New Rescue Leopard. Suggestions welcome!

[Floof]

I sure hope so! He's certainly determined to pull through! I have never seen such a spirited little tort. He acts as though nothing is wrong!

Here is a sight I was SO thrilled to see this morning... When I put down his food, he didn't waste a single second diving in! I knew he was at least eating a little--disappearing food and bowel movements--but this is the first time I've seen him eat more than one bite. And with the gusto of a healthy tortoise, at that!

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[Jtort]

Poor little guy, he's so cute though. Wishing you both lots of luck

 

[Sh3wulf]

Great to see him eating. Did you try PM'ing Wellington or Tom or someone regarding the shell crack? Just thinking with all their experience might have a suggestion for you
My husband laughs at me, but I use glue and electrical tape on my wounds. (Which are numerous cause I'm a clutz) I'm a big suck about the idea of stitches so glue and tape.

 

[ShellyTurtlesCats]

Aw. So glad he/she is eating!! Look at that precious face

 

[Laura]

due to his fragile state, I think id cut his food up a bit just to make it that much easier..
fingers crossed!

 

[nate.mann]

humble beginning. he will pull through, hes a fighter and so are you. im rescuing a leopard either today or tomorrow, hes about six years old, and in TERRIBLE shape. best of luck to you both. im going to message Tom and direct him to this thread to help you out.


Chive On!

 

[Floof]

Don't kniw why, PMing someone never crossed my mind. Haha. Thank you, Nate, for passing on the thread to Tom!

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[Yvonne G]

Just thinking out loud here...internal pressure building up and causing the fragile new growth to split. Makes me think that you don't want to get this baby eating a whole lot or growing too fast until you can get him strengthened. Calcium and sunshine.

They make liquid bird vitamins. I use that in the soaking water for hatchlings all the time. That along with the liquid calcium plus plenty of sunshine ought to get him strengthened up in no time.

You're doing a very good job with this baby. I surely hope he makes it.

Just an odd note: in one of the first pictures where you have a close-up of his legs, the skin looks very loose like there's no meat behind it.

He's very fragile. Be gentle with him.

 

[Floof]

Yvonne, thanks so much for the input! That makes a LOT of sense. I'll be careful in regards to his food intake until he's hardened up and healed some.

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---

And yes, he is very skinny...

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[nate.mann]

Don't kniw why, PMing someone never crossed my mind. Haha. Thank you, Nate, for passing on the thread to Tom!

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haha anytime.


Chive On!

 

[Floof]

Quickie update. The Diatomaceous Earth is doing its job! Woke up to a solid poop in his box this morning!

Picked up liquid bird vitamins at Petco finally the other night, using those in addition to squash and liquid calcium in his soaks now.

 

[nate.mann]

Quickie update. The Diatomaceous Earth is doing its job! Woke up to a solid poop in his box this morning!

Picked up liquid bird vitamins at Petco finally the other night, using those in addition to squash and liquid calcium in his soaks now.

awright! haha. good job. let us know how it goes


0.1.0 Russian Tortoise
0.0.1 Leopard Tortoise
Chive On!

 

[Floof]

A very overdue update...

Like with any sick baby, it's been touch and go. The good news is, he has been improving a lot! His shell is starting to calcify... At first I was scared and thought his shell was getting really dry--then I realized, no, that's just the calcium finally building back up in his bones!!! He was SO deficient, it had affected the color of his carapace. Ugh!



He has been outside for all but 4 days since I got him, which I'm sure helped IMMENSELY! Unfortunately, yesterday marked the official start of cold weather, so he's inside under a spare Reptisun 10.0 til further notice.

He hasn't gained any weight yet, but he is eating. I have been soaking in liquid calcium/bird vitamins every morning. I'm contemplating adding squash back into the soaks now that his splitting shell issue has resolved. With his shell calcifying, I think it's finally safe to start packing on some weight.

With that in mind, I have started introducing mazuri. He doesn't recognize it as food just yet...

One thing is certain. This little guy is a FIGHTER! I have never seen a tortoise in such bad shape, yet here he is still holding on the best he can.

He was a little sluggish when I got home today. Hopefully it's just that he missed his morning soak and that it's late (past his bedtime, according to the sun that set two hours ago!).

Keep your fingers crossed for him!



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[nate.mann]

A very overdue update...

Like with any sick baby, it's been touch and go. The good news is, he has been improving a lot! His shell is starting to calcify... At first I was scared and thought his shell was getting really dry--then I realized, no, that's just the calcium finally building back up in his bones!!! He was SO deficient, it had affected the color of his carapace. Ugh!



He has been outside for all but 4 days since I got him, which I'm sure helped IMMENSELY! Unfortunately, yesterday marked the official start of cold weather, so he's inside under a spare Reptisun 10.0 til further notice.

He hasn't gained any weight yet, but he is eating. I have been soaking in liquid calcium/bird vitamins every morning. I'm contemplating adding squash back into the soaks now that his splitting shell issue has resolved. With his shell calcifying, I think it's finally safe to start packing on some weight.

With that in mind, I have started introducing mazuri. He doesn't recognize it as food just yet...

One thing is certain. This little guy is a FIGHTER! I have never seen a tortoise in such bad shape, yet here he is still holding on the best he can.

He was a little sluggish when I got home today. Hopefully it's just that he missed his morning soak and that it's late (past his bedtime, according to the sun that set two hours ago!).

Keep your fingers crossed for him!



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thats great. im glad to hear hes improving.


0.1.0 Sonoran Desert Tortoise
0.0.1 Leopard Tortoise
1.0.0 Bluenose Pitbull/American Bulldog

 

[Sh3wulf]

Thanks for updating. Hope he keeps improving and will keep the positive energy flowing your direction.

 

[Irish]

Best wishes to you

 

[Floof]

It's official. This is a cursed weekend for me.

Tomorrow is the 1 year anniversary of my beardie boy passing away. Actually, if you go by day of the week, today is the anniversary.

The little Leo passed away overnight.

He'd been sluggish the past couple days. Perhaps stressed from the sudden move indoors, before I had a chance to get temps right in his back up tank. Or maybe the stress of illness finally took its toll.

Either way... I am so very sad for my shelled baby. He hung in there a lot longer than I ever expected, but that doesn't make the hurt any less.

Rest in Peace, my little darling.


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[nate.mann]

im very sorry. its never easy. im glad you took good care of him for the remainder of his short, short life.


0.1.0 Sonoran Desert Tortoise
0.0.1 Leopard Tortoise
1.0.0 Bluenose Pitbull/American Bulldog

 

[In2Ndo]

A very overdue update...

Hi, I found that the best calcium is one made at home.
Use white eggshells wash them good taking the inner skin off and let them dry. Grind them into a powder and sprinkle it over the food.
This works very fast and is 99% safe since is natural. Is even safe for human consumption . Is how we cured my little brothers lack of calcium when he was months old. and is what I give my 25 year old Leopard tortoise.
Once healthy, give it every other month every day... or it can became too much calcium.


Good Luck

 

[Yvonne G]

A very overdue update...

Hi, I found that the best calcium is one made at home.
Use white eggshells wash them good taking the inner skin off and let them dry. Grind them into a powder and sprinkle it over the food.
This works very fast and is 99% safe since is natural. Is even safe for human consumption . Is how we cured my little brothers lack of calcium when he was months old. and is what I give my 25 year old Leopard tortoise.
Once healthy, give it every other month every day... or it can became too much calcium.


Good Luck

Hi In2Ndo:

Here's what one of our more knowledgeable members (madkins007) had to say about feeding eggs shells as calcium supplement:

"Bird eggs are not just calcium- they also contain grit and other ingredients. Store-bought chicken eggs also contain heavy metals. There are also a couple other concerns-
- sharp edges of the shell in the neck and stomach
- poor calcium absorption. Most animals do not get a lot of calcium content from lump calcium- it just does not dissolve as well as fine powders or the stuff in plant cells."