Baby Leo Sick and not eating

[Marshman]

We Got a new Baby Leo back in Sept and she was doing great eating fine and active but about a month in she slowly starting eatin less and less now she is not eating at all and is not very active she still drinks alot. awhile back i noticed her poop was yellow in color almost like puss so we took her into the VET were they looked at her fecal and found that she had a infection.
So now we are giving her antibotics by injection in the mouth wich is not very pleasnt for her and us for that matter. but she still is not eating I have tried alot of things squash and greens blended. as of late I am giving her a little food (Nature Zone Tortoise Bites) mashed up and injecting with the medicine.
Any Ideas are welcome we are really woried about losing her.

Thanks

 

[J. Ellis]

Marshal,

Please tell us how you are keeping her. What type of enclosure, substrate, temperatures (cold side and hot side), what you are feeding her, etc. That way we can accurately give you advice. At this point I think that anything I could say would just be a shot in the dark.

 

[Marshman]

She is in a Med size Tote and I'm using Repti Carpet for substrate mainly so i can see any fecal she leaves. she has a basking side of about 90 deg with cold side of about 75 deg, I feed spring mix with Hay and she gets soakings every other day for about 10min. and I'm misting her at least 2 to 3 times a day.
Thanks again

 

[J. Ellis]

Marshal,

You did not mention whether or not you use a UVA/UVB source? In my experience with animals in general (as I have not had to give antibiotics to tortoises) you must keep the animal well hydrated. I believe you have 3 problems here.

1. 90 degrees is not quite warm enough. I strive for anywhere between 100-110 in the basking area and 75-80 in the cool area.
2. Repti-Carpet inhibits a humid environment. I wouldn't even really consider it to be steril so I would suggest using a few layers of paper towel that you can keep moist during this time to ensure the tortoise has the maximum number of opportunities to stay hydrated and replace them as they get soiled.
3. At this point in time I would start soaking her every day for a minimum of 20 minutes. Keep the container on a heating pad or under the basking light to insure the water stays warm. You could even try the baby food/vitamin soaks talked about here: http://tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Vitamin-soaks-baby-food-soaks-for-ailing-tortoises

A side note, most baby tortoises will not eat hay.

Bump up the heat 10-15 degrees, bump up the humidity, bump up the number and duration of your soaks (with or without the baby food/vitamins) and let us know how she does!

 

[Marshman]

Thanks for the input Josh
And I have a UVB source and it is current I replace them every 6 months as for the heat I will bump it up and do more soaking and try out the baby food thing as for the substrate had paper towels before no bigi to go back to them again thanks for the advice.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Antibiotics generally give an upset tummy and babies stop eating. I would give the babyfood soaks...in a smallish container mix a jar of strained carrots with some warm water. I put the MVB overhead to keep the water warm and soak for about 30 minutes. You can also force feed with Critical Care and that will keep them going while they are on antibiotics...

 

[J. Ellis]

Marshal,

Another thing you can do is create a humid hide for her. Take a tupperware container and, in this case, fill it full of paper towels if you do not want to use sphagnum moss; then cut a hole in the side and keep the lid on. Mist it 2-3 times a day so she has the opportunity to get in it. Make sure she can get it in if she wants (hole big enough, container big enough, etc).

Also make sure to mist the entire enclosure so the papertowels stay moist.

 

[Marshman]

Antibiotics generally give an upset tummy and babies stop eating. I would give the babyfood soaks...in a smallish container mix a jar of strained carrots with some warm water. I put the MVB overhead to keep the water warm and soak for about 30 minutes. You can also force feed with Critical Care and that will keep them going while they are on antibiotics...

Will do maggie Thanks

 

[Marshman]

SAD NEWS
Calliopee passed away yesterday..
I tried all I could to get her thru the infection but she did not make it.

 

[coreyc]

Soo sorry to hear about Calliopee

 

[Yvonne G]

Aw geez, Marshall. I'm so sorry.

I wonder what the internal infection was...did the vet have any ideas? Just trying to add to my knowledge base.

 

[Marshman]

Aw geez, Marshall. I'm so sorry.

I wonder what the internal infection was...did the vet have any ideas? Just trying to add to my knowledge base.

I will have to ask my wife again what was in the fecal.

 

[Marty333]

Im so sorry for your loss I learned the hard way that babies arent easy to take care of

 

[ElfDa]

aw, sweetie, i'm so sorry. [offers internet hugs]
babies are tough; i lost my first one, too.

I've been lucky with Penny, and was even luckier to find this forum when I did.

 

[Tom]

Marshal, so sorry to hear this.

If you ever decide to try another hatchling, here's a compilation of things I put together that have really helped me.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-How-To-Raise-Sulcata-Hatchlings-and-Babies

 

[Maggie Cummings]

I am so sorry to hear that. Hatchlings are very hard to keep and when they get sick it's really hard to bring them back. Please accept my sympathy...

 

[RianSeeking]

I'm so sorry.

 

[laura808]

im so sorry. I cant even imagine how you are feeling right now.