Help: My Russian tortoise vomited!

[Geng]

After I came back from holiday 2 weeks ago, my Russian tortoise became legarthic and hasn't eaten for a week. I took her to the vet yesterday. The vet couldn't see worms or parasite in her poo, and has no specific idea what her problem is. She send some sample to the lab to do a better research what the problem is. In the mean time the vet gave her some anti biotic through needle, and he told me to give her daily a dose.

I got home and gave my tort a soak. After 30 min hiding in her shell she came out and looked really alive! I got her out and placed her on my bed to dry. She would run around, and I gave her a piece of banana as a treat. She chomped it away. I placed her back in her enclosure, and she would walk around a bit before going to sleep. Everything seems fine and the anti biotic seems to work.

Today in the afternoon I gave her a 30 min soak before giving her the medicine. It was quite scary to give her the medicine via the needle, but I did it. After the anti biotic I gave her a new soak. She was looking relax. But 30 min later, I show her neck stretching far out, and opening her mouth as far as she could. She then puked out big chuncks of her banana and dandelions of yesterday, and puked like 4x (see pic)!

I paniced, and the only thing I can do is her give lots of soaks to calm her down!

My vet is closed during weekends, and theres no place where I can go for help!

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

When your tortoise is already sick it is not a good idea to give it treats like banana.
Banana is too high in it's potassium level and contains sugars and starch that your tortoise would find hard to digest at the best of times.
Hopefully, the vomiting has cleared this.
Keep an eye on her and keep to safe correct foods.
Is she calmed down, now ?

 

[Geng]

When your tortoise is already sick it is not a good idea to give it treats like banana.
Banana is too high in it's potassium level and contains sugars and starch that your tortoise would find hard to digest at the best of times.
Hopefully, the vomiting has cleared this.
Keep an eye on her and keep to safe correct foods.
Is she calmed down, now ?

Yeah, she has calmed down now for a hour. I'm giving her soaks. She is just laying there.

I normally never give her banana or fruit, but yesterday I gave her a piece in a long time. The banana piece was a bit too much I must admit, the size of a small human bite. I hope after the vomit she would feel okay now.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Let's hope so.
Try some more dandelions, these are great.

 

[Geng]

Let's hope so.
Try some more dandelions, these are great.

Should I just let her go to bed? She's really calm right now, even sleeping during her soaks. Normally she wants to climb out after 30 min.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

See if you can get her to eat a little, but I wouldn't force her, then sure, i'd let her sleep if that's what she wants.
Please put an idea of where you're located on your profile.
Cos I don't know what time it is where you are, if it's still early, you could get her up again this evening and try to feed her.

 

[Geng]

See if you can get her to eat a little, but I wouldn't force her, then sure, i'd let her sleep if that's what she wants.
Please put an idea of where you're located on your profile.
Cos I don't know what time it is where you are, if it's still early, you could get her up again this evening and try to feed her.

Alright, thanks a lot for your help.

I'm from the Netherlands, it's 5 pm over here.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Alright, thanks a lot for your help.

I'm from the Netherlands, it's 5 pm over here.

Oh, I've been to Holland many times.
Best let her sleep after an offer a food then, in my opinion.
See how she is in the morning.

 

[Carol S]

You should not give a Russian tortoise fruit (including tomatoes) as the sugar content causes gastrointestinal upset. Hope your tortoise feels better soon.

 

[Geng]

You should not give a Russian tortoise fruit (including tomatoes) as the sugar content causes gastrointestinal upset. Hope your tortoise feels better soon.

Yeah, I feel like an awful person. Feeling really bad the whole day now. It was awful to see her vomit.

I hope she will feel better tomorrow, but a banana won't kill my tortoise right, not that im gonna feed her a banana/fruit against?

 

[Kasia]

No you're not and your not awful. You just wanted to feed her something...
Maybe she vomited because she was very hungry and chunks she took were too big to swallow plus upset stomach? Just guessing... Did the Vet took any blood? Morphology and liver/kidney functions should be checked. Antibiotics you give her could make some conditions worse. It could be a gastric tract blockage, something she ate is stuck in her intestines so I would ask for an X-ray as well.

 

[Geng]

No you're not and your not awful. You just wanted to feed her something...
Maybe she vomited because she was very hungry and chunks she took were too big to swallow plus upset stomach? Just guessing... Did the Vet took any blood? Morphology and liver/kidney functions should be checked. Antibiotics you give her could make some conditions worse. It could be a gastric tract blockage, something she ate is stuck in her intestines so I would ask for an X-ray as well.

The vet send her poo sample to the lab. He said I should call tomorrow for the results.

The vet advised me to give her the daily dose, and if she's still the same after a week I should bring her back.

Thanks for your input.

 

[Carol S]

Yeah, I feel like an awful person. Feeling really bad the whole day now. It was awful to see her vomit.

I hope she will feel better tomorrow, but a banana won't kill my tortoise right, not that im gonna feed her a banana/fruit against?

Don't beat yourself up, you did not know, and you justed wanted to get her to eat something. I hope she is feeling better. Be sure to give her soaks to help keep her hydrated.

 

[Geng]

Don't beat yourself up, you did not know, and you justed wanted to get her to eat something. I hope she is feeling better. Be sure to give her soaks to help keep her hydrated.

Thanks a lot. She hasn't vomited since then, but neither she is eating. I gave her 2 soaks yesterday, her daily injection, and let her roam in the garden because it was sunny.

Is there anything I can do to make my tortoise better?