Help! RI, less active, eating less

[Cicitina]

Hi everyone,

I have a baby marginated tortoise who I unfortunately bought with a respiratory infection. I tried raising humidity and the temperature in his enclosure for the first while to see if that would improve but eventually took him to the vet and received antibiotic injections he is taking every 3 days.
Up until this week he was active still and eating well. Always eating, he is very ravenous! But over the weekend I noticed he is sleeping in his shell more (he’s usually all spread out doing the Superman)
He has had about doses already, and still has about 5 to go, I was hoping to see more improvement by now and am a little worried.
He nibbles a bit at dandelion and kale, but will devour small pieces of aloe that I don’t like giving him often as it’s very mucousy.
He will eat fresh picked dandelion from the yard but it’s cold here now (we’ve already seen a day of snow!) and there won’t be much outside
Has anyone had experience with RI’s before?
And are there any other and better options of foods I can be offering him. Anything I can grow at home? (In the spring I plan on starting a garden for him)

PS temps around 100F during the day and drops about 80F at night and humidity is around 80 but I’ve been struggling with it as it drops to 40 sometimes still

 

[Cicitina]

Hi everyone,

I have a baby marginated tortoise who I unfortunately bought with a respiratory infection. I tried raising humidity and the temperature in his enclosure for the first while to see if that would improve but eventually took him to the vet and received antibiotic injections he is taking every 3 days.
Up until this week he was active still and eating well. Always eating, he is very ravenous! But over the weekend I noticed he is sleeping in his shell more (he’s usually all spread out doing the Superman)
He has had about doses already, and still has about 5 to go, I was hoping to see more improvement by now and am a little worried.
He nibbles a bit at dandelion and kale, but will devour small pieces of aloe that I don’t like giving him often as it’s very mucousy.
He will eat fresh picked dandelion from the yard but it’s cold here now (we’ve already seen a day of snow!) and there won’t be much outside
Has anyone had experience with RI’s before?
And are there any other and better options of foods I can be offering him. Anything I can grow at home? (In the spring I plan on starting a garden for him)

PS temps around 100F during the day and drops about 80F at night and humidity is around 80 but I’ve been struggling with it as it drops to 40 sometimes still

***he has had 5 doses already

 

[Kapidolo Farms]

no matter if you go to a vet or decide to treat yourself, consider the range of reasons in this doc. Share it with your vet.

https://newcms.eventkaddy.net/event_data/60/session_files/AV008_Conference_Note_jjacobs_cvma.net_AV008BOYERNasalDischargeinTortoises_20150512213127.pdf

 

[Tom]

***he has had 5 doses already

What antibiotic is being injected? If its Baytril, you need to tell the vet to stop. Baytilr was very commonly used for at least two decades because it is/was effective at stopping RIs in tortoises, but it is extremely caustic and causes burns and sometime skin sloughing at the injection sites. There are other drugs, like Fortaz, that are just as effective without the burn.

Your tortoise might be hiding and refusing to eat because of extreme pain if Baytirl has been used.

Most vets don't know much about tortoises or tortoise care. There is no semester on tortoise care in vet school.

 

[Cicitina]

What antibiotic is being injected? If its Baytril, you need to tell the vet to stop. Baytilr was very commonly used for at least two decades because it is/was effective at stopping RIs in tortoises, but it is extremely caustic and causes burns and sometime skin sloughing at the injection sites. There are other drugs, like Fortaz, that are just as effective without the burn.

Your tortoise might be hiding and refusing to eat because of extreme pain if Baytirl has been used.

Most vets don't know much about tortoises or tortoise care. There is no semester on tortoise care in vet school.

I am not certain what antibiotic he is on, I will have to find my bill when I am off work to see.
I have been updated that he is eating again, just didn’t like the kale or dandelion that was in the fridge. And I don’t blame him as I noticed it wasn’t looking as fresh this weekend.
im just concerned about him sleeping in his shell and still having some nose bubbles.
The vet even told me they had never seen a Marginated before or one so small (he’s 2oz) so they really had to dilute the solution for his tiny size

 

[Tom]

I am not certain what antibiotic he is on, I will have to find my bill when I am off work to see.
I have been updated that he is eating again, just didn’t like the kale or dandelion that was in the fridge. And I don’t blame him as I noticed it wasn’t looking as fresh this weekend.
im just concerned about him sleeping in his shell and still having some nose bubbles.
The vet even told me they had never seen a Marginated before or one so small (he’s 2oz) so they really had to dilute the solution for his tiny size

We all use grams for baby tortoises. Gives a more accurate representation.

Babies can't handle meds very well. That your vet has never even seen one is a bad sign.

 

[mark1]

i'd be interested in how many folks on here have experience with baytril causing necrosis at the injection site ? babies handle properly dosed meds as well as adults ......... at least half of the meds i've personally ever administered were to babies ...... baytril is one of the few drugs that does work on mycoplasma infections , which is a common cause of respiratory infection in tortoises ........

baytril toxicology facts
https://academicjournals.org/journal/AJPP/article-full-text-pdf/21CF58D29826.pdf

 

[Cicitina]

We all use grams for baby tortoises. Gives a more accurate representation.

Babies can't handle meds very well. That your vet has never even seen one is a bad sign.

here is the bill with the medication and his weight!

 

[Tom]

here is the bill with the medication and his weight!

That is the good one that doesn't burn them.

 

[Cicitina]

That is the good one that doesn't burn them.

that’s a relief I guess, and he did eat his “treats” today. He was given a small piece of carrot to see if he would eat or not, appears he was just not interested in what he was given in the morning.
I will keep monitoring him. His next dose of antibiotics will be tomorrow

based on his weight is there an estimated age anyone could guess?
As much as I research I can’t seem to find a proper growth chart for margs

 

[Tom]

based on his weight is there an estimated age anyone could guess?
As much as I research I can’t seem to find a proper growth chart for margs

That antibiotic isn't caustic, but its still hard on the babies.

There aren't any growth charts, and averages are meaningless because they all grow at vastly different rates and for a wide variety of reasons. Any sort of sickness usually halts any new growth for a while too.

 

[Cicitina]

That antibiotic isn't caustic, but its still hard on the babies.

There aren't any growth charts, and averages are meaningless because they all grow at vastly different rates and for a wide variety of reasons. Any sort of sickness usually halts any new growth for a while too.

my vet will give me another round of antibiotics if I still feel he needs them after the last few doses, I’m finding he isn’t very active still and stopped eating most of his dandelion and kale. I was worried he wasn’t eating at all today and gave him some pellets with dried peppers, squash and carrot in them. He immediately moved quickly over and started picking out I all the colourful pieces and devouring them. Im worried now he’s not eating the proper diet and nutrients he needs to continue to fight off this infection.

Is there anything else I can give him to entice him to eat? He’ll also eat tiny bits of aloe and Jade but I don’t want to give him that more than once every other week as I know they can be natural laxatives and I’ve also noticed when he eats these he blows the jelly bits out his nose which is what I want to avoid right now.
His temps are still staying around 90-100 basking and 80 ambient. It does not drop lower than 80 at night.
humidity stays around 60, but again I can’t keep it stable and it fluctuates. Today I added moss to out of reach areas and misted them to see if that’ll hold any humidity. He’s in an open front terrarium but should I place something over the heated top to trap in more heat and humidity?

I’m growing very worried for my little one

 

[Cicitina]

To add to the above,
He is going to the bathroom regularly, wakes up and goes to his basking spot every morning and stays there until 4pm
Drinks on his own
I’m just noticing he spends more time sleeping in his basking area and leaving behind food he’d otherwise have devoured completely

 

[mastershake]

i'd be interested in how many folks on here have experience with baytril causing necrosis at the injection site ?

we add 50% sterile injectbale water when or if we have to use baytril and this will usually prevent that from happening i have only one time in many years had a bad reaction to an injection site doing it this way that was on a bearded dragon.