New and in need

[celticvampyre]

Hello everyone.

I was recommended to this forum for some good advice. I have a sick 4 year old Sulcata who I "rescued" from my parent's a little over a month ago.




He is four years old and his shell from head to tail is about 5 inches. You can see that the back part is sunken down. My parents had just been feeding him romaine lettuce (it was the only thing he would eat) but without any supplements.

He just finished a month of calcium injections but his shell is still really soft. Right now he is being force fed Gerber's baby food stage 2 orange and green veggies (whatever has the highest percent calcium). Before I had tried a bunch of different stuff to get him to eat: red leaf lettuce, romaine lettuce, spinach, cucumber, carrot, apple, orange, banana, tomato, wheat grass, bull grass (the stuff they sell at pet stores), I bought some ZooMed grass pellets for grass eating torts that you mush up in water, and I even bought these tortoise bites that were supposed to stimulate eating. At times he would be interested in the grass or the cucumber but wouldn't do anything except stick his head out towards it with his mouth open. The last time he ate on his own, he ate some baby food and some of the tortoise bites, but that was weeks ago. The vet thinks that his bones may be too soft for him to crunch down anything.

I've been soaking him in a bowl of water for a half hour every day or every other day. That has helped a ton! (His uric acid was at 40, normal high is 11, and after 4 weeks of soaking every day for a half hour it has dropped to 8.8.)

Enclosure: I have him on rabbit pellets. On the cold side his enclosure is at about 80 degrees F. and under the heat lamp it gets to be 105-120 depending on how high I have the air conditioner. His hide is half under the heat lamp and half under a UV/UVB bulb. The front part of the hide stays between 90 and 95 while the back stays between 85 and 90.

I have been told to get him a humid hide box, some Mazuri tortoise chow to be used as a supplement, and to take him outside everyday for an hour.

Does anyone have any other suggestions or ideas on how I can improve my little man's health?

(Sorry this is so long)

 

[JustAnja]

Glad you made it over here, you should get some good advice here I hope.

 

[Jacqui]

What if you also made your own "baby" food? Put in it some of the things we think of as good and puree it? Such as lots of dandelion greens and some cactus. Add in his supplements. Maybe add in some of the packaged baby food if he seems to like it.

Are you force feeding him or just placing a little in his mouth for him to eat himself?

I personally would also want him out in the sun for more then an hour a day if possible.

Remember it took years for him to get this way. I know you want a dramatic improvement to happen, but his just still being alive is something. It will take time and improvement will come in slow baby steps...which it sounds like he is already starting on.

P.S. I know your wanting him to start eating other foods, but since he likes his romaine, I would (for right now) always have some very very finely chopped up waiting for him. That way, whenever he gets the notion to try eating, something is available...and something he is familiar with. Chopped as fine as possible so it more just he has to get it into his mouth and then only swallow. Or do you know of something else he thinks of as "candy" that you could use on other days? This pile of food is just for tempting him, not looking at it as filling his nutritional needs, understand?

Jacqui

 

[celticvampyre]

My next step is to start blending up some other good stuff for him. The vet tech. gave me a sheet that has a list of veggies and fruits that are high in calcium.

I am force feeding him. Before I was just putting a little in his mouth, but he wouldn't eat it, he would just spit it out. I told the vet he still wasn't eating on his own (before I took him from my parents he hadn't eaten for a month so this is about two months of him not eating on his own now) and the vet told me to start force feeding. I feel terrible every time I do it but I know it is best for him, I just hope he starts eating on his own.

I will definitely chop up some romaine for him. Hopefully seeing that will get his taste buds going.

Thanks for all of the help.[/color]

 

[JustAnja]

Avoid the fruits for the most part on that list, stick with the veggies if anything. You can try small bits of strawberry with the calcium supplement on it but only occasionally. Sulcata's dont really digest the sugars in fruits very well.

I had given the advice to get him out on the sun for at least an hour everyday if possible, more is always better of course.

Try mixing in other things with the romaine when you do romaine for him as well.

 

[celticvampyre]

I just chopped up some romaine lettuce for him. I am going to wait on mixing other things in with the romaine lettuce until he starts eating it regularly. At that point I think it will be safe to start mixing in other things.
I'll make sure to stay away from the fruits. Thanks a ton!

 

[Crazy1]

celticvampyre, Welcome, I am so sorry to hear of your ill shelled baby.
I am no expert, nor do I own a sulcata but I have heard to be careful of rabbit
pellets as they can decrease the humidity and actually cause him to lose precious fluid. Not sure if this is true perhaps someone more knowlegable can help out.
This little boy is lucky you found him.
Good luck with him.

 

[Rees2]

Welcome.You should try to not feed him the pellets.

 

[JustAnja]

Yes rabbit pellets can cause dehydration plus if they do eat them too often its way too much protein. You might want to think about some play sand mixed with coco fiber.