Hi! I'm new to this forum and am an owner of a 14 year old leopard tortoise who we recently found out is female...mainly because the vet told otherwise.
I live in the San Gabriel Valley area of Los Angeles and was wondering if someone would recommend a tortoise vet to me. I've only taken her to the vet twice over all these years because she always seemed healthy and strong. She has been housed in an outdoor enclosure for around 10 years now and has water dishes, hay and vegetables to eat, and a handmade large dog kennel sized house for sleeping and keeping cool.
Last summer and this summer, she has dug 10 holes in the yard area of her enclosure but have abandoned all the holes and no sight of eggs. Because I was unaware that she was female (told otherwise from vet), I thought she was just aggravated so I'd let her out to graze and walk on our St. Augustine grass. I recently found this forum and did some research from fellow posters and can't help but wonder if she's egg bound? She is high energy and drinking a lot of water, but her appetite has been much lower than usual for 2 months. She will eat and graze but not as much as before. Am I over thinking this? I'm so worried I've had her since grade school and really didn't know much about tortoises when I got her as a pet.
*I should probably also add that she had a friend who passed away almost 3 years ago
I'd really appreciate if someone in the Pasadena, San Gabriel, Arcadia area would recommend a trusty vet. I'm very hesitant to return to the same vet I went to because she misdiagnosed the sex (I went 2 years ago so she was already mature at the time) and was on Google search for much of the examination. After doing some research online, I was able to easily diagnose that "he" is indeed a she.
Thanks and extremely happy to have found this forum!
I live in the San Gabriel Valley area of Los Angeles and was wondering if someone would recommend a tortoise vet to me. I've only taken her to the vet twice over all these years because she always seemed healthy and strong. She has been housed in an outdoor enclosure for around 10 years now and has water dishes, hay and vegetables to eat, and a handmade large dog kennel sized house for sleeping and keeping cool.
Last summer and this summer, she has dug 10 holes in the yard area of her enclosure but have abandoned all the holes and no sight of eggs. Because I was unaware that she was female (told otherwise from vet), I thought she was just aggravated so I'd let her out to graze and walk on our St. Augustine grass. I recently found this forum and did some research from fellow posters and can't help but wonder if she's egg bound? She is high energy and drinking a lot of water, but her appetite has been much lower than usual for 2 months. She will eat and graze but not as much as before. Am I over thinking this? I'm so worried I've had her since grade school and really didn't know much about tortoises when I got her as a pet.
*I should probably also add that she had a friend who passed away almost 3 years ago
I'd really appreciate if someone in the Pasadena, San Gabriel, Arcadia area would recommend a trusty vet. I'm very hesitant to return to the same vet I went to because she misdiagnosed the sex (I went 2 years ago so she was already mature at the time) and was on Google search for much of the examination. After doing some research online, I was able to easily diagnose that "he" is indeed a she.
Thanks and extremely happy to have found this forum!