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Update on Spiro... He spent the winter indoors with several ladies and whilst he showed no interest in them, he did seem to eat better. Now he is alone again, no change since last July. He loves strawberry and banana and sometimes even rejects the dreaded pellets. Still agrophobic but I put him...

Yep, dandelions and clover go down well and now he is mad for cucumber, likes tomato and mixed salad leaves. I’ve weaned him off the pellets but he has them once in a while. He has put on weight and is soooo much better. But he is still pretty inactive, doesn’t get up unless I make him, and...

Today I plucked up the courage to trim Spiro’s beak, and lo and behold, he has never eaten so much since I’ve had him ! Now I feel really bad for not doing it sooner as this has obviously been part of the problem of him not eating... I have a slate for his food and am not afraid anymore to trim...

Hurrah ! Finally! And thanks to all the good advice Spiro has at last done a little soft poop, is eating a bit more and hopefully now on the road to normality. An extra long soak in the bath and an extra long walk must have got things going. Now I know he’s not blocked up I won’t worry so much.

I put him in a large bath, as I usually do ! A small paddling pool which he scrabbles around in for a good 20 minutes, but I will extend it to 40 minimum and keep it topped up with warm water. I sit by him the whole time in case of accident. Thankyou for the advice, I really appreciate it :-)

Yes I quite agree with you.

He had his bath as usual, tepid and to his lower jaw line. He tries to get out and when ready I make him walk across the soft grass to try to stimulate something. Still no deposit, he did eat a bit again but he eats so little, and only those pellets so there’s probably not much waste anyway...

Anyone know how to help with constipation ? I don’t relish squirting oil up his cloaca as suggested by someone :-o I do squirt water into his mouth and let him soak for 20mins a day.

I think he’s that colour cos he’s still young and not been exposed to proper sunlight - apparently they get darker uniform brown with age... The rescue centre owner told me they once had a pale yellow Mediterranean tortoise brought in which had spent most of its life in a cupboard ! Good idea...

So Spiro is still alive, and has eaten a tiny bit but has not vacuated anything as far as I know, now going on three weeks ... He will only eat those pellets although I shove a tiny bit of leaf in when poss. So probably no fibre to speak of. I do think it has been a temperature issue, and he has...

Update :

Good to know - I’ll look for it online

That’s great, thanks for your input. I was away for the weekend but my aunt said he ate some of those pellets, moistened. Gobbled them up she said. So it might be that he simply doesn’t recognise “real” food. He hasn’t eaten since, but his eyes are not puffy anymore and I have squirted some...

So day 9 and no change.....not eaten anything, just hides. He won’t even bask for a minute ! There was a teeny yellow liquid on the towel when I dried him off , presumably some urate. I’m going to get Reptiboost and squirt some in his mouth as well as bath him in it in and hope it perks him up...

Spiro, a handsome marginated tortoise

Here he is....his tail looks very female but he defo has a man bit :o ....handsome boy :-) His beak is also overgrown so I’ll get him a cuttlefish - another sign of poor husbandry His beak is also overgrown so I’ll get him a cuttlefish - another sign of poor husbandry

Yes, he seems alright at the moment but after going from overheating to a cold shed he may we’ll go down with an RI...

Hi Yvonne ! I’ve read a lot of your posts so recognise you already. Yes, I will read up a bit more on the mbd , poor fellah. I’ll go and dig him out for a pic and get some carrot purée too. I’m very attached to him already after only 5 days. <3

Thankyou, yes, it was the first place I went to :-) I guess I’m hoping for some reassurance that he is just sulking and not horribly sick.

Hi all you tortie luvvers out there. I have just got a marginated tortoise come in to the pet rescue (pet dump really) here in sunny south coast uk. Story goes - previous owner had him for five years in a vivarium. Gave him away to a friend, who decided the viv was too big for her house and so...