Help! (chewed RF not eating)

spavel

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I recently acquired a rescue redfoot tortoise that was in a very bad situation. I have sulcatas, but this is my first redfoot. He was dumped on the side of the road with a note that said free. He appears to have been chewed on by a dog his front feet have abrasions and his front chew nails have been chewed off. His shell has chew marks on one side. He also has pyramiding. He has been to my exotic vet. He is currently on baytril for his respiratory infection, pain medication, and he has bandages and padding on his legs that I change every day and have a prescription salve that I put on when changing the bandages. I am spraying blukote on his shell where it has scrapes. He is actually moving around now that he has some padding on his feet. His shell does have pyramiding. I have had absolutely no luck with getting him to eat. It is going on about a week now. My vet thinks that it is due to the pain and trauma. I am making sure I soak him so he does not get dehydrated. He is drinking. I am concerned about him not eating. He is spending a lot of time sleeping as well. I am giving him a huge variety of fruits vegetables and leafy greens as well as mazuri pellets. Any tips on getting him interested in eating? He has a large enclosure with humidity and a mister.IMG_6388.jpgIMG_6387.jpg
 

crimson_lotus

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First off, thanks for taking him in! Beautiful coloring and it looks fully grown with the hourglass figure of a male, I'd guess. Any poop so far?

It sounds like you're doing a good job keeping the areas clean and you are practicing good husbandry. For food, I can recommend a few of my tortoises favorites: mango, cactus fruit, figs, sardines, tuna, zucchini, dandelion.

I'd suggest the stronger smelling things like sardines to begin with. Spreading it on some more beneficial greens might help.
 

wellington

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Wow how sad that someone would dump an animal when it needed the most help. Thank you for taking the poor thing in and helping him.
The baytril is probably making him lose his appetite. This can happen with some meds. Same for the lethargy.
Try the foods recommended above and see how they work. Keeping him hydrated is more important then food. They can go quite a while without food but not water.
Good luck and keep us posted on his recovery.
 

spavel

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First off, thanks for taking him in! Beautiful coloring and it looks fully grown with the hourglass figure of a male, I'd guess. Any poop so far?

It sounds like you're doing a good job keeping the areas clean and you are practicing good husbandry. For food, I can recommend a few of my tortoises favorites: mango, cactus fruit, figs, sardines, tuna, zucchini, dandelion.

I'd suggest the stronger smelling things like sardines to begin with. Spreading it on some more beneficial greens might help.

I will absolutely try that thank you so much!
 

spavel

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Wow how sad that someone would dump an animal when it needed the most help. Thank you for taking the poor thing in and helping him.
The baytril is probably making him lose his appetite. This can happen with some meds. Same for the lethargy.
Try the foods recommended above and see how they work. Keeping him hydrated is more important then food. They can go quite a while without food but not water.
Good luck and keep us posted on his recovery.

I will thank you so much!
 

Reptilian Feline

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New place, meds, new routines, new people and new food.
Water and medicines for now, I think, and then when he gets used to all the new stuff you can give him things to try. One thing he might be used to, considering his injury, is dog kibble. Get a small low price sample, put it in water til it's fully wet and try that. That might be what he's used to eat.
 

Bee62

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Have you tried feeding him bananas or mushrooms ? That is the favorite food of my redfoots. They can`t resists the smell of a banana or mushroom.
Thanks that you saved the poor tortoise. It is a shame that people throw away an animal this way.
 

MPRC

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Keep us updated, those wounds aren't terrible as far as dog attacks go.
 

TammyJ

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Thanks for your great care of this tortoise, he is very lucky you found him!
Please keep us posted.
 

mark1

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Have you tried feeding him bananas or mushrooms ? That is the favorite food of my redfoots. They can`t resists the smell of a banana or mushroom.
Thanks that you saved the poor tortoise. It is a shame that people throw away an animal this way.
my thought as I was reading down to your post was to try banana , if they hadn't ……. almost all the turtles or tortoises I've had , including redfoot , liked banana , the smell of ripe banana does seem to attract them …..
 

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