Hello, Can anyone help me. My daughter found her tortoise dead in his bed this morning with a very swollen neck, no other limbs were swollen.  She is at a loss as to the reason, as he was fine last night.  He was 5years old.

I personally don't know what could have caused this but can I just say how very sorry I am to read your post.  What an awful thing to happen, you and your daughter must be devastated.  Helen xx

Hi Maz & daughter

I am so sorry to hear your news, you must be devasted, and very confused to what happened!!. It sounds like the problem occured very quickly. The most common cause of  neck swelling is an ear abscess, although that is usual only on one side, not both. Another cause would be an infection of some sort, which only a post mortum would show up with blood samples, if you want to go down that road.
Thinking of you of both, and maybe later when you feel the time is right, you will get another shelled friend to love and care for.
Jane H 

Hi Maz

So sorry to hear of your loss, it's heartbreaking to lose a tortoise. It's difficult to even try to establish what's happened and you're probably not in the mood for a lot of questions right now. I will see what I can find and will come back to your post.

Best wishes to you and you daughter.

Dave

Any news on this? The same thing happened to one of my tortoises this morning. She was fine last night and this morning we came out and she had a fully extended, swollen neck and there was some blood oozing out from underneath her shell. I have another tortoise and am worried for him.. could this possibly be contagious? I have an appointment with a vet tomorrow but this happened to suddenly I am not feeling too confident..