Has anyone had a Tortoise with fatty liver disease?

[Rocky219]

As of this post I would say that we noticed something wrong 1 or 2 days ago. Again at the time I make this post the vet appointment is in 5 days. I called every vet that sees Tortoises up to 3 hours away. Is that okay that I have to wait 5 days? Will it get worse until then? I read it could be due to overfeeding so I did not feed him yesterday. Also someone or reddit said that it could be due to me not feeding him the right foods. He said that I may have given him too much Brassicas. Should I not feed him again since I only have the food I used last time and not the new food that he recommended? Any responses are much appreciated.

 

[Mrs.Jennifer]

As of this post I would say that we noticed something wrong 1 or 2 days ago. Again at the time I make this post the vet appointment is in 5 days. I called every vet that sees Tortoises up to 3 hours away. Is that okay that I have to wait 5 days? Will it get worse until then? I read it could be due to overfeeding so I did not feed him yesterday. Also someone or reddit said that it could be due to me not feeding him the right foods. He said that I may have given him too much Brassicas. Should I not feed him again since I only have the food I used last time and not the new food that he recommended? Any responses are much appreciated.

I’m not one of the experts here, but I do know that they will need a lot more info to help you. What species of tortoise? Age? Current diet? Definitely post photos of your tortoise’s enclosure showing substrate, lighting, heating and temperature/humidity. They will be able to help you more quickly if you post this information.

 

[TeamZissou]

What symptoms are you seeing that makes you think it's fatty liver disease?

 

[TeamZissou]

I did a little reading on it in Chitty and Raftery's Essentials of Tortoise Medicine. It's from a few years ago, so it's hard to say if this is still the current and best source.

Apparently it does happen in tortoises as a result of being fed a poor diet and other husbandry conditions. The symptoms are mainly not eating and lethargy. It doesn't sound like something that would come on quickly that you could easily detect . If it were fatty liver, they'd likely need to do blood tests to test cholesterol levels and other things.

The main way to correct it is through proper nutrition. They also recommend milk thistle extract as a liver stimulant. They may need to do a feeding tube if the tortoise refuses to eat.

It would be best if you could post the details of your husbandry.