Introducing Garrett, the rescued Russian tortoise.
I found Garrett in an ad on Craigslist advertising a Russian tortoise with his cage and accessories for dirt cheap, which was a red flag for a sick tortoise. In my experience, when someone has taken proper care of an animal and invested time and money into it, they know what they are "worth", and charge rehoming fees accordingly. That, or they go to good homes for free. More often than not, a cheap price is indicative of an animal that is no longer wanted, and that rarely happens overnight. In these cases, unfortunately, often the animal's condition reflects the owner's declining interest. This particular owner's interest had been declining for six years.
I contacted the owner, asked enough questions to confirm my suspicions, and reserved my place to come see the tortoise and we went this morning to pick it up.
This is how we got him.
He lived in this cage since he was purchased six years ago with his owner in Seattle, Washington. He has never had a UV bulb or been outside, and has only ever been fed iceberg lettuce.
I'm not sure of the gallon capacity of his tank, but here's his cage next to my foot (size 9) for size reference.
When we took him home and inspected him closer, we saw that his substrate was moldy and compacted, and he had a typical case of doo-doo-shell, so our first course of action was a warm bath.
Here are some before and after.
And the doo-doo cake.
Here he is enjoying (hating) probably his first bath ever.
After a good scrubbing (and I mean GOOD scrubbing) he was like a shiny new tort.
(I can tell he really likes it when I do that on account of the way he flails his arms like he's having fun)
I built him a very quick little barrier that I could put him in and watch him as he got accustomed to the front yard, and to our delight after a few laps he started eating the grass! At first he seemed afraid of it and wasn't sure how to walk on it, but eventually he came around.
He liked it so much he was trying reeeeally hard to get out so he could come thank me.
All things considered, he seems to be a hopeful case for a strong recovery. He's ready eating and he's very very active and inquisitive, and he's FAST. Reeeeeaally fast.
Initially when I asked for pictures of the tortoise from the owner I got this and his shell looked strange to me.
After asking around a bit on the forum about his condition someone mentioned MBD. That tip, coupled with my expert use of the Google, led me to believe that Metabolic Bone Disease is the reason for his misshapen shell. One of the symptoms of MBD I found listed on a Russian tortoise website was that the tortoise's shell would look too small for it's body. That's what it looks like to me, and that's why we named him Garrett; after a friend of ours that was known for wearing shirts too small for his body.
Here are some more pictures of him close up.
Does anyone have any experience rehabbing tortoises with MBD? With what I've learned so far, proper husbandry is the best remedy and Russian tortoises can make a full recovery if they are not too far gone. We've already got him under UVB and he will be out daily, as well as receiving a total dietary makeover with calcium supplements. I'm just wondering if anyone had any experience or tips or cautions for is to be aware of. We'll be posting more updates as we come along.
Right now his stats are:
Age: 6 years
Weight: 1.4 lbs
Length: 4.4 inches
Width: 4.4 inches
Height: 3 inches
If anyone has any experience or tips MBD or Russian tortoises in general it would be much appreciated.
Thank you!
I found Garrett in an ad on Craigslist advertising a Russian tortoise with his cage and accessories for dirt cheap, which was a red flag for a sick tortoise. In my experience, when someone has taken proper care of an animal and invested time and money into it, they know what they are "worth", and charge rehoming fees accordingly. That, or they go to good homes for free. More often than not, a cheap price is indicative of an animal that is no longer wanted, and that rarely happens overnight. In these cases, unfortunately, often the animal's condition reflects the owner's declining interest. This particular owner's interest had been declining for six years.
I contacted the owner, asked enough questions to confirm my suspicions, and reserved my place to come see the tortoise and we went this morning to pick it up.
This is how we got him.
He lived in this cage since he was purchased six years ago with his owner in Seattle, Washington. He has never had a UV bulb or been outside, and has only ever been fed iceberg lettuce.
I'm not sure of the gallon capacity of his tank, but here's his cage next to my foot (size 9) for size reference.
When we took him home and inspected him closer, we saw that his substrate was moldy and compacted, and he had a typical case of doo-doo-shell, so our first course of action was a warm bath.
Here are some before and after.
And the doo-doo cake.
Here he is enjoying (hating) probably his first bath ever.
After a good scrubbing (and I mean GOOD scrubbing) he was like a shiny new tort.
(I can tell he really likes it when I do that on account of the way he flails his arms like he's having fun)
I built him a very quick little barrier that I could put him in and watch him as he got accustomed to the front yard, and to our delight after a few laps he started eating the grass! At first he seemed afraid of it and wasn't sure how to walk on it, but eventually he came around.
He liked it so much he was trying reeeeally hard to get out so he could come thank me.
All things considered, he seems to be a hopeful case for a strong recovery. He's ready eating and he's very very active and inquisitive, and he's FAST. Reeeeeaally fast.
Initially when I asked for pictures of the tortoise from the owner I got this and his shell looked strange to me.
After asking around a bit on the forum about his condition someone mentioned MBD. That tip, coupled with my expert use of the Google, led me to believe that Metabolic Bone Disease is the reason for his misshapen shell. One of the symptoms of MBD I found listed on a Russian tortoise website was that the tortoise's shell would look too small for it's body. That's what it looks like to me, and that's why we named him Garrett; after a friend of ours that was known for wearing shirts too small for his body.
Here are some more pictures of him close up.
Does anyone have any experience rehabbing tortoises with MBD? With what I've learned so far, proper husbandry is the best remedy and Russian tortoises can make a full recovery if they are not too far gone. We've already got him under UVB and he will be out daily, as well as receiving a total dietary makeover with calcium supplements. I'm just wondering if anyone had any experience or tips or cautions for is to be aware of. We'll be posting more updates as we come along.
Right now his stats are:
Age: 6 years
Weight: 1.4 lbs
Length: 4.4 inches
Width: 4.4 inches
Height: 3 inches
If anyone has any experience or tips MBD or Russian tortoises in general it would be much appreciated.
Thank you!