Neurological Issue in Hermann's Tort??

[threeboxerlover]

I'm not really asking a question here, I just wanted to share the info we got from the vet yesterday and maybe asks for thoughts or comments? We have a 2 year old little Hermanns (Franklin) and both my daughter and I have gotten soooo much help from the people here on this forum every time we've had a question or problem. Anyway - we just recently got another little tort (Eleanor), also a Hermanns (they are housed separately). Watching Eleanor eat, grow, explore, etc over the past couple months it became apparent to us that she was growing much faster than Frank and is a much better eater. Frank is not underweight for his size - he just is small. We thought since they grow till 7 or 10, and given Hermanns don't get that big - that this was normal. And of course just like people, they're all unique! But the difference in the appearance of their eyes was concerning so we took Franklin to a reptile vet (as an aside, Franks eyes have always looked the same so it wasn't like there was some sudden change or anything). After examining him the vet concluded that he cannot blink. He can close his eyes to sleep, but doesn't have the blink reflex. She also believes he is blind (although I'm not convinced of that) and that it all stems from some neurological problem (he holds his one back leg weird sometimes). He also has one scute that is not symmetrical. We left with antibiotic drops for his eyes and eye lube which we'll need to use on him for the rest of his life. Other than being small for his age and his eyes, they said he was well hydrated, no pyramiding and looked good. He is being rechecked in 3 weeks. Has anyone ever heard of something like this? Lacking a blink reflex?

 

[Yvonne G]

Actually, now that you mention it, I"ve never seen any of my tortoises "blink." If he can close his eyes when he sleeps, I would think everything is ok. When he eats does it look like he has trouble seeing the food? I mean, does he bite at air instead of the food?

Hopefully your vet is experienced with tortoises and is giving you information you can trust.

 

[threeboxerlover]

Actually, now that you mention it, I"ve never seen any of my tortoises "blink." If he can close his eyes when he sleeps, I would think everything is ok. When he eats does it look like he has trouble seeing the food? I mean, does he bite at air instead of the food?

Hopefully your vet is experienced with tortoises and is giving you information you can trust.

Hi - thank you for your response. Yes he does sometimes bite at the air, but not always. It's weird. He eats his greens very well, not as good with eating the Mazuri. We got the vet from the recommended list here and they seem to know what they're doing. A lot of the techs keep torts and so he had a whole army of people coming in to look at him lol. I have had some questionable experiences with "specialist" vets in the past, which is why I thought maybe someone experienced here may have some ideas/suggestions. The doctor did put a light right up to his eye and he didn't seem to even notice - but on the flip side, he finds his way around his habitat and when you reach in to get him, he knows it. So he must see something..... He is handled every day so he did fine with the trip to the vet and the exam. He wasn't thrilled, but he did okay. He didn't start to get stressed until the end of the visit. I'm worried about the long term effects of a "neurological" problem and the fact that they think he is really small..... Right now I'm trying to find pictures of a 2 year old Hermanns to try to compare the shape of scutes and his size.