Herman's Tortoise Rehab.

[tony79]

First off, please don't yell at me, I didn't do this to him. I answered an ad from a guy who was moving, and couldn't just leave him behind.
I've switched Franklin's diet over to as many mixed greens as I can find, as well as leftover veggie bits from salad making. For the first month, we were dusting all of his food with calcium, and a powdered plant supplement, to get his levels back up, then cut it back to 3 times a week. He gets a soak 3-5 times a week, depending on how much of a mess he makes of himself. His light is a mixed UV A/B heat lamp (mercury vapor??). He goes in on the weekend for a checkup, and a trim.
Is there anything else, aside from getting him outside, once the snow melts to get Franklin back in shape? He's pretty active for most of the day, and moves way faster than I thought a tortoise could, when he's out for exercise.
He's eating a pile of greens about 1 1/4 times his size most days.

 

[JoesMum]

It sounds like Franklin is doing just fine under your care. Well done

Once that beak is trimmed up, I think you have little to worry about.

A tiny pinch of calcium powder three times a week is all that's needed. Overdoing it can lead to kidney/bladder stones.

Other than that, keep up with the variety of greens. Stay away from sweet foods - fruit, carrot, bell pepper, tomato... - as your tort can't digest sugars properly.

Be aware that the UVB output of your MVB will drop dramatically long before the bulb blows, typically after 6-9 months. You will need to replace it frequently.

 

[tony79]

Thanks, I didn't know about the bulb decay. If his diet and stuff is right, will the rest of his shell growth straighten out a bit as he finishes growing, or is it going to continue pyramiding? I know the sections that he already has aren't going to change, but I'm hoping his new growth will be a bit better. I was told he's about 6 years old, so he should have a couple of years of growth left, correct?

 

[JoesMum]

Thanks, I didn't know about the bulb decay. If his diet and stuff is right, will the rest of his shell growth straighten out a bit as he finishes growing, or is it going to continue pyramiding? I know the sections that he already has aren't going to change, but I'm hoping his new growth will be a bit better. I was told he's about 6 years old, so he should have a couple of years of growth left, correct?

Age is anyone's guess unless you know the hatch date.

The pyramidding won't disappear, but it will become less obvious as a tort grows

 

[tony79]

Thanks for the info.

 

[tony79]

Good call on the new bulb. Bought him a new one this afternoon (Ugh, $70 later), and he's been lounging around under it all afternoon. Turns out the lamp that came with him hadn't been replaced since 2011.

 

[Carol S]

Good call on the new bulb. Bought him a new one this afternoon (Ugh, $70 later), and he's been lounging around under it all afternoon. Turns out the lamp that came with him hadn't been replaced since 2011.

When it is time to replace your bulb, check out petmountain.com, amazon.com and LLLreptile.com as they are a lot cheaper than going to a petstore. I normally pay $40-50 for my ZooMed Powersun MVB. ZooMed has a 1 year warranty, so save your receipt and the box that it came in. If the bulb goes bad, all you have to do is mail the bulb to ZooMed with a copy of your receipt and they will send you a new one.

 

[tony79]

Sweet, thanks. Do they deliver to Canada? Franklin's digging the light. He's right in the hotspot with everything stretched out as far as it can go.