neurological problem in desert tort

[Yvonne G]

I tried to find my original thread about this tortoise, but couldn't, so I'll have to start from the beginning:

May 9th of last year someone found and turned in to me an adult female desert tortoise. She doesn't move. She CAN move, she just doesn't. If you put her down in one spot, you'll find her in that exact same spot and position later on, no matter how much later it is. She doesn't eat or move. I had a vet do X-Rays and nothing can be seen on the X-ray. So all this time, I've been tube feeding this tortoise.

Three days ago I opened the lid of the winter house where she is staying with two other desert tortoises that I can't allow to hibernate, and she was sitting on the pig blanket. I turned on the light, put down some food for the other tortoises, and closed the lid. this is a 4'x8' cinderblock house and the pig blanket is on one end. That evening I opened the lid to turn off the light and "Neuro" (as I call her) was all the way over on the OTHER side of the house, under the light!!!!! She moved almost 8'. Now, I didn't actually SEE her move, but how else did she get from one end of the house to the other?

The next morning I opened the lid to turn on the light and, lo and behold...she was back on the pig blanket!

This really is cause for celebration! It was only a few days ago, while I was feeding her, that I passed the thought that maybe it was time to let her go, to have her euthanized. And now she's actually moving! Next step is trying to get her to eat on her own. Baby steps, Yvonne...baby steps!!

 

[dmarcus]

Awesome news, glad there is finally some progress...

 

[ascott]

FRICKEN SWEEEET!!!! your will carried her to this place Yvonne.....perhaps she had consumed some type if poison before she came to you....not enough to kill her but enough to affect her....and you have sustained her did not let her be.....their systems are so slow maybe whatever it was is finally moving through.....

HIGH HIGH HOPES coming from me to you two!!!!!

Hey Yvonne, nice work

 

[Jessie]

Yay... How incredibly exciting! Congrats, glad you didn't give up like some would.

 

[Laura]

awsome!!
or are the other torts pushing her around??
can you move her inside to watch her more closely and maybe attempt physical therapy? like you have nothing else to do during your day... HA! will she float at all? maybe a deep soak,, so she has to move her legs, but in water.. or suspended in water so she kicks her legs?
What do you tube feed? and how much and often? that alone, must be a chore..
and you know we are going to want pictures... !

 

[Yvonne G]

The other two are also females. They both have recurring abscesses on their noses that I just can't seem to clear up. Its been going on 4 years with them. This was their 4th winter being kept up. They don't push her around.

When I first got her I considered physical therapy, but decided not to because I didn't know what kind of damage she had suffered. If it was just a bruised spinal cord/nerves, then I thought making her move might do more damage. She was found just off the busiest intersection in Fresno...a place where two of the busiest 6 lane streets intersect. So my guess was she might have been hit by a car.

Now that she has decided to move on her own, I can re-visit the therapy idea.

I use a slurry of Critical Care/Mazuri/Gerber baby food carrots. At first I tried feeding her every other day, but soon found out that her stomach didn't empty that often. So I got it figured out to twice a week, or about once every 4 days. You're right...it IS a chore to tube her. You really need 4 hands to do it. But I've been able to figure out how to use my chin as a third hand and I get the job done.

 

[MORTYtheTORTY]

that's awsome! maybe she's never been around people so she's scared? Who knows...she moved so YAY. Hopefully she will start showing more improvement and impress you

 

[Shelly]

I think if she was hit by a car, there would be some external sign of that, some sort of "road rash" or something of that nature.
When you found her, was she emaciated at all?
When you touch her, does she flinch, or withdraw into her shell, or is she completely motionless?

 

[Yvonne G]

She holds a very good weight for her size, and was quite heavy when she was turned in. If you touch her limbs she moves them. She's not the least bit afraid of me, so she doesn't withdraw, but she can move her head and limbs.

 

[Shelly]

Does she show any interest in food at all? She doesn't sniff around it like she's interested? Even something like iceberg lettuce?

 

[Yvonne G]

Nope. Has absolutely no interest in anything. If you leave her alone, even with a nice pile of food in front of her, she just closes her eyes and lays there.

 

[ascott]

Yvonne, does she poo and pee as usual? I know you have her with the other ladies so I don't know if you would be able to tell or not? Just curious?

 

[Yvonne G]

She spent her first few month with me in an outdoor enclosure. I never saw any poop behind her. Since she's been indoors, I haven't seen poop that I can attribute to her either. That doesn't mean she doesn't do it, I just haven't seen it.

 

[ascott]

Well, now that is interesting??? The first part of what you say...that she was in her own enclosure in the beginning and you did not see poo? I know you tube feed her but that is still food, just taken in by different method....there should be poo, you know? If she has not poo'd by now what do you speculate? Seriously? You say she is heavy--but that is 10 months....

When you took her to the vet did they check her beak/jaw? When you feed her Yvonne, more in the beginning, did she offer any objection with you handling her head and opening her mouth?

Now, this is going to sit with me mulling around in the peanut gallery...hmmmm?

 

[Yvonne G]

She offers little resistance, however, desert tortoises are very easy going and not hard at all to work with.

The vet checked her all over and could find nothing wrong with her.

 

[Jacqui]

Too bad she is currently in with the other two. I would wonder if now that she has started moving on her own again, has she also started pooping.

Geesh here we all go sitting around talking about poop. Sometimes the life of a tortoise keeper is just plain crappy, isn't it?

 

[ascott]

BAAAHAAAAHAAAA....ankle deep in poo...

---

Yvonne....have you tried to put a small piece of food in her mouth to see what she does? (I don't mean a big ole piece lodged in her mouth but rather a small piece of greens laid partially in her mouth) ....yeah this one is going to be in my head for awhile....hmmmm?

Also, I agree with you about them being an easy going tort for certain when it comes to working with...that is one of their traits that makes them so endearing

 

[l0velesly]

Yay, I'm glad she's overcoming her neurological problems.

 

[Momof4]

I can imagine how excited you are after all your hard work caring for her. I hope she continues to improve. She's a beautiful tort!

 

[Shelly]

Wondering about an update on this tort?