Almost lost her...

[Lillysmytort]

We almost lost Lilly... Two trips to the vet, she hadn't eaten in weeks. Nothing on the X-rays, nothing in her stool. On paper she was fine, but she wasn't eating. At all.

As a last ditch effort we changed out her lights, and BAM... She's eating like it's her job!! I'm super happy!

I love my girl!

The pic is of her first meal in more than 3 weeks...

 

[Levi the Leopard]

I'm glad to hear that Lilly is eating

A switch of the lights and that was it, huh?

Can you share more details for us to learn? What bulbs were you using before and what did you switch to? Was it the temperature from the bulb that made the difference?

 

[Laura]

I had one that didn't eat and placed a figurine in with it and that worked!

 

[Tom]

Yes. Please share the details so that others may learn.

 

[laramill]

So glad to hear you were able to get her to eat! That had to be scary...

but like everyone else, I want more details, too!

 

[Lillysmytort]

The issues all started when I changed her bedding to the coca coir... As some of you will remember, I called it evil... It was sticking to everything and had even gotten into her eye. That's when the issues started. She wouldn't open her eye and was eating like she was before. She was getting daily soaks to help her out. Then she stopped eating all together. Everyone was saying that she wouldn't starve herself so I didn't worry about it. Two weeks went by and there was nothing. Brought her to the vet, they found nothing wrong. Brought her home, continued with the soaks and nothing. I changed her greens. Nothing. Changed her calcium. Nothing.

Meanwhile, she's getting weaker and weaker. She would walk out of her hide and plop down in the heat and turn around after awhile and go back under cover. Some days she wouldn't even come out. Every now and then I would touch her to see if she would move.

I never EVER thought that her lights were the issue. I had gotten her the MVB and for a little while she was loving it. At some point, either the UVB or the UVA stopped working. And there's no way to know if the light still shines. So the only thing she was getting was heat and light, no "solar vitamins".

Brought her back to the vet, again, nothing wrong, no explanation.

Yesterday, while out and about I was thinking and worrying about her, I thought, before a third trip to the doc to most likely have her put down, I change everything. Lights, hide, food and water dish. The only thing I had to change before fixing lunch for the family, was the lights. I took out the MVB and placed the generic UVB bulb from pet smart in the fixture, turned her heater on and let her be.

6 hours later I went in to check temps and just to check on her, she was standing on her hide looking at me with both eyes. JOYUS RAPTURE!!! I put her directly in a soak and when she was done I thought I would try a tomato, I know they are treats but at this point I'll try anything. She devoured it. The next day, after yet another soak I tried a leaf of romain... Done deal. She loved it. She ate 4 descent sized leaves.

She isn't 100% yet, but she's on her way I think!!

 

[laramill]

Wow, that's amazing! So glad to hear she's feeling better.

6 hours though? That's all it took? WOW. How old was the MVB?

Well, I hope she keeps on this path-- Let us know. You must feel so relieved to have her improving.
Good luck!

 

[mikeh]

Sounds bizarre! What wattage was the MVB and what wattage is this "generic UVB" bulb?
Good to gear the tort is doing better.

 

[Lillysmytort]

The MVB was only a month or two... That's why we never suspected it.