Help (not eating or pooping)

[madiandtito]

I took my new tortoise to the vet about a week and a half ago. I have only had her for a month. She was in rough condition when I got her, but was not told of any issues until after I got her. I first suspected a URI, and the vet I took her to said that is not a concern. However, her health seems to be still not doing well, and I want to take her to a different vet again to be sure. Before dishing out more money on another vet (the only other one I have in my area is ridiculousy over-priced because it is a research vetrenarian) or is it possible I am over-reacting?

Another point to add is that in the near month I have had her, I have not seen her eat, but sometimes a very small portion of food is gone. I have not seen her poop ever, which freaks me out but the vet told me she would only eat approximately 2 small bites of food a day and that I wan't monitoring her closely enough to see her poop? This seemed weird to me, because they hardly asked about anything I was doing to care for her- and I monitor everything in the enclosure very closely. I also have seen other people talk about their tortoises and all the research I have done leads me to believe she should definitely be eating more than two bites???

Do you think I am over reacting or should I take her to the other vet and hope they have finance options available?

Please do not come at me for the money aspect, I did not irresponsibly get this pet, I am just not going to easily be able to dish out the possible $1,000+ charge that this other vet will likely have.

 

[Jodipg82]

I took my new tortoise to the vet about a week and a half ago. I have only had her for a month. She was in rough condition when I got her, but was not told of any issues until after I got her. I first suspected a URI, and the vet I took her to said that is not a concern. However, her health seems to be still not doing well, and I want to take her to a different vet again to be sure. Before dishing out more money on another vet (the only other one I have in my area is ridiculousy over-priced because it is a research vetrenarian) or is it possible I am over-reacting?

Another point to add is that in the near month I have had her, I have not seen her eat, but sometimes a very small portion of food is gone. I have not seen her poop ever, which freaks me out but the vet told me she would only eat approximately 2 small bites of food a day and that I wan't monitoring her closely enough to see her poop? This seemed weird to me, because they hardly asked about anything I was doing to care for her- and I monitor everything in the enclosure very closely. I also have seen other people talk about their tortoises and all the research I have done leads me to believe she should definitely be eating more than two bites???

Do you think I am over reacting or should I take her to the other vet and hope they have finance options available?

Please do not come at me for the money aspect, I did not irresponsibly get this pet, I am just not going to easily be able to dish out the possible $1,000+ charge that this other vet will likely have.

What species is she? What is her enclosure like? Pictures are most helpful.

 

[madiandtito]

What species is she? What is her enclosure like? Pictures are most helpful.

She is a Leopard Tortoise! I have her on paper towels as the substrate for now, which is what the vet told me to do, as she was born with a disabled leg and cannot move around on soil. I keep Sphagnum Moss around most areas in there, and temps are 95 degrees basking and the other end fluctuates from 80-85. Unfortunately my phone is broken and my new one will not be in until after this weekend, but as soon as that happens I will upload pictures.

 

[Jodipg82]

She is a Leopard Tortoise! I have her on paper towels as the substrate for now, which is what the vet told me to do, as she was born with a disabled leg and cannot move around on soil. I keep Sphagnum Moss around most areas in there, and temps are 95 degrees basking and the other end fluctuates from 80-85. Unfortunately my phone is broken and my new one will not be in until after this weekend, but as soon as that happens I will upload pictures.

I have a Leo also and am very new to this but am on here all the time learning and humidity is going to be a huge factor in your Leo's health. 80%+ humidity. One of the experts Tom has made a care sheet that is amazing and I follow it and my Leo is thriving.

 

[wellington]

I would not take her to the vet you went too already, s/he sounds clueless on tortoises.
Your tort should be eating more then you stated. Should be pooping and drinking.
Give warm water soaks daily. Get the humidity in the enclosure to 80% and make it a closed chamber. The basking and over all temp sounds good. Just be sure the temps are at tort level and the 80-85 is day and night.
What makes you think she has a uri? If she actually does then she needs to see a good vet that knows what they are doing.
The walking issue may be helped with water therapy. Basically making her swim under close supervision and help from you. Do this 2 times a day in warm water. Hold her on the bottom shell but make her move her legs and swim.
Get us pictures asap and consider another vet visit.

 

[Jodipg82]

Still learning how to navigate but am looking for Tom's care sheet to send to the OP but can't find it?

 

[Jodipg82]

She is a Leopard Tortoise! I have her on paper towels as the substrate for now, which is what the vet told me to do, as she was born with a disabled leg and cannot move around on soil. I keep Sphagnum Moss around most areas in there, and temps are 95 degrees basking and the other end fluctuates from 80-85. Unfortunately my phone is broken and my new one will not be in until after this weekend, but as soon as that happens I will upload pictures.

This link is to a care sheet for your Leo. Its goes over all the most important points of raising a healthy Leo.

The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. Babies hatch during the...

www.tortoiseforum.org

 

[KarenSoCal]

Another possibility is that she has been eating the sphagnum moss. If she has, she could be impacted from that. I would remove the moss.