Baby tort taking antibiotic shots?

Hi @Bee62 thanks for checking in with Loretta! Last week she had been gaining weight so we decided to take her off her antibiotics. She then started drastically losing weight (despite still eating) and her plastron became see through seemingly overnight! We started up her antibiotic shots again and I am giving her calcium with every meal (she's eating 2x a day currently). We go back to the vet on Saturday morning. She has started gaining some of her weight back and is pooping in her water again. Taking it a day at a time.

mamameg said:

Hi @Bee62 thanks for checking in with Loretta! Last week she had been gaining weight so we decided to take her off her antibiotics. She then started drastically losing weight (despite still eating) and her plastron became see through seemingly overnight! We started up her antibiotic shots again and I am giving her calcium with every meal (she's eating 2x a day currently). We go back to the vet on Saturday morning. She has started gaining some of her weight back and is pooping in her water again. Taking it a day at a time.

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Hi,

Loretta is a wonderful name, but the news of your tort are not wonderful. They are scary.
Can you ask your VET for Blood work to see if the kidneys of Loretta are healthy ?
Have you heard about the hatchling failure syndrome ?

@Bee62 no I have not. She was supposedly a "well started" 4-6 month old in April when we got her, but she has never been active or seemingly healthy. She is more active now than ever, though I am still very concerned with the final outcome of all of this.
I have not heard of that syndrome nor have we gotten blood work. It's something we can look into Saturday! Suggestions, thoughts, and advice is always appreciated.

@Bee62 I just looked up the term and it hurts my heart. To think a breeder did this to my baby that I love so much. I am really, really hoping Loretta and I pull through this. She is fighting and I am fighting with her. Please keep your fingers and toes crossed. I'll request a blood test Saturday.

mamameg said:

@Bee62 I just looked up the term and it hurts my heart. To think a breeder did this to my baby that I love so much. I am really, really hoping Loretta and I pull through this. She is fighting and I am fighting with her. Please keep your fingers and toes crossed. I'll request a blood test Saturday.

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Hello @mamameg
All my fingers and toes are already crossed for your little Loretta. She is such a cute beauty.
I wish you and her all the best.
Please keep me updated what the VET says and the result of the blood test.
I am sorry that you must go trough this rough times. I love my torts like you do, so I can understand you very well.

kind regards
Sabine

@Bee62 thank you! So am I... but I'm also sorta glad Loretta came to me instead of someone else. I feel that most would have given up by now. Out of curiosity- have you ever fed your redfoots eggplant? I have scaled back her veggie day (still with greens/weeds of course) to only once a week because 1.) she isn't the biggest fan of veggies and 2.) I just need her to keep eating! I have actually increased her protein topping to 2-3 times a week from 1. I've discovered she really likes shrimp!

Trying to figure out new veggies to try. Currently I do a combination of peppers (usually red, but sometimes green/yellow/orange), butternut squash, zucchini, and an occasional carrot. I have a bunch of soft eggplants from the garden I never got around to cooking and I'm wondering if it is good for her to try? Let me know, thanks for your support!

mamameg said:

@Bee62 thank you! So am I... but I'm also sorta glad Loretta came to me instead of someone else. I feel that most would have given up by now. Out of curiosity- have you ever fed your redfoots eggplant? I have scaled back her veggie day (still with greens/weeds of course) to only once a week because 1.) she isn't the biggest fan of veggies and 2.) I just need her to keep eating! I have actually increased her protein topping to 2-3 times a week from 1. I've discovered she really likes shrimp!

Trying to figure out new veggies to try. Currently I do a combination of peppers (usually red, but sometimes green/yellow/orange), butternut squash, zucchini, and an occasional carrot. I have a bunch of soft eggplants from the garden I never got around to cooking and I'm wondering if it is good for her to try? Let me know, thanks for your support!

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Hello,

I never fed my redfoots eggplants and I don`t know if they are safe to feed.
I feed dandelions, hibiskus and rose blossoms, champignons, chicoree, lambs lettuce, romaine lettuce and rarely a banana. Weeds and gras from my garden too. Dryed mealworms, cooked eggs or ground beef for protein.
They have free accsess to cuttle bone pieces ( crushed cuttle bones ) for calcium and a reptile food ( small pellets made of gras and weeds ) like mazuri.
I don`t want to change the food of my torts too often, because the bacterias of their intestine need to "know" the food that they help to digest.

Eggplant is not a good idea according to The Tortoise Table:

http://www.thetortoisetable.org.uk/plant-database/viewplants/?plant=3&c=8#.WanfFMaQyUk

@Taylor T. thank you!

@Bee62 I keep her diet pretty consistent too. She eats green and red lettuce, dandelions, turnip greens, and sometimes kale or other mixed greens as her base. For fruit she gets papaya, mango, or apples, sometimes an occasional banana or watermelon piece. Protein has been worms and hard boiled eggs, although lately she has been eating shrimp. She does like mazuri- any other pellets you suggest? For veggies she really likes butternut squash and zucchini. Excited and anxious for tomorrow. Will update you when I can.

Wishing for the best for Loretta! She is lucky you have her, anyway.

TammyJ said:

Wishing for the best for Loretta! She is lucky you have her, anyway.

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@TammyJ thank you! We are still trying to get better.

Hello, are there any news from the VET-check ?

@Bee62 not too much of an update. When we went to the vet last week he was happy to see her weight gain, how active she was, and that she was eating/pooping well. We decided to start doing her antibiotic shots every other day, but after the first day of doing that she dropped all of her weight she had gained. We have since started doing antibiotics everyday (and increase the dosage slightly) again. It's frustrating because she will drop the weight literally over night, it takes her a week to gain it back. She is now back to her weight she was at last Saturday. Eats and poops well still. I have thought a lot about the infant syndrome you told me about, and how a tort can eat and eat and eat and yet never gains weight and eventually dies. This is Loretta in a nutshell. Do you (or anyone else that might be reading this thread) have any idea how to prevent this? I am afraid to take her off her daily shots next Tuesday but wonder how many more shots her little legs can stand. Wish I had a better update. I guess what's important is that Loretta and I are still here, fighting to get healthy. ❤️

my sunshine!

mamameg said:

View attachment 217744 my sunshine!

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Thank you for the update and the pic. She doesen`t look sick on the foto.
It is soo sad to hear that she lost weight every time when she get no antibiotic shot. Could it be that the weight she loose is only water ?
Is she eating normally when she got no antibiotic shot or does she stopps eating and than loose weight ?
Could the VET do blood work ?

@Bee62 when we first started this process (I can tag you in another thread if you want to read details) I was concerned when we returned home from vacation (a friend was watching Loretta and the other animals) that she had a shell rot spot and was wondering when her shell would harden. I got her as a "3-6 month well started tort" in mid April. She was never active, never ate a lot. A lot of people (in this forum, our vet, etc) thought she looked fine and chalked up her sleepiness to being a baby still. But after we returned from vacation it was dramatically worse she was barely eating, always hiding, and hadn't pooped in weeks. She was at that point (3 weeks ago or so) 45 grams. I was told (by people in this forum) she was far too small for her age. I upped her heat (low 80s to mid 80s) and humidity (70-80% to 80-90%) and took her to the vet. When we put her on the antibiotics she instantly improved- her shell seemed to round- her shell rot was gone- and was gained weight/eventually pooped. At her highest she was 54 grams so the vet and I decided to take her off. Within days of taking her off her shell rot spot reappeared, her shell darkened on the bottom (see old photos in this thread) and she dropped to 35 grams. Since then we have yo-yoed with antibiotics and her weight. So, to answer your question, yes it could be water weight. That's what I first thought it was- but why is her weight continually dropping (and dropping from her original weight of 45 grams)? Truly feel at a loss of what to do, and yes if there is not a dramatic improvement by mid week she will be getting her blood tested. She looks great- but her shell and weight tell a different mysterious story.

@Bee62 she is still eating when she drops the weight, but not as much as when she is on the antibiotics.

mamameg said:

@Bee62 she is still eating when she drops the weight, but not as much as when she is on the antibiotics.

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That is weird. Mayby she has an infect ( bacterias ) in her body that is under control with the antibiotics but without the medicine makes her so sick that she don`t want much to eat and loose weight.
But this is only a guess. I am no VET.

Bee62 said:

That is weird. Mayby she has an infect ( bacterias ) in her body that is under control with the antibiotics but without the medicine makes her so sick that she don`t want much to eat and loose weight.
But this is only a guess. I am no VET.

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@Bee62 Maybe. It's just crazy when she can drop 7-10 grams in a night. I just don't know. We will see on Tuesday when we step away from the injections again. She's definitely over them- poor thing.