A fecal sample should be checked for evidence of worms or flagellate organisms. Can also indicate a very severe worm infestation. Take your tortoise to your vet at the first sign of any abnormal swelling. Abscesses can also follow minor bites or other injuries, such as a thorn penetration. Acute - gaping, stretching neck and respiratory difficulty, often mucous in nostrils and mouth, leg weakness and poor retraction, dehydration, depression, open mouth breathing.
Some tortoises run about blindly.
Urgent veterinary help is needed if the tortoise is to survive. Begin injected antibiotics at once. Even a few hours delay can prove fatal. Chronic - persistent low level discharge from nose, weakness, poor head and limb retraction. Probably the most common disease found in tortoises.