Two problems at once

martaemha

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With the first snow I had to change the diet of my russian tort and put her on rocket lettuce, romaine, lambs lettuce, chicory and other green leaves you can get at groceries. This kind of food contains less fiber and more water than the food I pick up for her in summer. I have a lot of dried dandelions, plantain, raspberry leaves for her but she hates dry food.

A week ago she just refused to eat. At the same time she was extremely agitated and digging holes wherever she could.

Today I took her to the vet and it turns out that her digestive tract, especially her bowels and stomach are inflamed and full of gas (the vet took an x-ray). We were given procox for two days and synulox for ten days (amoxicillin and clavulanic acid).


What's worse ultrasound examination showed numerous eggs - 2 cm in diameter, without shells so far. The vet told me they may absorb - she has never laid eggs and I've had her for 20 years now.


I am attaching her X-ray and if you have any suggestions as to what else I can do to help her, please let me know.
She is acting like a mad tort right now, digging and digging forever, stomping her food and I can see she is uncomfortable or in pain.

The eggs are not visible on the X-ray - they were only becoming apparent on the ultrasound.

Mikoajewska_Marta_Buba_DX_20161117_150442_1.jpg
 

wellington

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The only thing I can suggest is to give her a very long warm soak in a large container like a bath tub. The warm water and constant movement will help to pass the gas and eggs if they are in a state of being able to be laid
 

Yvonne G

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I'm suspecting this tortoise was outside and now is an indoor tortoise?? They don't like change, especially Russian tortoises don't like change.

How big is your tortoise's habitat? Tortoises need exercise in order to keep things moving properly inside them. So a big space is a necessity. Place the food as far from the shelter as possible so the tortoise has to walk and exercise to get to it. Another way to get them exercising is to place them in a larger tub of water (water only coming up to the bridge, where the top shell meets the bottom shell) and position a light over one end to keep it warm, and leave the tortoise in there for a while, hoping that it starts scrambling around and trying to get out. You have to pay attention in case it tips over backwards in the water.

In mammals, a change in diet sometimes causes stomach discomfort, gas and bloating. Maybe that's what's wrong with your tortoise too.
 

martaemha

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The thing is she is very active. Roaming, digging and scratching all the time.She is an adult Russian tort, over thirty years old, 1,3 kg of weight. She has a big enclosure (2m x 1m). During the summer I kept her in an outdoor pen. She was fine when I brought her back at the end of September. The problem started in November, together with the change of diet.
I have another tort in a separate enclosure and she is fine because she loves her dry food full of fiber.

The vet explained that the tort in question was not getting enough fiber with her food. The store-bought greens contain a lot of water and more sugar than wild growing weeds and it probably triggered inflammation because the bacteria had ideal conditions for thriving. Today the weather got better and I managed to pick some dandelions, plantain and clover for her. She ate it together with the medications. I also placed her in a tub for half an hour. Looked like it brought some relief. Now went back to scratching and digging. She is very very strong. I hope that with the weeds and medications she gets better. Don't really know what to do with the eggs for now, but I guess I just have to wait, pay attention and see if she deals with the problem herself. In the space where she tends to dig I placed lots of turf, and soil mixed with clay and covered the space up a bit to make her feel secure. Hope this will help her when she decides to lay the eggs.
 

JoesMum

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Russians are very active and 2 metres By 1 metre is too small (the bare minimum is 4'x8' 1.5x2.2 metres)

If this tort were healthy, I'd be saying to hibernate her. Our 50+ year old Greek had to over-winter awake one year and it was very stressful for both of us. He had the run of our entire dining room converted for his use and he hated it. It just wasn't big enough.

Don't be afraid to use a good quality pelleted tortoise food to supplement store-bought greens in winter. It's a good way of ensuring that your tort gets enough fibre in her diet.
 

martaemha

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I'll try my best to make the enclosure bigger. She also has a 'second floor' in her home, on top of her hide. That adds about 1,25 m2 to the size of current enclosure.

I'd hibernate her too. But she is not healthy enough to do so. In another thread I wrote about a lump in her leg that was suspected to be an abscess and turned out to be a benign fibroma with spindle cells. Since I only learned about this in April, I decided to watch her and not hibernate her this year because I don't know how this tumor is going to develop. A surgery was too much risk and it would spoil her summer, which she spent happily roaming in the outside pen.

I've tried pelleted food - she won't touch it. In general she is very stubborn and sometimes when she doesn't like food I give her goes on very long hunger strikes. At least I've got a bag full of fresh weeds for her now. I think I'll just plant some in my winter garden to feed her during the winter.
 

TammyJ

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I bet you wish she realised how very lucky she is! Maybe she would then lay all the eggs and eat everything you offered her!

Good luck.
 

Kasia

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I'll try my best to make the enclosure bigger. She also has a 'second floor' in her home, on top of her hide. That adds about 1,25 m2 to the size of current enclosure.

I'd hibernate her too. But she is not healthy enough to do so. In another thread I wrote about a lump in her leg that was suspected to be an abscess and turned out to be a benign fibroma with spindle cells. Since I only learned about this in April, I decided to watch her and not hibernate her this year because I don't know how this tumor is going to develop. A surgery was too much risk and it would spoil her summer, which she spent happily roaming in the outside pen.

I've tried pelleted food - she won't touch it. In general she is very stubborn and sometimes when she doesn't like food I give her goes on very long hunger strikes. At least I've got a bag full of fresh weeds for her now. I think I'll just plant some in my winter garden to feed her during the winter.
Omg, poor girl :( tort and you:(? Honestly my Rufin after getting grocery greens available in Poland now has a diahoreaish looking poop as well but I can't do nothing about it. I think only kale has more fiber than water to it and it's still in the supermarket to buy. Rufin will not touch anything dried either so not much choices left. I think that addition of cuttlebone grated finly would help with the water absorption in the guts, it is a porous structure and will absorb some of the extra moisture from the food probably. Hugs for you and your girl... hope that you will both get through this !
 

martaemha

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Update on my tort! After 10 days on antibiotic the diarrhea stopped completely. I would never think I would be so happy seeing torts poop! It's huge and it's perfect! :) She is eating like a little pig now. Not active at all, only basking or moving out a few inches from the direct heat. Turns into a beast when she sees the food coming. But she seems very relaxed and performs these funny yoga poses so I am not worrying too much about the lack of activity. It's winter after all. I managed to pick up a lot of wild weeds for her (from under the snow but they are still fine) and also turned my living room into a greenhouse because I also picked up some weeds to grow at home. Reptoboost arrived from the UK for her and I am bathing her daily. So one problem is sorted now. Whatever was bothering her and causing these crazy digging attacks is gone now. I am wondering what she did with the eggs, but she stopped digging completely so maybe she reabsorbed them? What do you think? Do you think it is a good idea to take her for another ultrasound? Or should I just leave her alone, feed her well and wait to see what happens?
 

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