below.
Aldabras will foam like that for these reasons.
Stress, heat, recently drinking water, upset stomach, or slight constipation.
You will have to make the following observations.
If your animals are sick...
You most likely have these symptoms.
Low or no appetite, absent or abnormal stools, or hard or dry stools.
This is something they display all the time. (undisrupted and not after drinking or eating.)
Low activity, sitting in one spot, sitting with eyes closed, eyes won't open.
Losing weight
Most times Aldabras are not sick ?if you see these signs...
After eating or especially drinking water, they typically will develop a wet mouth after eating hay.
On extremely hot days, Aldabras can foam at the mouth if they are too hot, check their shell temperature.
Aldabras are sensitive to stress and will foam at the mouth quickly if they are physically stressed.
This can happen by forcing them to move when they don't want to,
Example: chasing them into a new enclosure, moving them from one location to another location by chasing them.
(the forming will start within a few minutes of stress, and go away after 30 minutes.)
Things you can do...
Aldabras can be sensitive to allergies or dusty substrates,
Check for intestinal parasites.
Double check their diet...
Aldabras can get constipated and show these signs.
Upset Gastrointestinal problems can happen because of improper feeding,
Sometimes mixing two different types of food will cause problems,
Example: mixing Hay which moves through the G.I system very slowly with a high content sugar fruit.
Fruits will ferment quickly and cause problems, like foaming at the mouth, bloating and gas.
Many times you can actually hear gas bubbles or hear them, passing unusual amounts of gas.
This happens because fruits are caught up in slower moving hard to digest foods, like hay.
Sam