Hemp substrate help!

Just need some advice please. I'm really worried about my recently adopted little 6 year old Russian as for the last 3 days since he arrived I ve had hemp substrate in part of his table as advised (wrongly I now realise!) by my local reptile centre. I m changing it tomorrow (don't want to remove it now as by little man is asleep) to sterilised top soil but I m just so worried that he has already ingested some of the hemp and may already be damaged by it. He's going to see a specialist tortoise vet tomorrow for a general health check, should I mention my concern to the vet ?
Thanks for any advice.

You should always mention all concerns to the vet. That's how they are able to know what's going on. It would be a good idea to take some of the suspect bedding as well, so they vet can come to their own conclusion. Why go to a vet if you already have a diagnosis?

I wouldn't use the soil either.

Check these out:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

Will said:

You should always mention all concerns to the vet. That's how they are able to know what's going on. It would be a good idea to take some of the suspect bedding as well, so they vet can come to their own conclusion. Why go to a vet if you already have a diagnosis?

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Thanks Will, good point, I ll do that

Tom said:

I wouldn't use the soil either.

Check these out:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/russian-tortoise-care-sheet.80698/
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/beginner-mistakes.45180/

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Thanks Tom, there's so much conflicting information , I just hope he s going to be ok . His vet visit can't come soon enough

Teddy28 said:

Thanks Tom, there's so much conflicting information , I just hope he s going to be ok . His vet visit can't come soon enough

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We should warn you that vets are just people, and most of them, like most people, don't know much about tortoises or tortoise care. There is not much they are going to be able to tell from looking at a tortoise. They can run a fecal check and pull blood, but if they tell you the tortoise needs a "vitamin" injection, I would politely decline and leave. An X-ray might help diagnose whether or not you have a problem with substrate ingestion, but unless you see symptoms, there isn't really a need for that.

Tom said:

We should warn you that vets are just people, and most of them, like most people, don't know much about tortoises or tortoise care. There is not much they are going to be able to tell from looking at a tortoise. They can run a fecal check and pull blood, but if they tell you the tortoise needs a "vitamin" injection, I would politely decline and leave. An X-ray might help diagnose whether or not you have a problem with substrate ingestion, but unless you see symptoms, there isn't really a need for that.

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Thanks again Tom. Hoping to take a faecal sample to get checked as i m not sure if the little chap has ever been wormed and will ask about xray