New member from Iowa

[Nico96]

Hi! I'm Nico and my tortoise's name is Bowser. He's around 5 years old and I'm worried about him. His leg is swollen and the vet put him on antibiotics for 10 days. They didn't really help and during that time Bowser stopped eating but would drink water and soak in his bowl. The vet did a tube feeding on him and now he's eating a little bit (banana, apple) but won't eat any lettuce which he ate in the past. I have noticed that his leg is worse. It's more swollen and he can't use it at all. I don't know what could be wrong with it, an x-ray is expensive. Any ideas?

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Nico, and welcome to the Forum!

I'm thinking that Bowser is a box turtle, and judging from the looks of his shell right below the tail, I'm guessing that he has been chewed on by something. It probably broke the bone in his leg.

It looks like Bowser is pretty overweight and also might be suffering from Metabolic Bone Disease (MBD). Does he (I also think 'he's' a 'she') ever get outside in the sun?

Box turtles, when young like Bowser, eat quite a bit of animal matter...worms, crickets, cut up chicken, trout chow, etc.

I had a box turtle with a leg similar to your turtle's. There wasn't anything that could be done for it except let nature take its course. Eventually the leg healed on its own, but he was never able to draw it back up, and couldn't use it very well.

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I just looked at your picture again.

Take him out into the sun (very bright light) and gently pull down the skin at that crease in the middle of the leg. See if there might be something wrapped around the leg (similar to a tourniquet)...like a hair, or a string.