cafetortoni
New Member
Hello, help is appreciated. I did not ever own tortoises before this and while I've been reading quite a bit, I'm still somewhat worried about this rescue tort.
My family and I found the tortoise walking (running) around while they were parking the car. We spoke to different neighbors to see if we could find the owner but no luck with that. After I took it to the vet I was told the tortoise had been given a bad diet and that because of it, it could be possible he develops breathing issues in the future (his shell doesn't have a good shape). The vets discouraged the idea of finding the owner for these reasons. For now he seems fine, he was a bit thin and I'm working with the vet to get him to eat a good variety of vegetables (which he does not appreciate at all).
His first week required a lot of baby sitting, basically. He had a lot of energy, ran around, curious about everything, tried to climb anything in sight. He started flashing at the third day or so. Not a lot and he would always quickly put it back in without difficulty. Then he went to sleep one night, and in the morning he didn't come out, didn't even seem to have woken up. He was still alive and didn't seem to have anything wrong, so I let him be. He slept through 24 hours and he still wouldn't wake up/come out. At 36 hours I took him out from his hide to see if he was ok.
Ever since then his behavior completely changed. He doesn't run around anymore, he doesn't bask in the sun, he still eats more or less the same amount ( but even during the first week it was hard to get him to eat, it's like he doesn't recognize food unless it's in your hand), he's been hiding in shadowy areas for some days now, but in the last two days he's stopped hiding, but still doesn't do much. He still walks some, it's just that he restricted his walking to a 1/3 of what it was during the first week.
Some extra info:
Yes, it's a Chaco tortoise. I live in Argentina and they're pretty common pets (not "well cared for" pets, that's why I'm here).
The vet told me he is about 20 years old
He wakes up anytime from 7 to 9 AM and stays up for about 12 hours. This was the same during the first week as well.
It's summer over here, we've been in the 30°C pretty consistently too, but just in case the temperature lowers I got him a heat lamp
He's had BM about three times in the first week, not as solid as I would have hoped for but we are already working on incorporating the fiber he needs (and hates). But no BM ever since the big change.
His pee used to be a few droplets every 10 cm he walked, and he walked a lot, pee as far as the eye could see. After the first week, it's just a huge puddle about once or twice a day.
I did not take him from the wild! Chaco Tortoises aren't from the area I live in. We found him inside a fenced neighborhood with loose dogs and passing cars.
Thank you for reading!
My family and I found the tortoise walking (running) around while they were parking the car. We spoke to different neighbors to see if we could find the owner but no luck with that. After I took it to the vet I was told the tortoise had been given a bad diet and that because of it, it could be possible he develops breathing issues in the future (his shell doesn't have a good shape). The vets discouraged the idea of finding the owner for these reasons. For now he seems fine, he was a bit thin and I'm working with the vet to get him to eat a good variety of vegetables (which he does not appreciate at all).
His first week required a lot of baby sitting, basically. He had a lot of energy, ran around, curious about everything, tried to climb anything in sight. He started flashing at the third day or so. Not a lot and he would always quickly put it back in without difficulty. Then he went to sleep one night, and in the morning he didn't come out, didn't even seem to have woken up. He was still alive and didn't seem to have anything wrong, so I let him be. He slept through 24 hours and he still wouldn't wake up/come out. At 36 hours I took him out from his hide to see if he was ok.
Ever since then his behavior completely changed. He doesn't run around anymore, he doesn't bask in the sun, he still eats more or less the same amount ( but even during the first week it was hard to get him to eat, it's like he doesn't recognize food unless it's in your hand), he's been hiding in shadowy areas for some days now, but in the last two days he's stopped hiding, but still doesn't do much. He still walks some, it's just that he restricted his walking to a 1/3 of what it was during the first week.
Some extra info:
Yes, it's a Chaco tortoise. I live in Argentina and they're pretty common pets (not "well cared for" pets, that's why I'm here).
The vet told me he is about 20 years old
He wakes up anytime from 7 to 9 AM and stays up for about 12 hours. This was the same during the first week as well.
It's summer over here, we've been in the 30°C pretty consistently too, but just in case the temperature lowers I got him a heat lamp
He's had BM about three times in the first week, not as solid as I would have hoped for but we are already working on incorporating the fiber he needs (and hates). But no BM ever since the big change.
His pee used to be a few droplets every 10 cm he walked, and he walked a lot, pee as far as the eye could see. After the first week, it's just a huge puddle about once or twice a day.
I did not take him from the wild! Chaco Tortoises aren't from the area I live in. We found him inside a fenced neighborhood with loose dogs and passing cars.
Thank you for reading!