[HOME] HOW TO CARE FOR AUSTRALIAN FRESHWATER TORTOISES
Page 13 AILMENTS

If you keep the water clean, feed your tortoises on a variety of the proper foods and provide sunlight rays and calcium, they should never encounter sickness. Sickness is often caused by malnutrition.                              1

Sores on the plastron are caused by rough surfaces. Use smooth rocks in pools and enclosures, cover concrete with sand. Treat sores with a common antiseptic - not mercurochrome, however.

Treat cuts and bites the same way. Allow the antiseptic to sink in for several hours before replacing the tortoise in the water.

Swollen eyes are a result of poor diet and living conditions. Check diet, and bathe tortoise frequently in lukewarm water in which a little iodised table salt is dissolved.   This salt bath is also the remedy for infections of the eye and fungus infections of the skin. Another excellent fungus combatant is a preparation called "ANTIMALADIN" available in aquarium shops. IODINE may also be successful.  Preparations that are safe for fish are safe for tortoises.

Warm, unfiltered sunlight is the best medicine for tortoises, providing shade is always available. Baby tortoises can easily be infected with fungus if they do not receive sunlight or a sunlight substitute.

Respiratory infection may develop due to inadequate heating of living quarters. Look for a discharge from the nose and mouth in the form of bubbles or liquid, loss of appetite, a "wheezing" breath and drooping head. Gradually increase the temperature of the living quarters and treat the tortoise.
“ ..... with antibiotics such as sulphadiazine, sulphamezathine or aureomycin.   In liquid form, an approximate dose of 30mg a day for three to four days should be administered to a tortoise with a carapace length of 22.5cm and correspondingly smaller doses for smaller tortoises.   This allows for spillage which may occur, but if a full dose is taken, treatment for the following day should be omitted."   (Cann, pp.41-42)
Following this treatment the tortoise should be kept apart from other tortoises until it is recovered.

Soft shell can be a fatal condition and is due to lack of calcium and sunlight. If it does eventuate, rectify the conditions immediately and add an antibiotic to the water to prevent fungus infection.

If you see red or white worms wriggling at the bottom of the tortoise tank, it means that your pets are infested with the parasites. Treatment for worms is as follows: "Adult tortoises are given 1 gram santonin with 1 gram calomel, and, the following day, a full eye-dropper of castor oil. Smaller tortoises are given a smaller amount."   (Cann, p.45). Clean tank thoroughly after treatment. A vet can give alternative treatment for tortoises with worms.