Health /illness section

[Neal]

How about a health / illness section? So many posts are related to identifying symptoms and illnesses. Maybe it could have articles about what to look for and explanation on the causes of illnesses. I think it could be a good resource for a lot of people.

 

[Torty Mom]

What a great idea!!!

 

[mattluck3]

That would be great!! Wonderful idea

 

[Yvonne G]

I like that idea. We could put some of those pictures of septicemia that Rachael found in that section.

 

[PeanutbuttER]

That is a great idea, but we do need to remember to put a disclaimer that the articles aren't meant to replace a vet examination and that there may be inaccuracies.

However, I'd also love to see some of the usual treatments for each illness. Like panacur being the commonly used medicine for worms and terramycin for eye problems, etc.

 

[Tom]

Great idea Neal. I'm all for it.

 

[terryo]

This sounds like a wonderful idea!

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Sounds outstanding.

 

[Kristina]

I think also a basic format for posting a question would be great, too. We could have a sticky at the top of the forum that says something along the lines of "Please read these guidelines before posting" and then have a form that can be cut and pasted into a new post.

Tortoise species (attach photos for identification if not known):

Describe your problem (attach photos if needed):

How old is your tortoise (if known, if not, what is the SCL?):

Your set-up -

Size/type:
Temperatures and how measured:
Heat and Lighting sources (brand, type, etc.):
What is your substrate:

Describe your tortoise's current diet:

Has your tortoise been dewormed?:

Please post photos of your set up as soon as possible.

etc, etc, and so on and so forth. That way people could give all the information in their first post, it would be less repetitive typing for those of us that ask the same questions over and over again, and people would get more definitive answers faster because all the information would be there without us having to fish for it.

I volunteer to write up both a form and a cut an paste tutorial to go along with it, if everyone thinks it is a good idea.

 

[Candy]

I think it's a great idea too. It would be very helpful to see pictures like the ones that Rachael posted on that little leopard thread, and then descriptions of the illness and what can be done for it.

 

[Angi]

I love this idea!

 

[Yvonne G]

Nope, I'm not for that part of the idea, Kristina. Reason being, I don't want to be considered the vet. People should take their tortoise to the vet for diagnosis. What I'd like to see on a forum like this would be examples of what to look for. If your tortoise looks like this, then that is probably what's wrong and he needs to see the vet.

I can see someone saying that they told the forum what was wrong with their tortoise and followed all the things I was told to do and he died.

I don't know if I'm saying this right. I don't think we should be where the member goes to get info on a sick tortoise. They should take it to the vet. However, if we had a health section, we could show what urates look like. We could show what septicemia looks like. We could show a thin tortoise. We could show a bubbly nose.

That way we're not pretending to diagnose the member's tortoise, just giving examples they might be able to match their tortoise up to.

 

[Neal]

I agree with Yvonne, I think the questions thing might leave it open for anyone to comment and someone might get the wrong information and attempt the wrong type of treatment or something along those lines.

I think it would be good to have separate sticky threads for each major illness, RI, pneumonia, septicemia, etc...with pictures and a list of symptoms and possible treatments. Of course, any type of real treatment should be done by a vet, but something like soaking a tortoise in baby food and increasing temperatures might go a long way for a lot of people.

The focus should be more about how to identify an illness as early as possible, that way it's a lot easier for the person who owns the tortoise to fix the problem before it turns bad. It seems a lot of posts we see about a sick tortoise happen after the situation is already bad and their owners are really concerned. If we have these sticky threads available of what to look out for it will be a lot easier for people to look up something when they think their tortoise is acting funny but they aren't too concerned yet.

 

[PeanutbuttER]

Absolutely agree Yvonne. We are not vets and I would not at all be shocked if someone blamed us for not providing absolutely accurate generalized information about their specific tortoise and then it died. That would be awful.

However, I do think we should supply some information about what treatments and even medications to expect. That way when they go to the vet they have some heads up on what's probably going to happen and can even ask the vet why something else is being done. This way they are more informed patients. I also like the idea of having a "nursing sick tortoises" thread/sticky where a general format is presented about how to care for sick tortoises (warm temps, baby food soaks, isolation, etc.) and when each method of "nursing" is appropriate.

 

[John]

I think any info on illness and treatment would be helpful,not so people can treat there own animals so much as being better equiped too find a vet that is good for their animal,my experience with vets in my area is that they will claim too have more experience with reptiles than they actually do,your animal is actually providing their experience,it actually took me awhile too find a good one.having a place too help identify what symptoms may mean and the possible treatments would be great.add a disclaimer,saying the forum is not a vet ,people are already asking questions and getting answers no blame yet,but i agree it will probably happen.

 

[yagyujubei]

This might sound good, but I believe that it's practicing medicine without a license. Would you also tell dosages, and where to obtain antibiotics? Husbandry info is one thing, treating medical conditions is another. I'm just saying.

 

[moswen]

i think this is a great idea! it would really help decrease so much action in the "general tortoise discussion" too. i like it.

no one's treating any sick tortoises on here. no one's treating the septicemia that was just recently a buzz on the forum. we're determining what we think it is. if we don't have any hands on it and we're not putting any medicines on it we're not practicing any un-licensed vet stuff.

besides, any serious illness you would only be able to treat by obtaining medication that any vet would say "i need to see you first." half the time people think there's something wrong with their tort and there isn't, it's just a normal tort behavior that a new tort owner does not know about it. this section would help ease their minds, and help those with sick tortoises understand the disease so they know what the vet is talking about when they take it in.

let's be honest, i've disagreed with what tula's old vet told me before, and it helped because i had already researched greeks and tortoises. knowing about the disease before you come in could only help you be less confused and scared when you go in.

 

[Neal]

So, what else do we need to do to get this going? I literally have nothing to do for the next week so I can help out any which way.

 

[PeanutbuttER]

This might sound good, but I believe that it's practicing medicine without a license. Would you also tell dosages, and where to obtain antibiotics? Husbandry info is one thing, treating medical conditions is another. I'm just saying.

I've got to disagree. The site does not exist solely for husbandry reasons. Listing common treatments is one thing, listing dosages is another. By listing what medications are commonly used you're not treating, you're educating. It's not "practicing medicine without a license". We're saying "go to a vet to get dosed and here's what you can expect" not "do this yourself and here's how".

For those that don't know, you can get antibiotics and some other medicines at many farm-supply stores and online. We don't need to tell anyone that they can find these by googling for them? They're either useless or harmful though without the right dosages so you'd be making a big mistake by performing treatments you're not qualified to do.

 

[Kristina]

I think you folks completely misunderstood what I was saying. How is having a form for someone to fill out diagnosing health issues? It wouldn't be any different than what we already do, except that the poster would provide the information in the first post rather than us having to fish for it.

For example:

janedoe123 joins the forum and posts a thread titled. "Please help!" She says,

"My tortoise is sleepy all the time and isn't eating. What could be wrong?"

Someone responds to janedoe123 and says,

"Can you give us some more information? What is your set up like, what are your temperatures, do you have a heat lamp and a UV lamp, and what kind/how old is your tortoise?"

janedoe123 responds,

"He is a baby sulcata, I have him in a fish tank and I have a bulb that the petstore sold me."

A member is again going to have to ask,

"How big is the tank? What kind of bulb is it, and what are your temperatures in the enclosure?"

janedoe123 responds,

"The tank is a 20 gallon, and the bulb is the UV kind. It is about 78* under the bulb."

Member responds,

"Your temps are too cool, and that may very well be the problem. For a Sulcata you need a hot spot of around 100* and the cool end should be no lower than 80*. They need heat at night also, you can get...." and so on.

What I was talking about was having a form to fill out. janedoe123 copies and pastes the form, and it looks like this:

Tortoise species (attach photos for identification if not known):Sulcata

Describe your problem (attach photos if needed): My tortoise is sleepy all the time and isn't eating. What could be wrong?

How old is your tortoise (if known, if not, what is the SCL?):baby

Your set-up -

Size/type: 20 gallon aquarium
Temperatures and how measured: 78* under the bulb, aquarium thermometer
Heat and Lighting sources (brand, type, etc.):UV bulb, coil kind
What is your substrate: rabbit pellets

Describe your tortoise's current diet: romaine lettuce and tortoise pellets

Has your tortoise been dewormed?: no

See what I mean? Instead of a bunch of repeated questions, the info is there. Are you going to give different advice based on the first set of answers compared to the second? Yes and no. You are still going to say that you think the tortoise is too cold, but you are also going to give advice on the bulb type, diet, and substrate type.

In my opinion this is no more "diagnosing" than what we already do is, it just gives more information and streamlines the process.