hi there, i would like some advice.

[georginasweeting]

hi there my name is georgina, i have a 3 and a half year old hermann tortoise called dexta, he has severe braindamage due to a fall at the beginning of the year which left him unable to feed with out me syringe feeding him and can only walk short distances. he is also blind in one eye which has also affected his balance and walking. if anyone could offer any help in coping with him or how i can enrich his life it would be appreciated.

regards

 

[dmarcus]

Thats a sad story and I am sure it must be tough. I think only someone who has had to deal with something like you are, will be able to assist. I hope you are able to get some advice to help you and your tortoise..

 

[zesty_17]

what is your routine with him now? Does he digest/defecate normally? What about temperament, shy or outgoing? overstimulate easily?

 

[Laura]

Maggie has dealt with these types of problems.. she should be able to give some advice..
Did your tort ever see a vet? maybe there are some meds that could help?

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Georgina:

Welcome to the forum.

Poor little tortoise. Does he take well to the syringe feeding, or does he fight it?

 

[georginasweeting]

8am we get up, i take dexta into the garden for 15 mins
8:30am i turn his lamps on and put him in the basking end of his enclosure
11am i move him halfway from his lamp to his house
4pm i move him slighty closer to his house
7pm i feed him and every other dat bath him in like warm water to just below his chin. he wriggle and moves in the water and he normally goes to the toilet then i dry him off and he trys to walk around the floor for a bit but his tucks in his shell when he has had enough
i then put him in his house (log tunnel0 he wriggles down in to his bedding and i turn the lights off and we start again on the morning.

if i am doing something wrong please tell me, any advic would be good right now i feel that maybe i could be doing somthing more for him.

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Welcome.

 

[tortoisenerd]

Welcome to the group. I'm sorry its in this type of circumstance though. I'm also very curious for more information. I can only give you advice on what I would do if given this situation, as I have no experience in this. Hoping Maggie comes along as she has cared for many animals with similar histories.

If it were my tort, I would take it to a vet with extensive tort experience (maybe even more than one) to get opinions on if the tort was in pain, if its systems all work, etc. If it has pain or major problems that will impede its life, I'd want to put it down. If its likely not in pain, takes to the syringe feedings, not freaked out all the time or appears stressed (now that its had a bit of time), and its systems are still working (it can drink, pee, poop, bask, cool down, etc), I would imagine it could live a pretty close to normal life. I'd give it an enclosure thats easy to deal with but still has some enrichment as far as hides and places to walk around. I image with blindness in one eye and balance problems, you'd want to minimize fall risks such as rocks, half log hides, etc, and keep things in the same place so he can easily find them.

What is the reason for the need to syringe feed? I'm so sorry you are having to deal with this. You found a good place to reach out for help. Best wishes.

 

[Tom]

Hello and welcome. Sorry to hear about your little ones misfortune.

 

[Jacob]

Welcome, Sorry to Hear,
i Have No Real HelpFul Advice on This, Hopefully SomeOne Can Help!

 

[georginasweeting]

I syringe feed him because he won't or can't feed, the vet said that he may have lost that due to his brain damage, I alway leave food out and dandilions and he has never touched it. I am going to make him a new enclosure today and he is booked in with a different vet tomorrow. Thank you everyone for your support.

 

[bikerchicspain]

I agree with tortoisenerd,
Find out if he is in pain, if not then you have to weigh up the quality of life he has,
And ask yourself would he be better off if he were to be put to sleep,

I am not saying put him to sleep, I see animals put to sleep every day, and we always say to the client to think about the quality of life the animal would have if they were to keep him alive!

I have syringed quite a few tortoise with liquidated food with success but it wasn't a permanent thing.

You need to find out if he has any sensibility in his mouth, the vet can do this with a small needle and prick his tongue, also to see if he will try and shut his mouth, then go from there.

Good luck:shy:

 

[georginasweeting]

When I'm feeding him he chews on the syringe a bit and seems to have sensation in his mouth, the vet said that he may have forgotten how graize and feed, but he knows now that the syringe is food, if that makes sense.

 

[bikerchicspain]

When i have has to syringe feed, it is only used in extreme emergency, when weighing up of leaving the tort to try and eat on his own and he starves to death, or force feed and risk stress.

Have you tried some pureed food in his bowl and seeing if he can eat it, this is what i do to ween them of the syringe, i cut down the amount of food given in a syringe in hope that they decide to eat,

Just make sure the animal is hydrated before force feeding, otherwise it leaves the kidneys un-protected.

 

[georginasweeting]

after 3 months of my routine, dexta opened his other eye today!!! i cant believe it!! it gives me hope. he has an appointment at a different vets tomorrow eve so hopefully there will be two days of good news.

i also didnt feed him as much today so hopefully he will be hungrier tomorrow.

 

[October]

Oh my goodness, you guys are troopers. How amazing of you to do that for him!

What is it you're feeding him in the syringe? Can you maybe thicken it up a smudge and put it in a dish and see if he'll eat that? The smell will be familiar and hopefully over time you can put it on leafy greens or whatever is appropriate for a Hermann to wean him back to real food?

That's brilliant news that he opened his other eye! Good luck guys!

 

[georginasweeting]

he was on komodo tortoise pellet, before the accident and i add a little hot water and mush them up, i always leave mushed up ones out for him and dry ones too.

 

[georginasweeting]

well the vet cancelled my appointment!!!!!!!! i am booked in next tuesday! does anyone know of a vet near colchester essex? nothing changed today, altough his eye is open a llittle all the time now which is really good! he seems a bit more alert over the last couple of days aswel

 

[georginasweeting]

I BOOKED AN APOINTMENT FOR TODAY

the outcome is that he is gonna be like this for a while and more likley for ever, his head tilt is due to brain damage and so is his eye not opening as it rubs on his leg.
im gonna have to syringe feed him daily as i am.
and the vet also trimmed his beak as since he has stopped eating it has gotten long.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

I think that in my mind the situation is do YOU want to syringe feed Dexta for the next 20 or 30 years? He is a blind being that won't be able to have any enrichment in his life. His whole existence is you feeding him. Then you move him a few times and put him to bed. To me that's no kind of life. Will he ever be able to see? Will he ever be able to do anything on his own? This is a serious situation that is all up to you. Are you willing to care for him like this for the next 30 or so years? I think that if he has no chance of recovery of anything, partial sight, partial movement... that maybe the best thing for HIM is to be put down. That is no kind of life. But if he has a chance of any sort of partial recovery then you must try and give him that chance. Put your finger by his eye and see if he moves, if he can see your finger. Pretend you are going to touch his eyeball and see if he closes his eye.

There is a product made for grass eaters called Critical Care. You just add water to it and it has all the nutrients that grazers need, so possibly you should try to find some Critical Care and if they don't have it in the UK let me know and I will send you some. That would be the best food for him. I would only feed him every couple of days. You should try to see if he gets hungry maybe then he would eat on his own.
Keep us posted, we all care what happens to him. I am really sorry, and I don't exactly know what to say. If he has a chance you must give it to him...but if he has no chance then I think you need to make a decision.