Baby Sulcata lethargic and not eating

Toddrickfl1

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If you check my last (it's my only one) post, I describe his condition and a couple of other people tell me he may have the same yellow spots going around, which I'm unsure if he has as well. He initially went in for peeling skin, which started as tiny bumps; they're all gone with the exception of one. I got him from a local pet store (Arroyo Grande, CA) who receive their reptiles from local breeders.
That would be my guess then. Sorry your having to deal with this. Good luck
 

KarenSoCal

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I don't understand how the vet said MBD. We are talking about the baby pictured in post # 4, correct?
First, I think the tortoise is too young to be showing signs of MBD, and certainly not "late stages".

How did she diagnose this? Did she take x-rays of him? Did she do blood work that included a calcium level that was extremely low?

I agree with toddrickfl1...that vet knows nothing about torts.

I'm tagging 2 members who can shed light on this. In the meantime, I would not get any shots, and I would be searching for an exotics vet.

@zovick
@GMDVM
 

snubbull

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I don't understand how the vet said MBD. We are talking about the baby pictured in post # 4, correct?
First, I think the tortoise is too young to be showing signs of MBD, and certainly not "late stages".

How did she diagnose this? Did she take x-rays of him? Did she do blood work that included a calcium level that was extremely low?

I agree with toddrickfl1...that vet knows nothing about torts.

I'm tagging 2 members who can shed light on this. In the meantime, I would not get any shots, and I would be searching for an exotics vet.

@zovick
@GMDVM

I'm at such a loss as to what I should be doing.. in the meantime I'm trying to make sure he gets more sun exposure and is basking in the heat and the uvb enough, and the vet advised me to try to syringe feed him (attempted today but unsuccessful and I certainly didn't want to force and potentially injure him). She said he could be older than baby age simply because he isn't growing due to the mbd she diagnosed him with. She said she diagnosed him by shining a light onto his plastron, which exposed his bones and organs, in addition to just his physical condition (very weak limbs, no movement throughout the day, anorexia, etc). She gave him a calcium shot today and has me scheduled for another next week.. I just dont know what to do, and I just want my lil guy to get better :(
 

Toddrickfl1

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I'm at such a loss as to what I should be doing.. in the meantime I'm trying to make sure he gets more sun exposure and is basking in the heat and the uvb enough, and the vet advised me to try to syringe feed him (attempted today but unsuccessful and I certainly didn't want to force and potentially injure him). She said he could be older than baby age simply because he isn't growing due to the mbd she diagnosed him with. She said she diagnosed him by shining a light onto his plastron, which exposed his bones and organs, in addition to just his physical condition (very weak limbs, no movement throughout the day, anorexia, etc). She gave him a calcium shot today and has me scheduled for another next week.. I just dont know what to do, and I just want my lil guy to get better :(
Are you doing baby food soaks? I would do baby food soaks several times a day. Don't go back to that VET they have no idea what they're doing.
 

Maggie3fan

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I agree with Toddrickfl1 baby food soaks are the way to go. I was out of town for a couple of weeks and when I got home there were 3 box turtles with swollen closed eyes. So I started soaking in Gerber strained carrots. It took about a week for the first turtle to start recovery. All 3 turtles are now eating drinking and more active. I am not an expert but I would only soak once a day with the babyfood, and be sure to cut up his food into mouth sized pieces, making them easier to eat
 

zovick

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I look forward to whatever we're told by the members I tagged.
I am afraid I cannot add a lot to this discussion that hasn't already been suggested. I do agree with Toddrickfl1 that you should find a different vet, though. Try to find an exotics vet in your area and go there.
 

snubbull

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I agree with Toddrickfl1 baby food soaks are the way to go. I was out of town for a couple of weeks and when I got home there were 3 box turtles with swollen closed eyes. So I started soaking in Gerber strained carrots. It took about a week for the first turtle to start recovery. All 3 turtles are now eating drinking and more active. I am not an expert but I would only soak once a day with the babyfood, and be sure to cut up his food into mouth sized pieces, making them easier to eat

I'll try soaking him soon, then. Would you recommend adding pedialite to the baby food water mixture?
 

snubbull

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Are you doing baby food soaks? I would do baby food soaks several times a day. Don't go back to that VET they have no idea what they're doing.

I have yet to actually soak him with baby food; I tried to syringe feed it to him as directed by the vet to no avail. I will soak him soon and see how that goes. I'm wondering if adding pedialite would help a bit too?
 

snubbull

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My only concern with the soaks is that the vet told me that Tucker should not be soaked any more for now, as it will make him softer than he already is. Should I still do it regardless?
 

Toddrickfl1

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My only concern with the soaks is that the vet told me that Tucker should not be soaked any more for now, as it will make him softer than he already is. Should I still do it regardless?
Yes absolutely, disregard everything you heard at that VET.
 

KarenSoCal

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My only concern with the soaks is that the vet told me that Tucker should not be soaked any more for now, as it will make him softer than he already is. Should I still do it regardless?

The baby food soaks are more for nutrition than hydration, in the hope that he will sip some of it while soaking.

The formula is not written in stone, but keepers have had success with this:
Take water and pedialyte and mix 50/50. Then take strained or pureed baby food carrots, and mix it 50/50 with the water & pedialyte solution. Make it warm and soak him 45 min to an hour. Keep the solution warm the whole time. Do this daily.

Did you mention carrot soaks to the vet? If so, did she know what you were talking about? My guess is no.
 

snubbull

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The baby food soaks are more for nutrition than hydration, in the hope that he will sip some of it while soaking.

The formula is not written in stone, but keepers have had success with this:
Take water and pedialyte and mix 50/50. Then take strained or pureed baby food carrots, and mix it 50/50 with the water & pedialyte solution. Make it warm and soak him 45 min to an hour. Keep the solution warm the whole time. Do this daily.

Did you mention carrot soaks to the vet? If so, did she know what you were talking about? My guess is no.

I mentioned it, but she said that syringe feeding him baby food could help, but that soaking may be too much for him at this point.
 

KarenSoCal

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I mentioned it, but she said that syringe feeding him baby food could help, but that soaking may be too much for him at this point.
The danger with syringe feeding is that he has some go into the lungs, causing aspiration pneumonia. You could try putting a drop of the mixture into the very front of his mouth, giving him plenty of time to swallow it before the next drop.

Hopefully he won't spit it out. ?
 

Maggie3fan

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Yes absolutely, disregard everything you heard at that VET.
I so agree!!! I soaked Bob every day and when he got too big for any of my ideas, I dug a hole in the ground in his pen, and cemented the bottom of the hole. He then started to soak himself. I'd open his doggie door and he would head straight for that hole, he'd walk in and walk right under the water, and I called it a game of submarine. And Bob, at 100 or so lbs would stay on the bottom, water was mid thigh to me, he'd say under for 15 minutes or so. It made me freakin nuts, I always thought he was drowning.
Your answer is yes, soak the heck outa that tortoise
 

zovick

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I mentioned it, but she said that syringe feeding him baby food could help, but that soaking may be too much for him at this point.
Wrong! Soaking is good for the tortoise right now. Just make sure the water, pedialyte, and baby food mixture is warm and not too deep for the tortoise so he can easily keep his nose above the surface to breathe..
 

Maggie3fan

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I don't have a medical license, most of the stuff I know I learned from my own experience, from my sister's experience BEFORE THE INTERNET, but part of my experience, even with some pretty bad experience's with them, Veterinarians have gone the extra mile for that "Exotic" shingle. It makes me uncomfortable to contradict any professional advice, especially on such a public forum. But, reptile medicine is still in it's infancy. Thanks to some members of TFO and being able to surf the 'net, we were/are on the forefront of all that is happening. Pyramiding, yellow spots, dog vs tortoise and on and on and freakin on...all those posts we have all answered time after time, year after year. Before the 'net when we had sick turtles with the closed swollen eyes and lethargy, I don't know how Y came up with what is a Vitamin A soak. Speaking of Vitamin A, how many of us have had to say...NO Vt A injections. So, I think where I'm going with this is, Veterinary medicine is still new enuf that each Vet themselves is kinda stymied as was to do, or so it seems to me, and I am not quite sure what is the correct thing for TFO as a whole in handling trashing, contradicting, and otherwise being ugly to a professional, publicly...lol
 

snubbull

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I really appreciate all the help and feedback, and it is very helpful to have so many kind people sharing their thoughts and advice. I just tried to soak him with baby carrot food and pedialyte (50/50 ped. to water, 50/50 baby food to water mixture), but that didn't seem to do anything. He just laid down and kept his head underwater, totally unresponsive. If I were to try and position him more comfortably, he'd just collapse again. Is this normal for soaking an ill tort?
 

Maggie3fan

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My only concern with the soaks is that the vet told me that Tucker should not be soaked any more for now, as it will make him softer than he already is. Should I still do it regardless?
Yes you should do it...period. Soaking will not cause a plastron to soften. There must be some softness to allow for new growth I would think...but, I will out and out contradict this particular Vet. The tortoise obviously has something wrong.
I really appreciate all the help and feedback, and it is very helpful to have so many kind people sharing their thoughts and advice. I just tried to soak him with baby carrot food and pedialyte (50/50 ped. to water, 50/50 baby food to water mixture), but that didn't seem to do anything. He just laid down and kept his head underwater, totally unresponsive. If I were to try and position him more comfortably, he'd just collapse again. Is this normal for soaking an ill tort?
They stretch out their necks and put their heads underwater for an extended period of time to drink. . Didn't you read any of the previous comments/\? He's just doing what comes naturally
 

ritalutzer

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I also have a sulcata young tortoise about 8-9 Mos old who all of a sudden stopped eating too. Until this he was a great eater....the Mazuri food he loved along with lettuce, and just about everything I gave him....about a week ago he just stopped eating . A friend who works at the Phoenix Hepetological told me to put him in warm water every day instead of every few days and it seems to have helped...today he ate much better and so maybe your baby tortoise will do better soon too.
 

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