Amanda Thompson
New Member
- Joined
- Jul 27, 2015
- Messages
- 3
I just thought I would share my experience with a very poorly baby tortoise. I have two female, year old, Horsefield tortoises and while one was doing very well, the other was failing to thrive. I went on every forum I could and read so many different treatments ranging from soaking them in liquidised carrots to stomached tubing and veterinary gas chambers. Despite all these efforts, it seemed the little tortoises usually went on to die. I am a veterinary nurse and decided to experiment with soaks. (I was concerned that stomache tubing on such a little creature could cause more problems that it solves.) I made a dextrose saline solution by mixing 1teaspoon of salt and one teaspoon of sugar with half a pint of boiling water. I also added 1teaspoon on calcium and 1teaspoon of vitamin & mineral for good measure. The tortoise was shrunken looking with a puckered looking shell and felt very light compared to her larger, smooth shelled sister. She was not eating, drinking or passing anything. Although still alive, she remained in her shell and very inactive. You could not see her eyes as they were sunken due to dehydration. I added 4 tablespoons of this mixture to half a pint of warm water and bathed her daily for a week. After one week, she was active, eating well and passing faeces. I continued for a few more days and she went from strength to strength. She has now caught up with her sister and I still bathe her daily but just in water. I really thought there was no hope but was surprised at how successful this was.
