Giving a Tortoise Medication....

[stephiibean]

Hello.

Can someone please offer some words for wisdom.
My friend has a horsefield tortoise that currently has to have some medication. However he isn't eating anything so she can't put it on food (she's even tried using enticing treats like cucumber which didn't work) and is having a really hard time trying to syringe it into his mouth.

Does anyone have any advice on the best way to give him his meds?

*I'm not sure what the issue is, I think it's something to do with not eating? I really can't tell you much more I'm just trying to help a friend out.*

Thank you for any help offered.
We're UK based if that makes any difference?

 

[stephiibean]

Also for anyone on here who may remember this is stephiiberrybean, I use to be a regular active member. I have a Leopard Tortoise called Squirt

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I had to have a stomach tube inserted.(The avatar photo) Because I could not force anything into a tortoises mouth.
I don't know about a Horsefield, but a Redfoot can pull in his head and then pull the spiny legs in on top of the head.
Maybe someone else knows of a trick.

 

[Yvonne G]

You have to grab his head behind the jaws and hold on tight. Sometimes if you hold the tortoise facing the ground he'll extend his front legs and head to try to reach for the ground. Then you grab him. If you use a thin, hard piece of plastic (a credit card is too thick) you can lay it up against the side of his mouth and try to get it between the upper and lower beak, then you can pry the mouth open.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Thanks Yvonne.
A tip that I might have to try myself................

 

[CourtneyG]

You can also tickle the back of the carapace by the back feet they sometimes poke out when you do that. Constant pressure on the side of the jaws also makes them open up, but be quick to place something long and flat in between the beak to prevent them from closing their mouth.

 

[CourtneyG]

You can also tickle the back of the carapace by the back feet they sometimes poke their head out when you do that. Be quick to shove both index fingers on either side of the head to catch it. Use constant gentle pressure with your fingers right behind their jaw to push (when your fingers go in they bend, so to push the head out you are just straightening them) do not pull the head out with other fingers, you have to be careful since they have necks like birds in that they can be snapped easily if you are too forceful or if you pull on the head to hard. Their muscles type tire out easily, so in a game of stamina, you win so there is no need to pull on the head. With the constant pressure behind the jaw they tire out quickly and the head comes out easily.
How to know how much pressure to use? When you start to straighten your fingers make sure the tort cannot pull their head back in and bend your fingers or slip out from between your fingers, when you actually do it, you very quickly get a sense for how much pressure to use. Going slow is key when pushing the head out.

Just remember the bottom jaw, the mandible, is not fused like ours, it floats, being too forceful with one side of the jaw can break it. Try to make sure the pressure is even. You can do a thin peice of plastic, but go in close to the front of the beak, it is safer than just one side of the beak taking all the pressure.

Constant pressure on the side of the jaws also makes them open up, but be quick to place something long, sturdy, and flat(like a tongue depressor) in between the beak to prevent them from closing their mouth, if it is strong enough you can gently start to twist it to open the mouth, make sure to place the syringe in the back of the throat, inject slowly so they have time to swollow adquetly to prevent aspiration, where liquid gets in the lungs.

If tubing measure the distance from the start of the jaw(head being fully extended) to the middle of their plastron, mark that on the tube, that will be the length of tube that should go in. Before inserting make sure you let the medicine and or liquid food mix fill the tube right before you get to the opening at the end of the tube, that way you are not putting much air in the stomach, which can cause a lot of discomfort. Lube the tube and slowly insert the tube down the throat, I find it easier to hold the tortoise verticle while doing this part, and keep going until you meet resistance, if you are far away from the mark, you accidently went down the trachea, just gently pull back halfway out and re-try inserting, it almost normally should not go down the trachea, but just incase. When the tube is in the stomach hold the tortoise horizontally now before injecting the solution. Push down on the plunger slowly, your vet should have given you a reccomendation of how much to inject, but for most small torts 1-6cc is enough. If the solution comes up into the mouth, you have injected to much. Hold the tortoise at an angle, close to verticle but not quite we do not need the contents of the stomach also coming out, with the head facing the floor and pull the tube out quickly but gently and let the tort expel the excess fluid from their throat, when the they stop clean their face and nose off and put them back in their warm tank. Take measurement of how much you inserted into their stomach and take half a cc off of that number, use that new number when treating next time to hopefully prevent another overflow.

Medicating, follow vets instructions, if they vomit up food or if new or current symptoms get worse, call your vet immediately. Some pain medications can make reptiles nauseous with use over time.

For feeding purposes, wait 3 days in between feeding, that way the stomach should be close to/or empty.

*Note* when the tube is inserted you can remove whatever it is you are using to prop the mouth open, they keep their mouth open while inserting, they might bite down on the tube during injection, but normally not hard enought to pinch the tube off.