Egyptian was egg bound now depressed

[Illinibunny]

I am new to the forum. I have an 8 year old female t. Kleinmannii who I took to the University of Wisconsin Vet School because she was exhibiting signs of egg binding. She had never laid before. An egg, too large to pass was found in her pelvis, but was successfully collapsed and removed via the cloaca under anesthesia two days ago. I have brought her home and she is in a hospital enclosure 85f., 50% humidity. She is very lethargic, and the vet school said I would do as well as they would for aftercare. She last ate four days ago. She was soaked and given sub-q fluids at the hospital and is on ceftazidime every 72 hours. She appears dehydrated as she has not urinated for at least 4 days, but defecated 4 days ago after a soak. A CT scan revealed nothing but a slight anomaly of the backbone. Calcium, including ionized calcium are high and liver and kidney values are normal. The large egg may have compressed the nerves in her hind legs, as they are weak. I have a Reptisun 10.0 bulb in the hospital enclosure that she seems to respond to. An endoscopic examination of the bowel and bladder revealed no obstruction. In short, the hospital could not find a thing wrong with her that would cause her to be so weak. I found your forum last night, and this morning soaked her for 25 minutes in Pedialyte which seemed to rally her a bit. Later today I will try the baby carrot food and vitamin soak. I have had her since she was 3 months old, and I am terrified that I will lose her. Please help. Her name is Buddy.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi, and welcome to the Forum!

It takes time for them to recover from trauma like this, so be patient and continue the warm soaks. I hope things turn out ok and wish I had more words of wisdom to offer to you.

 

[Illinibunny]

Hi, and welcome to the Forum!

It takes time for them to recover from trauma like this, so be patient and continue the warm soaks. I hope things turn out ok and wish I had more words of wisdom to offer to you.

Thank you Yvonne. I have cried more in the last week than I have in years. She s so special to me.

Donna

 

[ascott]

That is alot of trauma she has gone through....I too would just be diligent in caring for her but also balancing some down/alone time for her to recover/feel secure again....

The soaks are a great thing and I too hope all ends up fantastic for you two...

 

[Illinibunny]

Thank you, Angela. I did let her see her sibling. The vet said she has nothing that was any danger to the other two tortoises, and that she could get a brief visit. She perked up a little, and she is resting now. I have the 10.0 fluorescent on, and she is under a Brinsea chick brooder which is reading 85 degrees. When should I give her the next soak, and should the light be off for her to rest, or would it be best to leave it on?

Donna

 

[tortadise]

Keep perisitent with her. The general antibiotic she is on can dehydrate a little. So soaks and elevating the humidity is a good idea. Be lenient with the pedialyte. It contains lots of sugars and can stress the system by spiming too much glucose. If you can administer fluids sub q I would see if the vet could get you some for home use. But already poking her every 72 hours is stressful enough.

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85 is good. Shoot a temp gun on her (if you have one) most of the time Injectable medicines need the tortoises system to be warm to work faster and not linger in their system too long. 80 degree body temps are recommended for tortoises.

 

[ascott]

http://www.hayneedle.com/product/ecoglow20chickbrooder.cfm

Is this they type of brooder you are referring to? Is yes, that is fantastic for warmth---however, I would be concerned with the tort dehydrating quicker---especially as pointed out, the antibiotic is hard of the system, although necessary in this situation---so I would offer a few soaks each day for at least a week--then see what her overall behavior is...you can also moisten the soil beneath where you have that brooder at to allow some humidity to rise as the warmth dries the substrate....

If that brooder is strictly heat then I would leave that going but I would shut down lights in the evening for proper night sleep/rest. If it were me, I would also limit the visitation right now with the other torts...not because of health concern for them but more for her stress levels...

 

[Illinibunny]

Keep perisitent with her. The general antibiotic she is on can dehydrate a little. So soaks and elevating the humidity is a good idea. Be lenient with the pedialyte. It contains lots of sugars and can stress the system by spiming too much glucose. If you can administer fluids sub q I would see if the vet could get you some for home use. But already poking her every 72 hours is stressful enough.

---

85 is good. Shoot a temp gun on her (if you have one) most of the time Injectable medicines need the tortoises system to be warm to work faster and not linger in their system too long. 80 degree body temps are recommended for tortoises.

---

Thank you. What should I use for soaking? I have always used plain water. Is that still fine? She had sb-q fluids yesterday.

Donna

 

[Illinibunny]

http://www.hayneedle.com/product/ecoglow20chickbrooder.cfm

Is this they type of brooder you are referring to? Is yes, that is fantastic for warmth---however, I would be concerned with the tort dehydrating quicker---especially as pointed out, the antibiotic is hard of the system, although necessary in this situation---so I would offer a few soaks each day for at least a week--then see what her overall behavior is...you can also moisten the soil beneath where you have that brooder at to allow some humidity to rise as the warmth dries the substrate....

If that brooder is strictly heat then I would leave that going but I would shut down lights in the evening for proper night sleep/rest. If it were me, I would also limit the visitation right now with the other torts...not because of health concern for them but more for her stress levels...

Yes, that is the brooder we have. I will keep her quiet, and I will try to keep away from her. The brooder takes up about 1/3 of the enclosure, so if she chooses to leave it she can, but the only time she seems to be moving her rear legs is while she is soaking. What do you think about the baby food and vitamin soak? All the time I have had them, they have never had any fruit, so I do worry about added sugar. I got 100% strained carrot baby food. In 8 years, this is the first trouble we have ever had.

Again, thank you, everyone.

Donna

 

[Yvonne G]

I only use the baby food soaks on turtles and tortoises that haven't eaten in quite a while. It's likely that your tortoise won't eat until she feels better. They can go quite a while without eating, and you really don't need to go the baby food route just yet.

 

[Illinibunny]

Thanks again, Yvonne. It is so nice to have people who know tortoises giving information. Even though the U of W has a robust veterinary school, they had never seen an Egyptian, and didn't know much about them as a species. And one of the students kept referring to her as a turtle. It is so reassuring just to have people out there. On Thursday, I felt so hopeless and helpless.

Donna

 

[tortadise]

Mark has a great soak regime. Its kinda like pedialyte. But you put all the ingediants together so you can leave out the sugar and use pureed cactus or carrots.

For some reason I can't copy and paste on my phone.

Its under the health section and titled "soaking tortoises" author is Madkins007

 

[Illinibunny]

Mark has a great soak regime. Its kinda like pedialyte. But you put all the ingediants together so you can leave out the sugar and use pureed cactus or carrots.

For some reason I can't copy and paste on my phone.

Its under the health section and titled "soaking tortoises" author is Madkins007

Thank you, Kelly. I'll go there right now. She is resting.

Donna

 

[mikeh]

As to antibiotic injections, front or rear part of the body? Administering at the rear could be playing a russian roulette.

 

[Illinibunny]

As to antibiotic injections, front or rear part of the body? Administering at the rear could be playing a russian roulette.

Front legs. I hate to do it. It's just a precaution the vets are taking because they can't figure out what is wrong.

Thanks.

Donna

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Donna
I'm sorry for the trauma that your E. Tort is going through . And I hope very much that she will get better . But most of all the trauma that you are going through so here is a prescription for YOU eat properly , get some good rest , and G of be with you both . And you are in all of our thoughts .

 

[tortadise]

As to antibiotic injections, front or rear part of the body? Administering at the rear could be playing a russian roulette.

Front legs. I hate to do it. It's just a precaution the vets are taking because they can't figure out what is wrong.

Thanks.

Donna

Well that's one of the better antibiotics. Sub q and not IM(intramuscular) it takes a little bit of time to see results. But its a very good long term "in the end" use. Just keep her hydrated as any antibiotic can deplete internal hydration

 

[ascott]

What do you think about the baby food and vitamin soak?

I would say in my opinion, the baby food soaks can do no harm but can offer a tasty treat for the healing tort....I would follow the baby food soak with a gentle rinsing....just to make sure she is remaining clean and fresh....

I would not yet worry about the vitamin added...not at this point and likely she will not need it...

 

[Illinibunny]

As to antibiotic injections, front or rear part of the body? Administering at the rear could be playing a russian roulette.

Front legs. I hate to do it. It's just a precaution the vets are taking because they can't figure out what is wrong.

Thanks.

Donna

Well that's one of the better antibiotics. Sub q and not IM(intramuscular) it takes a little bit of time to see results. But its a very good long term "in the end" use. Just keep her hydrated as any antibiotic can deplete internal hydration

Thanks. Today is her first injection. I have 4 syringes that were loaded at the hospital. I was told to keep them frozen until use. I am not going to use it cold. They didn't say to warm it to body temperature, so I'm going to call them to make sure I can give it at a comfortable temperature. I've never used this antibiotic before. This morning, she is not much changed but after her 2nd soak, she was much more active and using her hind legs. She didn't seem to want to soak, and was a little agitated. I did add a couple drops of PolyVisol baby vitamins to the water. She may have not liked the smell or taste. At least she showed a little improvement.

Donna

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Donna
I'm sorry for the trauma that your E. Tort is going through . And I hope very much that she will get better . But most of all the trauma that you are going through so here is a prescription for YOU eat properly , get some good rest , and G of be with you both . And you are in all of our thoughts .

You have no idea how much just having this forum available has done for me and for Buddy. Thank you.

Donna

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Has anyone ever used an herbal infusion for a soak. I was thinking willow for possible pain relief.

Thanks.

Donna

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What do you think about the baby food and vitamin soak?

I would say in my opinion, the baby food soaks can do no harm but can offer a tasty treat for the healing tort....I would follow the baby food soak with a gentle rinsing....just to make sure she is remaining clean and fresh....

I would not yet worry about the vitamin added...not at this point and likely she will not need it...

Thank you, Angela. I will try the baby food soak today.

Donna

 

[kezilulu]

Hope she keeps improving! Keep us updated you're doing amazing by her!
xXx