Baby turtle injured by a cat, stopped eating

[micko3193]

Hi I have this baby turtle, 2 months old, I am not sure which species. He was doing really well, walking, eating, but then a week ago I found him on his back on the floor. He might have spent hours like that. He had two dots on each side of his shell, obviously marks of cat teeth, and two squares of his shell on his lower back were slightly injured. There was a small red discharge. His shell healed since then, but hasn't eaten in 8 days. He is also barely walking, and seems to have issues with his back legs in particular. He drinks water. He tried to eat a few times, that I saw him, but he seems to have issues with biting and chewing. He used to eat peas, cabbage, tomato and clover. Also, his shell is getting softer. I have no reptile veterinarian anywhere near. Please help me save him. His name is Lucky.

What would you suggest doing to make him eat. Is he possibly fighting some infection? Or is he not eating because of the stress? Or something else? Here is a picture of him.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

I'm not sure if something can be done, other than let him heal on his own. But you can help him with proper care:
1. Temperature: should be around 27-28C, at night around 25-25C.
2. Give him daily warm soaks: put some water, 30-31C in a bowl or container, about 1 cm (up to level where top and bottom shell meet). Put him in a bowl for 15-30 minutes. Keep water warm (maybe use two bowls for that and move him from one to another). If you see that his eyes are swollen, he might need baby food soaks.
3. He needs proper diet and calcium supplements. It's not fruit-eating specie - no more tomatoes, please. Clover is fine, dandelions - too. Try to find mulberry or hibiscus leaves (maybe they grow in gardens in Serbia, I'm not sure). From a grocery store you can get endive, cale, escarole, raddicio, romaine lettuce. Calcium might be supplemented as powder (sprinkle a bit over greens) - if there is a petshop nearby get it there.
4. He needs ultraviolet for proper calcium ingestion - either sunlight (direct, not through the window) or UVB lamp (you need T5 HO long straight fluorescent tube).
5. I hope you won't let him to roam around your house and he is kept in the enclosure. If not - this need to be fixed asap. Any large plastic container will work for the beginning.

Please, check this thread on basics of tortoise care: https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/i...se-read-this-first.202363/page-5#post-2086367
At the end there is a link to temperate species care sheet.

I really hope, more experienced members can give better advice..

 

[micko3193]

Thanks for your answer. Yes, he is properly enclosed, we just had this one incident with a cat. He was kept warm, maybe not as warm as you suggested, so I will work on that. I soak him, but I have never done it in warm water, and never as long as you suggested, hope that will help. His eyes might be a bit swollen. I will also remove tomato from his diet, and get some calcium powder, but for the last eight days he hasn't eaten anything, I am not sure if I will be able to make his ingest some calcium. Thank you, I'll post any updates as they happen.

 

[PollyAda]

Please read this thread top to bottom and ask further questions if you're unsure on any of the points: Thread 'Info For New People. Please Read This First.' https://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/info-for-new-people-please-read-this-first.202363/

Basking spot needs to be 35-37 degrees Celsius for temperate species.

 

[micko3193]

Hi, thank you for the resource. I am reading into it. The problem with the baby is that he stopped eating after the injury, and I am looking into suggestions how to treat him in recovery. Before the injury he was thriving, eating well, growing really fast, lots of space to roam around, etc.

 

[Yvonne G]

It was pretty traumatic for him to almost be eaten by the monster. It will take some time for him to get over it. In the meantime, you can help by giving him lots of cover. The cover will make him feel more secure and start to relax. Give him nice warm soaks daily.

 

[Alex and the Redfoot]

Thanks for your answer. Yes, he is properly enclosed, we just had this one incident with a cat. He was kept warm, maybe not as warm as you suggested, so I will work on that. I soak him, but I have never done it in warm water, and never as long as you suggested, hope that will help. His eyes might be a bit swollen. I will also remove tomato from his diet, and get some calcium powder, but for the last eight days he hasn't eaten anything, I am not sure if I will be able to make his ingest some calcium. Thank you, I'll post any updates as they happen.

1. Ok, I'm glad you care for him properly and really hope he will be fine.

2. Sometimes starving tortoises have their eyes swollen shut and cannot eat on their own. In that case half/third of glass of baby carrot food is added to the soaking water. I know it's a bit strange. However this method saved some tortoises. Supposedly, some nutrients could be absorbed through neck skin or cloaka.

3. Yes, I understand, that forcing him to eat calcium or anything is not gonna work. Maybe he can eat wet and mushed tortoise pellets: Mazuri (Nutrazu in EU) or ZooMed Grassland, for example.