Well now that you know tell me!
Case File on Darth
- Thread starter Kapidolo Farms
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It's a little plastic cup
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So....He is eating a large volume daily. He does not seem to want to drink, so his daily ration is at one or two heads of romaine with chopped straw and his pain med dribble on it. Then as much MulberryEscarole (Santa Barbara Mix) as he can eat. He's urinating daily and crapping only every few days. The fecal is less loose with all the hay mixed in, but it's hardly "sulcata firm". Yesterday he got a lode of snails, so a boost or protein and calcium to help bone and muscle.
His leg is getting moved under his power, but still does not supply locomotion to the effort of walking. The height of the peg has been good to allow him a large range of motion without weight pressure on the leg. The snails crawling on him seemed a bit irritating, and he would walk to get away from them as they crawled (if that's what you call it when a snail moves) on his legs and shell.
For additional exercise he gets put in the shade of a palm tree trunk. The sun moves and the shade moves, so he moves to keep up with it.
No odor from the incision for the surgery, no weeping or discharge as best as I can tell. But the incision is so far up into the leg pit and along the front of the leg, I have not seen the actual incision. That would require a tussle with him on the leg and I won't do that at this point.
His leg is getting moved under his power, but still does not supply locomotion to the effort of walking. The height of the peg has been good to allow him a large range of motion without weight pressure on the leg. The snails crawling on him seemed a bit irritating, and he would walk to get away from them as they crawled (if that's what you call it when a snail moves) on his legs and shell.
For additional exercise he gets put in the shade of a palm tree trunk. The sun moves and the shade moves, so he moves to keep up with it.
No odor from the incision for the surgery, no weeping or discharge as best as I can tell. But the incision is so far up into the leg pit and along the front of the leg, I have not seen the actual incision. That would require a tussle with him on the leg and I won't do that at this point.
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Darth is near completed through is course of pain meds and just a few more antibiotic injections for all the traditional treatment. Yesterday we got a visit from the mulberry angel, and we watched Darth wonder around in my yard some. He moves his leg very nearly the full range of motion, but he applies no weight to it at this point, and it provides no locomotion. I'm hoping with time he will do more than keep that leg choreographed in movement, and actually use it for propulsion. Dr. Boyer called to follow-up. I've rarely had a doctor for myself offer that much interest.
Will he push against your hand at all if you put it under that foot? I'm thinking just a little resistance, not as much as if he was walking on it? That would help get the muscles moving a little bit and firing. There are vet PT's out there that probably would have some ideas. But it sounds like he is doing great. Pain meds can mess with a tortoises Bal probably just like they do a humans. It can give them constipation sometimes. Thank you for the updates. It is very interesting.
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@leigti, I am in regular contact with Dr. Boyer, who is a global authority on reptile medicine, and he comments Darth's progress is as expected to better than expected. That no infection seems to have occurred is remarkable. The one other published study done on the leo, that tortoise did have a surgery associated infection. Dr. Boyer said he scrubbed the incision area multiple times before any incision was made and worked to keep the surgery field sterile. That seems to have paid off.
It might also be that the peg, propping up that left rear quadrant has keep fluid from accumulating in the area of the incision (my guess) such that there is no fluid build-up pressure which can also complicate things. Darth moves around in his make shift enclosure daily, I always put his food furthest away from his overnight resting spot.
He also has not had any issue with defecation. Romaine (dressed with hay) and mulberry are keeping him hydrated. When he had outside time on Tuesday he let loose quit a bit of fecal, no issue at all, and some petioles (that stem-like structure that holds the leaf to the branch) came through from the mulberry, so high fiber might be an understatement. His feces come out looking like green mud, but by the next day all you see is a mat of fiber. All those processes are working well.
Like any leg on any tortoise, when I touch it, no matter how gentle or unobtrusive, he pulls it in suddenly. He also just as quickly relaxes the leg too. But any grasping is not met with a relaxed response at all. Front legs, rear legs, injured leg or not. I plan to get him outside ever more frequently and let him sort out his mobility on his own. When set in the sun he warms up, starts to get too warm, and gets himself to the shade, that is a good driver for him to be motivated to move about. He does not seem depressed in any way, shape, or form. If I were to project onto him, he is taking his time to get better so he can go back to routine mating.
Meanwhile Phae, Darth's babe, has been digging around and nest building, no eggs as of this past weekend. But they are fickle egg layers.
It might also be that the peg, propping up that left rear quadrant has keep fluid from accumulating in the area of the incision (my guess) such that there is no fluid build-up pressure which can also complicate things. Darth moves around in his make shift enclosure daily, I always put his food furthest away from his overnight resting spot.
He also has not had any issue with defecation. Romaine (dressed with hay) and mulberry are keeping him hydrated. When he had outside time on Tuesday he let loose quit a bit of fecal, no issue at all, and some petioles (that stem-like structure that holds the leaf to the branch) came through from the mulberry, so high fiber might be an understatement. His feces come out looking like green mud, but by the next day all you see is a mat of fiber. All those processes are working well.
Like any leg on any tortoise, when I touch it, no matter how gentle or unobtrusive, he pulls it in suddenly. He also just as quickly relaxes the leg too. But any grasping is not met with a relaxed response at all. Front legs, rear legs, injured leg or not. I plan to get him outside ever more frequently and let him sort out his mobility on his own. When set in the sun he warms up, starts to get too warm, and gets himself to the shade, that is a good driver for him to be motivated to move about. He does not seem depressed in any way, shape, or form. If I were to project onto him, he is taking his time to get better so he can go back to routine mating.
Meanwhile Phae, Darth's babe, has been digging around and nest building, no eggs as of this past weekend. But they are fickle egg layers.
Hopefully Phae has fertilized ova. After you left I dug around in the nest and retrieved 19 eggs. They don't look very good, because, like I told you Saturday, Phae usually lays the eggs right off the bat, then works at building the nest and piling up the debris. So, she laid the eggs and the other female who shares the yard was also in the nest. She weighs 60lbs and Phae weighs upwards of 50lbs. The eggs just can't withstand that kind of weight on them. Most of them have a very big dent and part of the shell has broken from the dent. (Manouria eggs almost always have a small dent in them, but this was a big dent) At any rate, the eggs have been recovered and are now sitting in vermiculite waiting to grow babies.
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Darth went to see Dr. Boyer yesterday for the removal of sutures that held his skin together while it healed at the incision site. The plastic peg (weigh boat) was also removed.
He is actually pushing with that back leg now, it seemed like good timing to remove the peg. He was still a little dazed from the anesthesia used to calm him down for the suture removal until after lights out last evening. After a quick trip to H-mart before picking him up, I got several mellons, crazy good prices. Darth had a cantaloupe for breakfast this morning, washed, so skin, seeds, and all. Followed by some cactus pads and a pile of fresh mulberry. He has an great mulberry angel.
If there is one thing that can be said about these guys, their appetite is indomindable. I think he may have been willing to eat last night, but he is still a tortoise after all, and if they can do a dumb thing they will, I didn't want him eating while still dopey from the anesthesia. He made up for it today.
When I stop to think about all the things that could have gone wrong and did not, aside from the accident in the first place (which I guess we will never really know about) Darth has come through really well. It's easy to think about how tough he may be, or how easy the vet care may have been, but that's just it. The vet care was not easy, and that I am lucky enough to be near Dr. Boyer, and he is a good vet may make it seem easy, it was not. It took research, practice on deceased specimens, and some fortitude to pull Darth through all this. He's not totally out of the woods on this whole matter but so far along all seems good.
In a about one more week he will be outside in his So Cal bachelor pad. I've solicited him for some local 'hook-ups' but none of the local Mep babes owners' are into that kind of action. Even in California. No Californication for Darth for while longer.
He is actually pushing with that back leg now, it seemed like good timing to remove the peg. He was still a little dazed from the anesthesia used to calm him down for the suture removal until after lights out last evening. After a quick trip to H-mart before picking him up, I got several mellons, crazy good prices. Darth had a cantaloupe for breakfast this morning, washed, so skin, seeds, and all. Followed by some cactus pads and a pile of fresh mulberry. He has an great mulberry angel.
If there is one thing that can be said about these guys, their appetite is indomindable. I think he may have been willing to eat last night, but he is still a tortoise after all, and if they can do a dumb thing they will, I didn't want him eating while still dopey from the anesthesia. He made up for it today.
When I stop to think about all the things that could have gone wrong and did not, aside from the accident in the first place (which I guess we will never really know about) Darth has come through really well. It's easy to think about how tough he may be, or how easy the vet care may have been, but that's just it. The vet care was not easy, and that I am lucky enough to be near Dr. Boyer, and he is a good vet may make it seem easy, it was not. It took research, practice on deceased specimens, and some fortitude to pull Darth through all this. He's not totally out of the woods on this whole matter but so far along all seems good.
In a about one more week he will be outside in his So Cal bachelor pad. I've solicited him for some local 'hook-ups' but none of the local Mep babes owners' are into that kind of action. Even in California. No Californication for Darth for while longer.
Can we see a picture of Darth? He's 60lbs? How old is he? I have baby meps. I suspect it'll be a while before they weigh that much (despite how much they eat!)
Darth hatched in '85
wow, 30 years to get to 60 lbs. I don't know that i'll get to see that 
family history says "no".... BUT... I don't SMOKE so I say "YES"!!!!
family history says "no".... BUT... I don't SMOKE so I say "YES"!!!!
He weighed 26lbs at 13yr, 40lbs at 18yr and 56lbs at 25 years of age
Ahhhh! Thankyou! Closer milestones to look forward to!
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@teresaf some images of Darth in his new San Diego bachelor pad. It was barren, so I planted some palm fronds into a forest for him.
He still needs a wallow with water and drinking water. His night box is a continuing process. Right now our nights are in the high 60's so I'm not so worried.
He still needs a wallow with water and drinking water. His night box is a continuing process. Right now our nights are in the high 60's so I'm not so worried.
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You've given him a nice, big area. Lookin' good!
that is a really nice area for him. he's so pretty and smooth. I didn't realize these guys don't really change their looks as they get older. still looks like a baby! looks like you have to battle a lot of sand.
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It is semi stoned sand stone, it breaks up readily. Organic matter in in the first few inches, then the semi aggregated sand, then less aggregated sand. We just bought the house recently, the prior owner had shrubs right up on the house (bad idea). I removed all those shrubs, next I'll put a 2 to 4 foot gravel border around the house, and plant shrubs at that edge. It's not so bad, at least it's not hardpan.
you're not worried about inpaction? you could probably buy a load of dirt to have dumped in there and spread out. I do that for flower beds.
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I can't tell if you are asking a question or telling me my opinion on impaction. I am not worried, tortoises do not willy-nilly eat sand. Most of the enclosure is dried out lawn/not exposed sand, which is actually a sandy loam. The four concrete blocks are where his food is being placed, all several feet away from where the sandy soil is exposed. Darth has lived 99% of his life on soil with varying densities of grass, dead leaves, etc. Further, I do not anticiapte any concern for him to eat the gravel which I will use to put a weed barrier around the house.
In general it is the anxiety that keepers project onto their wards in micro enclosures made to look like a doll house that exhibit the odd behavior of eating the soil on which they walk. Soil eating is like when you go to a zoo and you see a cat or bear pacing their enclosure, it depicts something not right with the enclosure or diet. No tortoise that is otherwise doing well just eats sand. Though Darth is recuperating from a medical issue, his interest to eat sand is zero.
I think Teresa meant that sand might be stuck to his food - but you addressed that issue with the concrete blocks.
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