My tortoise need your help

[Sara2341q]

My 8 years old tortoise Nicki (I'm not sure if this is the age but when I got her this what they told me). We are from Maryland but currently, we live in Saudi Arabia. For the past 2 weeks my tortoise is not opening her eyes and her left eye seems swollen. Also, she was not eating but now she started to eat a little. I went online and tried to get some information. I tried some cod liver oil and Vit B12 but her eyes still closed. I tried Gentamicin eye drops (for human) but no improvement. Where we are right now there is no animal hospital or any veterinary services. I called several doctors in USA but they refused to give advice over the phone. Please help me how can I help her.
Thanks

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Sara:

Make sure the tortoise is warm enough. If you don't have a light over her habitat, then even though the room is warm, she's not able to warm up enough. The light is like the sun to the tortoise.


Soak the tortoise every day in warm water for about a half hour. Use a small tub with tall sides and make the water come up to about the middle of the tortoise's sides - where the top meets the bottom.

Please give us more information. How do you have the tortoise set up? What do you feed?

 

[ascott]

Yvonne is absolutely bang on....please give us more care info.

 

[Sara2341q]

Thanks Tom, emysemys, and ascott for ur replay. I just had her 4 weeks back. I went on-line and I found out she is Greek tortoise-Greek Spur Thighed tortoise. The scientific name is Testudo Ibera. I keep her indoor she has a dish filled with soft wood chips and I keep her in a different room.The room is warm. And I feed her lettuce. She take sunbath 15 min everyday. Now she eats more better than the past weeks but her eyes is still closed. I soaked her in warm water for 45 min yesterday. I don't know what else I can do for her.

 

[Jacqui]

Are they just closed or do they also have any liquid coming out or is it swollen also? Did the meds cause any lessening of the swelling?

 

[Laura]

what is the dish of woodchips for? post a pic of where she is living.. i think we can help you improve that..
type of light? heat?
she will also need more than lettuce to eat. What do you have access to?

 

[Sara2341q]

Today, her right eye opened up a little but the left one is still swollen and closed. It looks like the meds is working but slowly. I finally talk to one of the vet over USA. She said she needs systemic antibiotic in addition to the eye drops. Any one have an idea what should we give her and what dose. There is no vet around where we are now so I have to do it myself. Also, today while I was soaking her she made noises like she was screaming. I was not sure why she was not comfortable? Do they really scream? I attached a pic for her in her dish.

 

[ascott]

Please provide us with a picture of the enclosure you are housing your tort in....I am seeing info here that you are offering at it is a little confusing and lacking some details....

Please please please, let us help out---please post a clear pic of your tortoise and the tortoise enclosure.....

 

[Sara2341q]

Here u go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[ascott]

I am seeing a really pixelated photo and can not make out much....but the one thing that I can make out is the dry and flakey and itchy substrate....(no offense offered here so I hope you understand I am not trying to offend)...I would strongly suggest that you change the substrate out to a more earth like substrate...clean old fashion dirt is always a good option if you don't have available the coco coir or peat moss substrate....

What type of basking and uva/uvb light are you using? What food offerings do you give and does this tort get outside natural sun time daily?

 

[Sara2341q]

Thanks ascott. I know what u saying but there is not much available here. We are in a very small town. There is not much of variety but I'll make the changes u recommended. There is no uva/uvb light cuz there not unavailable here.She gets sunlight around 20-30 min am & pm. She likes lettuce. We offer her cumbers and apples she refused to eat them.

 

[Madkins007]

I think you got some bad care information when you got your pretty little tortoise. The bowl you are keeping it in was designed for small turtles- and it is a terrible bowl for them, too. Most of the things you have mentioned for food are really not great choices, etc.

Where about are you from? We may have people close to you that can help you find what you can get locally that would work better.

You really should have it in at least a 20 gallon aquarium or plastic tub, or a good box about the same size. It will outgrow that in a year or so, but it is a good start. The substrate can be lots of things- many kinds of chopped wood, a mix of clean dirt and sand, etc. your local garden or hardware stores probably have things that will work.

if you have access to a garden most of the year, you can think about growing food for it. Lots of our members can help you select plants that will grow well in your location.

 

[Sara2341q]

We are in a small town in southern of Saudi Arabia. U r 100% right. She already outgrow it. Several time she tried to climb out of it and now I am scare she might heart herself. I am planning to get a bigger box for her. I am new to all this I just got her like one month back. Now I am getting all this info I'm changing it. We r in apartment we can't grow any food but if u give some choices i'll see if there is available here.

 

[ascott]

If you are in an apartment then I would suggest perhaps you trying to find an old wooden bookcase or dresser--lay that dresser on its back--remove all drawers/shelf pieces--get a piece of flat wood that is the same size as the (now bottom/previously back) piece of furniture--this will now give you a good size enclosure that has high sides and if you get the right size bookcase or dresser you will have lots of walking space for your tort...now, before you add dirt to the enclosure I would place some type of HEAVY plastic in the bottom (under the substrate) to keep any moisture from wicking through....I then would add in about 4 to 6 inches deep dirt (right from outside where you are--just make sure it is clean and no chemical sprays for bugs/weeds and no fertilizer)...then set up all of your "furnishings" you have for the tort (water dish, place for tort to hide in/under) and if you do not have a uva/uvb/heat lamp available then please get a regular 100 watt bulb you would use in a lamp(I do not know what that would be there where you are) and place it in this type of fixture;

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_...&srccode=cii_184425893&cpncode=32-151583747-2

You can obtain this type of fixture at an animal feed type store or a general store likely of some type (again, I do not know what type of stores you have access to there)..

It is very important that your tort is able to get his internal body temps high enough to allow the appetite to happen as well as heating up enough to allow digestion of food---which is imperative to a tort wanting to eat....if you are getting the tort out each day for at least 30 minutes then the uva/uvb are being met...but the heat/basking spot needs to be present or your tort will not want to eat, nor will his body be able to digest and move the food items he does manage to get down--the food can essentially rot in their gut....not good.

I would look for food items there in your grocery/market areas that are like these things here;

http://localfoods.about.com/od/spring/tp/LettuceVarieties.htm
http://www.eatchicchicago.com/blog/2010/01/23/lettuce-varieties/

I hope you can improvise with what you have and what your tort needs/requires....

 

[Masin]

You've got some really great advice up there, keep us posted!
Do you have home supply stores or garden centers near you? You can get inexpensive top soil etc for substrate!

 

[Sara2341q]

Coming back to USA

THanks fot the tips. Ncki is doing great.Sorry I didnt login for a long time cuz we are in a process of moving back to USA. Any one has info of how I can bring Nicki back to USA with me