Kidney failure

victoria88

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Hello, first post so bare with please.
I got a Russian last month from a "rescue". We have a 65year old Hermanns so thought, what could be the difference with a baby Russian... Oh how I was wrong because our Hermanns was an old school rear thanks to my grandad, left to his own devices eating the dogs food kind of tortoise :/ so for starters I can't get him to eat anything but red chard, I've tried all sorts, even bought a tortoise mix that I've grown myself and still he won't eat it (he has a black mouth from staining!) and now he has a puffy chin like it's retained fluid... I've read online this is kidney failure... :( Ive no idea how old he actually is, just that he's tiny so still extremely young. My closest reptile vets is 42miles away and waiting for the vet to call back for a phone consult because of covid and I just wanted to know if anyone has experience if it is kidney failure and what the prognosis is...? I can get pictures if needed. He's currently in a 3.9ft x 1.5ft open top viv (small I know but I'm making him a a custom one bigger) he's on coco fibre substrate, has a cold end reading 24degrees and 72 humidity and a hot end reading 32 degrees and 43 humidity, his night temp drops to 20-21 degrees and use an 80w arcadia Mercury bulb, I use arkvitz and calci dust a few times a week, daily soaks (I have noticed he only drinks when bathing not in his viv) he poops daily, and urinates most days that I notice. Any more info required please just ask. Thank you for your time in advance
 

victoria88

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Thee mercury vapor bulb is not great but your tort does not look well. Do you have any carrot juice, it can be used 50/50 with water for the soak. I will ask for help @Yvonne G @Tom @maggie3fan

What bulb would you recommend, I'm not opposed to changing anything that is needed for him. I know, it came on so suddenly, he was fine 48hours ago and then this, he is still eating and drinking, just now sleeping a lot and not roaming like usual. Thank you for the tags
 

queen koopa

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Holy crap its swollen!!! Whole body! Try the carrot purée soak ASAP also Theres a bunch of threads on here for picky eaters. And from what I know of Chard, its very nutrient rich and higher in protein, could be too much if thats all the tortoise is eating. Soaking Mazuri pellets and mashing up with your tortoise mix you grew could work. The members tagged above with have more input. Good luck! And wow!!! 65 yr old Hermans!!! ?
 

victoria88

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Holy crap its swollen!!! Whole body! Try the carrot purée soak ASAP also Theres a bunch of threads on here for picky eaters. And from what I know of Chard, its very nutrient rich and higher in protein, could be too much if thats all the tortoise is eating. Soaking Mazuri pellets and mashing up with your tortoise mix you grew could work. The members tagged above with have more input. Good luck! And wow!!! 65 yr old Hermans!!! ?

I know, I feel awful like I've done something wrong somewhere when I've tried so hard to make sure he was getting all he needed as much as I could. The only carrot puree I can find in asda or tesco is baby food? I'll look at getting those pellets ordered now, what about komodo tortoise pellets, they're the only ones local to get straight away? Yea Toby was fully grown when they found him down a muddy lane so he may be older, they've just had him 65years, he's a babe?
 

Blackdog1714

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The baby food puree is fine. Nutrazu tortoise diet is the English version of Mazuri we use in the US-it had to do with branding issues why the different name. Zoo Med Natural Grassland Tortoise Food is also good. I would be careful with the Komodo pellets as they have added D3.
 

queen koopa

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I know, I feel awful like I've done something wrong somewhere when I've tried so hard to make sure he was getting all he needed as much as I could. The only carrot puree I can find in asda or tesco is baby food? I'll look at getting those pellets ordered now, what about komodo tortoise pellets, they're the only ones local to get straight away? Yea Toby was fully grown when they found him down a muddy lane so he may be older, they've just had him 65years, he's a babe?
Try not to beat yourself up... many times with rescues, you as the new owner inherit all the problems of the poor animals previous care... My rescue situation was much different and thankfully there were no real health concerns. I adopted 5 yr old Sulcata who had had 3 previous owners. But the first few months I could only get her to eat damn spring mix, squash, and living/growing grass. So when the grass died back she would only eat salad ?‍♀️ 3 yrs later, were past all that now. Also you can make your own carrot purée if you have an “ok” blender or food processor ??
 

victoria88

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The baby food puree is fine. Nutrazu tortoise diet is the English version of Mazuri we use in the US-it had to do with branding issues why the different name. Zoo Med Natural Grassland Tortoise Food is also good. I would be careful with the Komodo pellets as they have added D3.

I can't get those pellets till 4th march, is there any veg I can feed that might help or he might eat, I can't find endive or escarole or it's equivalent in UK stores. This is a nightmare, I can't help but see how swollen he is now. I think I'm going to lose him
 

Toddrickfl1

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Hello, first post so bare with please.
I got a Russian last month from a "rescue". We have a 65year old Hermanns so thought, what could be the difference with a baby Russian... Oh how I was wrong because our Hermanns was an old school rear thanks to my grandad, left to his own devices eating the dogs food kind of tortoise :/ so for starters I can't get him to eat anything but red chard, I've tried all sorts, even bought a tortoise mix that I've grown myself and still he won't eat it (he has a black mouth from staining!) and now he has a puffy chin like it's retained fluid... I've read online this is kidney failure... :( Ive no idea how old he actually is, just that he's tiny so still extremely young. My closest reptile vets is 42miles away and waiting for the vet to call back for a phone consult because of covid and I just wanted to know if anyone has experience if it is kidney failure and what the prognosis is...? I can get pictures if needed. He's currently in a 3.9ft x 1.5ft open top viv (small I know but I'm making him a a custom one bigger) he's on coco fibre substrate, has a cold end reading 24degrees and 72 humidity and a hot end reading 32 degrees and 43 humidity, his night temp drops to 20-21 degrees and use an 80w arcadia Mercury bulb, I use arkvitz and calci dust a few times a week, daily soaks (I have noticed he only drinks when bathing not in his viv) he poops daily, and urinates most days that I notice. Any more info required please just ask. Thank you for your time in advance
He/she needs to see an exotic Vet if at all possible.
 

Maggie3fan

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I can't get those pellets till 4th march, is there any veg I can feed that might help or he might eat, I can't find endive or escarole or it's equivalent in UK stores. This is a nightmare, I can't help but see how swollen he is now. I think I'm going to lose him
Can you can get a container of Spring Mix? Or just buy all the weeds you can, different lettuce's, there a lot... you should be able to get lettuce there, radicchio is a tort favorite. I don't see any night time heat? Russians as adults don't like heat at night, but that baby needs to be at about 80 degrees at night. Low temps and humidity are a disaster waiting to happen.
 

Maggie3fan

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I know, I feel awful like I've done something wrong somewhere when I've tried so hard to make sure he was getting all he needed as much as I could. The only carrot puree I can find in asda or tesco is baby food? I'll look at getting those pellets ordered now, what about komodo tortoise pellets, they're the only ones local to get straight away? Yea Toby was fully grown when they found him down a muddy lane so he may be older, they've just had him 65years, he's a babe?
Yes, baby food carrots and/or sweet potatoes to soak. .
 

victoria88

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Can you can get a container of Spring Mix? Or just buy all the weeds you can, different lettuce's, there a lot... you should be able to get lettuce there, radicchio is a tort favorite. I don't see any night time heat? Russians as adults don't like heat at night, but that baby needs to be at about 80 degrees at night. Low temps and humidity are a disaster waiting to happen.
I just got some springs greens, some pak choi, some lambs lettuce which he's going crazy for, it's the most I've seen him eat in 48hours! Some romaine lettuce and he's just had a soak in carrot juice and had a drink. He doesn't have heat at night, he doesn't sleep down his cold end. He sleeps up the top, once he's out he's out till his light goes on in the morning and his hot end where he sleeps never gets colder than 20 celcius as his viv is in our living room that stays warm. Should I still provide him heat at night then? And his humidity down that end is never higher than 40% really, is that too high with a cooler temp?
 

harrythetortoise

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I can't get those pellets till 4th march, is there any veg I can feed that might help or he might eat, I can't find endive or escarole or it's equivalent in UK stores. This is a nightmare, I can't help but see how swollen he is now. I think I'm going to lose him
Anything labeled "chicory" is also fine.
 

harrythetortoise

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I just got some springs greens, some pak choi, some lambs lettuce which he's going crazy for, it's the most I've seen him eat in 48hours! Some romaine lettuce and he's just had a soak in carrot juice and had a drink. He doesn't have heat at night, he doesn't sleep down his cold end. He sleeps up the top, once he's out he's out till his light goes on in the morning and his hot end where he sleeps never gets colder than 20 celcius as his viv is in our living room that stays warm. Should I still provide him heat at night then? And his humidity down that end is never higher than 40% really, is that too high with a cooler temp?
Lamb's lettuce is great!
I would still provide some CHE for night heat as he is a baby to make it warm 24/7.
High humidity with high temp is fine. High humidity with low temp can bring respiratory infection.
 

victoria88

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Lamb's lettuce is great!
I would still provide some CHE for night heat as he is a baby to make it warm 24/7.
High humidity with high temp is fine. High humidity with low temp can bring respiratory infection.

No problem, I will ho back out and get one now. Any specific watt and what temp should I aim for with the ceramic please?
 

harrythetortoise

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No problem, I will ho back out and get one now. Any specific watt and what temp should I aim for with the ceramic please?
I would get a 100W CHE and connect it to a thermometer. Set it to around 27-28 degrees. Set the thermometer probe on the coolest area of the enclosure at the height of the tortoise.
That way, it will turn off when temperature requirements are met, and turn on if temp goes down.
It might be hard to keep temperature even with that open design. Some members on the forum utilize "mini greenhouse" as a cover for the enclosure, and it has worked well with them.
 

Sarah2020

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I can't get those pellets till 4th march, is there any veg I can feed that might help or he might eat, I can't find endive or escarole or it's equivalent in UK stores. This is a nightmare, I can't help but see how swollen he is now. I think I'm going to lose him
Try getting fresh picked dandelions and leaves. Soak in water and if large flower cut in quarters to avoid them chocking. Radicchio from a good veg shop works well. Good luck
 
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