Please Read...At My Witts End...I Need Advice..

[sissyofone]

I got two female sulcatas from a bad situation. Piggy 6 yrs old and Shelly 8 yrs old . They were both kept in same enclosure for at least 6 yrs. Started out i thought Shelly had a RI so took them both to vet. Vet said no worries im doing everything right give it time. Vet gave me Panacur to deworm them. I dewormed Shelly i would offer her a piece of Squash when she opened her mouth i gave her her meds. No problem. Now shes doing great. Except shes became highly aggressive. She rams me and tries to bite. Thank goodness shes only say 6 lbs or so now. I still cant imagine getting bit by her. Im sure it would be painful. Now on to Piggy. Shed was only a little over 2 lbs at vet. I cant get her to go poop. Ive soaked her about an hour a day in 85 to 90° water daily. About a week ago i put mineral oil on her food and she went a very little bit. Then she quit eating again. So i took advice of a forum member and got her some food she was fed before which wad Romaine and Carrots and again she ate her fill over a two day period. I tried giving her panacur but to no avail. Piggy is the opposite of Shelly she dont take food from your hand. So the weirdest thing happened the day i got her Romaine i sat in her outside enclosure and when i first offered the romaine she took it from my hand when she came after the second piece i put panacur in her open mouth. "Yeah" for me or so i thought. She continued to eat that day but only a bite or two since and ive been unable to get her to open for anything let alone her meds. Im afraid if i grab her neck and make her open her mouth its gonna torment her more. What do i do...I feel horrible. I want to help her but i dont want to cause her harm trying to. All Advice Appreciated..

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****BUMP****

 

[nate.mann]

sorry youre going through this. you may want to wane the little one off the romaine and carrots by slowly adding in more good greens, and slowly reducing the amount of romaine/carrots. for the other things, i'll go ahead and let other, more experienced members help you out.


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[wellington]

Can you try and hide the meds inside a strawberry or some Mazuri. A small strawberry may be better as hopefully they will eat it in one bite. As for the ramming and being aggressive to you. I will leave that to those that own Sullies. Good luck. Hope it works out. Keep us informed.

 

[sissyofone]

Problem is when she does eat its only Romaine she wont touch Mazuri or Strawberries . Not even a grape.. Im just so concerned about her. As far as Shelly Im beginning to think shes just started feeling way better than ever i hope. She gets a wide variety of all the good stuff now. Hopefully she will settle down. For my sake lol

 

[wellington]

Wow, not even a strawberry, I don't think any tort turned down strawberrys. Did you have a stool sample down for parasites? If not, maybe have that done first. Then if she doesn't have any, you don't have to bother worming her.
I don't know if they would think like this, but possibly not eating as the last time she did, it had the not so good medicine in it.
If she does have worms, you may just have to force it in.

 

[sissyofone]

@nate-man I tried that she went on a crash diet. No joke wouldnt even look at food. I probably caved because shes already so light. Shes 6 yrs old and only weighs 2 lbs. So..Im hoping for the best.

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@wellington - no stool sample wad done. Shes only gone like 5 times since ive had her. But i figure she cant go if she dont eat. I mean her appetite isnt great. What gets me is she was eating good when her and Shelly were together in same enclosure. Its baffling me..

 

[Yvonne G]

So am I understanding correctly that you have them in separate habitats? Put them back together and see if that stimulates her appetite.

If you can get her to eat a strawberry, take a sipping straw and punch out a tube through the strawberry, bottom to top. Take the punched out tube and cut a small section of it out of the middle. Squirt the de-worming meds into the hollowed out strawberry then plug the ends with the cut tube. Try to get the whole strawberry into the tortoise's mouth so she doesn't have the opportunity to take bites of it.

Incidentally, at those sizes you probably really can't tell yet if you have males or females. Females can get cranky and aggressive, but I'm betting that first tortoise is male.

 

[sissyofone]

I will post pics of plastrons again Yvonne. Thanks. But like i said i cant get her to touch a strawberry or mazuri. Its unreal.. Both other sullies gobble them up. But no worries its nothing they get on a regular basis. Only the occasional treat.
And no they are not in same enclosures now i seperated them 24 hrs after they got here. I figured it was best for them to have their on enclosures.

 

[Jacqui]

I was hoping you would update us.

 

[sissyofone]

Hi Ms. Jacqui The Romaine worked for a couple days. Now we are back to square one. Not eating and no pooping. I just dont know whats going on with this girl. But im trying really hard.

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[Tom]

I would x ray the one that is not eating or pooping. Seems likely that at that size for a six year old you've either got a blockage or a stone. An x-ray will confirm or deny these two possibilities. Long daily soaks will help either way.

Don't worry about grabbing the head and doing what needs to be done. Avoid it if you don't NEED to do it, but its really no big deal if it is something that is needed.

As far as the aggression, its not the norm for them to bite and ram people, but it happens. They can be a very aggressive species. Can you explain more about the situation where the ramming or biting occurs. Often they do this when something is in their face. If you hold the food farther away and let them walk to it, I'll bet the ramming will subside.

 

[sissyofone]

@Tom as far as the not eating and other goes is it possible for a blockage if she has gone potty. I mean she has gone since shes been here. She went a little about 7 days ago. It looked completly normal. I was very proud she went so i took this picture. Lol




If she had a blockage she couldnt go at all or could she?

 

[mainey34]

I would doubt that she would be able to go if she was blocked.it almost looks as if he/ she could be constipated. Did you try putting mineral oil up the clacoa? Also my sulcata will not touch any fruits either. Did you try endive? For some reason they love that stuff.

 

[sissyofone]

@mainey34 How do i do that? I bought mineral oil for that purpose but have refrained from doing it because i wanted to be sure i did it correctly. I put a little on her greens and then out came whats in the pic. But shes not eating again sooo...

 

[sibi]

Yes, they could still go even if there is a stone or some compaction. my sully had a huge stone in his bladder, such as it could not be passed. He also ate a bunch of rocks that caused compaction even though he had been able to pooped ay times. X-rays was the only way I was able to find out what was wrong with him. Btw, he needed surgery to remove the stone in his bladder. The small rocks just eventually passed in time. The concerns I have is that your animals are soooo small for their age and species. I've got a sully that's 4 years old now and just reached 4 pounds. She also has MBD (metabolic bone disease), and I was wondering if your sullies have the same problem. Your vet would have noticed it when you took them to be examined.

Mineral oil was used to help him pass the rocks. I simply got a small syringe and squirted some into the clacoa. The syringe only needs to be inserted about 1/2 inch deep. It's totally painless to them, and in the short term it may bring some relief. Adding more soft grass to their diet will eliminate the need to give an enema of mineral oil. Finding what will get them to eat is your biggest concern now.
W

 

[sissyofone]

@sibi Ive asked a couple people on the forum their opinions on MBD where Shelly and Piggy is concerned noone seems to think they have it.The vet made no mention of it. Im making sure they get plenty of sunshine and calcium supplement.

They were on a poor diet at there last home And im feeding them grass, hay, weeds, some spring mix, and fresh collard,mustard and turnip greens and a little mazuri. I really want to help her. Shes the sweetest little thing.
Lol Im going to try the mineral oil thing. Will update soon.

 

[Len B]

Collards, have you tried them ? Cooked sweet potato may help. I got a youngster awhile ago that would only eat kale and apple, and only small portions at a time, starting with yard weeds and tender leaves mixed with the kale, he will now eat just about anything put in front of him. I gave him to a neighbors grandson who is doing a great job of caring for him. I feel the same as Yvonne about putting them back together to see what happens. I have 2 young what I believe to be females that have been together since early spring, they eat together, at night they sleep together but they wander around and graze in their own world and cross paths many times during the day but when it starts getting late they always seem to end up in one of the hides together. Good Luck..

 

[sissyofone]

@ Len- Yea i tried collards to no avail. Im just so afraid that as aggressive as Shelly is she may hurt Piggy. I just gave her the mineral oil. Wonder how long it takes to work? Wondering if i should just put her on newspaper or just put her bk in on the soil thats in on her enclosure bottom. Think i will just put her bk in her own enclosure with the soil. I will change it if need be.

 

[sibi]

It may take several attempts. It doesn't usually work immediately. So, be patient. If tomorrow she didn't go, give her another round of mineral oil. See if she goes. If not, then do it twice daily.. She'll go eventually.

 

[mainey34]

I hope you get luck with the mineral oil soon. Just give it some time. In the morning i would give her a nice warm soak. See if that helps. As far as the MBD. Look up pics of MBD in the search bar. You will know what it looks like, or if you post some pics we will be able to tell you. If your vet was not concerned i would say that neither one of them have it. Are they pyramided real bad? And are their shells flat? Are they dragging their hind legs? Did your vet by chance give your sullies any injections?