- Joined
- Jan 3, 2013
- Messages
- 114
Hello, I have been dealing with a constipated tortoise for a few weeks now and things have started to move with a week at the vet. I have taken part of my latest update from my original post in hopes someone sees this title and might have some insight?
Summary from original post... Bob normally poops every 3 days or so, description below... I am amping up his UV exposures and temperatures while inside ... as soon as he is home...
My original post is "tortoise has not pooped in 3 weeks!!! Please HAAALP!!!"
Bob
Update: tech called this morning saying he got small amount of poop out this morning and asked if I wanted to give permission for X-ray and full blood work so Dr Rich could review and would call me in afternoon. ($300) said yes go ahead ...
Vet called said good news... he got some poop out about 3cm x 5cm (I want to ask if that was somehow the shape of a single poop aka HUGE or if that is the size of the pile lol... any who... he said it was very high in the Timothy hay/straw, as before, but also some regular poop mixed in.
He also took him out for a walk to see if he was doing any more butt lifting to get more out ... no further pooping was observed ...
X-ray -clear, no seen obstructions, no gas pockets, nothing noticeably wrong.
Full blood work- all good ... kidneys good, CBC good, protein good calcium good ... all forking good !!!! Yayyyyy!!!...
So... they are doing another soak this afternoon and suggests that he can come home tomorrow
I asked him if he suggest I keep him on the high fiber liquid syringe food they have been doing ... he says no that he thinks soft greens will be good just nothing dry fibrous like the hay for a while (I'm not sure I can ever trust damn Timothy hay even though everyone says it is good for them
)
...the bill is up to about 700$ so that is crappy (full pun intended
) !!! But obviously I am super excited he is moving things along and in good health!!! He is worth every penny!!! I am going to make some changes to his house in my kitchen to be sure to provide all he needs for this lack of sun climate...it has literally been raining for over 2 straight weeks here in NOLA ... I am solar powered just like Bob and I am strongly contemplating looking for work back in AZ!!!!! until then... artificial it is... Aka indoor uvb and a few other changes. I will post some before and after pics of the changes to his indoor home for advice on how to maximize what we have to work with.
Before I had time to post this update, The Vet calls back just a few minutes ago... with his new conclusions!
Apparently, he has been watching Bob closely while in the soaks...(back end habits obviously) He explained how Bob straightens his legs all the way up when he is going to push and that his tail never actually comes out of his shell. He thinks that because the space between his tail notch and his carapace, more specifically...I believe it is called the supracaudal is overgrown. To me it is just what Bob's butt is shaped like and since he is the only tortoise I have, I can't really compare the inner curvature of the supracaudal to anyone else's! Also his tail makes funny squeeky clean sounds when he walks around in his soaks, that is when I have been watching extra closely and trying to quietly cheer him on! (while in the shallow end you can hear the tail wiggle squeaks). Some times there is awkwardly long eye contact, but I feel it is the support he is requesting...otherwise he would look away, right?!
After researching like crazy and enjoying many tort butt dance videos, I have found the "Sexing your tortoise page" of the Tortoise Supply company most helpful. https://www.tortoisesupply.com/SexingYourTortoises
I know Bob is, in fact, a Bob and not a Barbra because... well... a few years ago he showed me his "Hydraulic intermittent male sexual organs" AND wanted to touch me with it while he received his soak along with some light foot and shell scrubs!
Back to business...the link I added really shows the shape of the different breeds and is most helpful! It seems male leo's have the most curved supracaudal of all!?
...and eventually my point! The vet feels that Bob's "area" is inhibiting him from extending his tail out to have a fully functional BM (poop). Bob is about 10 inches long when measuring his plastron and weighs 8lbs when full of poop! His poops normally come out with no more girth than a small tootsie roll but slightly flattened. He did push out one bail of hay that was twice the girth of that during this whole ordeal... the vet thinks it is all due to mechanics and feels the supracaudal should be trimmed a bit. He is contacting his colleagues and the LSU veterinary school/hospital for advice. He says it is the smallest opening he has ever seen for a tortoise his size and that he should be passing poops the girth of a brussel sprout or a little smaller than a ping pong ball! That blows my mind, and is not possible for his opening! I have not seen him extend his tail straight out in years, he keeps it tucked up well, but I do see him moving it about when he is trying to go and he unfolded it and moved it a few times last week, but never out far enough to get out a ping pong ball! I also have not seen his "Hydraulic intermittent male sexual organ" in many years... could this all be to blame for the shape? My biological brain says he is shaped the way he is for a reason, and alterations need NOT be made! (minus some pyramiding he does have...that all started before I got him and before Tom cracked the code of the cause of pyramiding)
I know you will all want pictures of his opening, but that has never been the subject of my countless tortoise pictures ...as cute as it may be! I will ask the vet to forward the pictures he sent to his colleges and post those tomorrow.
To trim or not to trim...... That is the question! I say no...seems nuts, but I'm not the pro like many of you!!! I'm just a single tort mom figuring it out as I go... with tons of forum help and the interwebs!
Your thoughts?
PS: I can not take credit for the term "Hydraulic intermittent male sexual organ", but I will be using it as often as possible in daily conversation!!!
It is from this article...lmao
Terrifying sex organs of male turtles
http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2007/04/29/terrifying-sex-organs-of-male/
So please, don't be a "Hydraulic intermittent male sexual organ", and write back to my inquiries!!!
Summary from original post... Bob normally poops every 3 days or so, description below... I am amping up his UV exposures and temperatures while inside ... as soon as he is home...
My original post is "tortoise has not pooped in 3 weeks!!! Please HAAALP!!!"
Bob
Vet called said good news... he got some poop out about 3cm x 5cm (I want to ask if that was somehow the shape of a single poop aka HUGE or if that is the size of the pile lol... any who... he said it was very high in the Timothy hay/straw, as before, but also some regular poop mixed in.
He also took him out for a walk to see if he was doing any more butt lifting to get more out ... no further pooping was observed ...
X-ray -clear, no seen obstructions, no gas pockets, nothing noticeably wrong.
Full blood work- all good ... kidneys good, CBC good, protein good calcium good ... all forking good !!!! Yayyyyy!!!...
So... they are doing another soak this afternoon and suggests that he can come home tomorrow
I asked him if he suggest I keep him on the high fiber liquid syringe food they have been doing ... he says no that he thinks soft greens will be good just nothing dry fibrous like the hay for a while (I'm not sure I can ever trust damn Timothy hay even though everyone says it is good for them
...the bill is up to about 700$ so that is crappy (full pun intended
Before I had time to post this update, The Vet calls back just a few minutes ago... with his new conclusions!
Apparently, he has been watching Bob closely while in the soaks...(back end habits obviously) He explained how Bob straightens his legs all the way up when he is going to push and that his tail never actually comes out of his shell. He thinks that because the space between his tail notch and his carapace, more specifically...I believe it is called the supracaudal is overgrown. To me it is just what Bob's butt is shaped like and since he is the only tortoise I have, I can't really compare the inner curvature of the supracaudal to anyone else's! Also his tail makes funny squeeky clean sounds when he walks around in his soaks, that is when I have been watching extra closely and trying to quietly cheer him on! (while in the shallow end you can hear the tail wiggle squeaks). Some times there is awkwardly long eye contact, but I feel it is the support he is requesting...otherwise he would look away, right?!
After researching like crazy and enjoying many tort butt dance videos, I have found the "Sexing your tortoise page" of the Tortoise Supply company most helpful. https://www.tortoisesupply.com/SexingYourTortoises
I know Bob is, in fact, a Bob and not a Barbra because... well... a few years ago he showed me his "Hydraulic intermittent male sexual organs" AND wanted to touch me with it while he received his soak along with some light foot and shell scrubs!
Back to business...the link I added really shows the shape of the different breeds and is most helpful! It seems male leo's have the most curved supracaudal of all!?
...and eventually my point! The vet feels that Bob's "area" is inhibiting him from extending his tail out to have a fully functional BM (poop). Bob is about 10 inches long when measuring his plastron and weighs 8lbs when full of poop! His poops normally come out with no more girth than a small tootsie roll but slightly flattened. He did push out one bail of hay that was twice the girth of that during this whole ordeal... the vet thinks it is all due to mechanics and feels the supracaudal should be trimmed a bit. He is contacting his colleagues and the LSU veterinary school/hospital for advice. He says it is the smallest opening he has ever seen for a tortoise his size and that he should be passing poops the girth of a brussel sprout or a little smaller than a ping pong ball! That blows my mind, and is not possible for his opening! I have not seen him extend his tail straight out in years, he keeps it tucked up well, but I do see him moving it about when he is trying to go and he unfolded it and moved it a few times last week, but never out far enough to get out a ping pong ball! I also have not seen his "Hydraulic intermittent male sexual organ" in many years... could this all be to blame for the shape? My biological brain says he is shaped the way he is for a reason, and alterations need NOT be made! (minus some pyramiding he does have...that all started before I got him and before Tom cracked the code of the cause of pyramiding)
I know you will all want pictures of his opening, but that has never been the subject of my countless tortoise pictures ...as cute as it may be! I will ask the vet to forward the pictures he sent to his colleges and post those tomorrow.
To trim or not to trim...... That is the question! I say no...seems nuts, but I'm not the pro like many of you!!! I'm just a single tort mom figuring it out as I go... with tons of forum help and the interwebs!
Your thoughts?
PS: I can not take credit for the term "Hydraulic intermittent male sexual organ", but I will be using it as often as possible in daily conversation!!!
It is from this article...lmao
Terrifying sex organs of male turtles
http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2007/04/29/terrifying-sex-organs-of-male/
So please, don't be a "Hydraulic intermittent male sexual organ", and write back to my inquiries!!!