New RT health worries

[Jolene&Leo]

I got my Russian tortoise Leonardo two months ago. I took him to the vet right away and he had internal parasites and some spots of beginning shell rot. I gave him antibiotics and I put some iodine tincture on the spots on the shell every day. I'm still very worried about my tort, he's not really active and sleeps a lot, and I don't think he is processing his food well enough 'cause there are a lot of unwell digested food parts in his feces. Could this be the sterile gut syndrome cause of the antibiotics?

Leo is about 2 or 3 years old, I give him soaks 3 times a week and he eats a lot of dark green leafs, some grassland tortoise food, and I try so vary his diet as much as possible. His enclosure is 2m x 2m, he has enough hides and can bury himself if he wants to. His enclosure has a warmer and a cooler side and he loves his basking spot.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Please include photos or descriptions if his housing, lighting, substrate and food items.
And yes. The antibiotics will slow digestion for a while, but why would a vet give antibiotics for parasites?
BTW, most tortoises, especially a Russian that are mostly caught in the wild will have some parasites. Most tortoises will live a very nice and happy life completely unaffected by them.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Jolene, and welcome to the Forum!

In my opinion, a tortoise that young should not have such a bad load of parasites that it would require de-worming. I would soak the baby daily in warm water to help flush out the antibiotics you gave him. Leave him in the soak water for about a half hour.

You don't mention the actual temperatures in the enclosure. Baby russian tortoises need to be kept warm with a slight drop in temperature at night. If they're not warm enough they can't digest their food, so they stop eating.

I tried to find a conversion chart for 2m x 2m and it was pretty confusing. Do you mean millimeters? 2 millimeters would not even equal one inch. I'm so confused!

If you meant meters, 2 meters would equal 6.5 feet. That's an awfully big area for a small Russian baby. I'll bet it's not warm enough.

 

[Jolene&Leo]

Hi Jolene, and welcome to the Forum!

In my opinion, a tortoise that young should not have such a bad load of parasites that it would require de-worming. I would soak the baby daily in warm water to help flush out the antibiotics you gave him. Leave him in the soak water for about a half hour.

You don't mention the actual temperatures in the enclosure. Baby russian tortoises need to be kept warm with a slight drop in temperature at night. If they're not warm enough they can't digest their food, so they stop eating.

I tried to find a conversion chart for 2m x 2m and it was pretty confusing. Do you mean millimeters? 2 millimeters would not even equal one inch. I'm so confused!

If you meant meters, 2 meters would equal 6.5 feet. That's an awfully big area for a small Russian baby. I'll bet it's not warm enough.

Thanks you Yvonne, what a warm welcome.

The vet told me there were worm eggs in his feces and this was the solution, there are a lot of different opinions about antibiotics and parasites so i found it hard to tell what is the best for my RT. I guess i will never go back to this vet...

The temperature on the warm side is around 85F and the cooler side around 68F, I think its getting too cold at night so i'll leave the basking lamp on at night and only turn the UVB off.

 

[DutchieAmanda]

Antibiotics are for bacteria. To kill worms you need antiparasitic medicines. And they won't cause sterile guts.

Your tort needs dark at night. Do you have another heat source that doesn't provide light?

Could you post some pics of your enclosure?

 

[Jolene&Leo]

Antibiotics are for bacteria. To kill worms you need antiparasitic medicines. And they won't cause sterile guts.

Your tort needs dark at night. Do you have another heat source that doesn't provide light?

Could you post some pics of your enclosure?

The lamp gives red light, I thought torts couldn't see red light? I have an heat mat, is that suitable?
I'll take a pic of the enclosure tomorrow!

 

[Kasia]

Thanks you Yvonne, what a warm welcome.

The vet told me there were worm eggs in his feces and this was the solution, there are a lot of different opinions about antibiotics and parasites so i found it hard to tell what is the best for my RT. I guess i will never go back to this vet...

The temperature on the warm side is around 85F and the cooler side around 68F, I think its getting too cold at night so i'll leave the basking lamp on at night and only turn the UVB off.

Torts need dark - leaving lights on will confuse him. For additional heating at night use CHE. Plus Your warmer side has to have a basking spot closer to 90 - 95F.

Go to someone who know reptiles - You have to deworm Your Leo ASAP.

Good luck

 

[DutchieAmanda]

The lamp gives red light, I thought torts couldn't see red light? I have an heat mat, is that suitable?
I'll take a pic of the enclosure tomorrow!

They can see red light... Best is to use a ceramic heat emitter (CHE). Good luck!

 

[Yvonne G]

Red light - black light - heat emitter - heat mat!!! Everyone has their own opinion and experience with these things. I'll give you my take on it, and mine is not the be all, end all. You read it all, take it all in, try it and decide for yourself what works best for your tortoise, for your situation, and give him what he needs to be healthy and happy.

I use red lights. I use black lights. I use heat mats. My large tortoises retreat to large sheds at night. The best way FOR ME to heat those large spaces, is with a pig blanket (heat mat) and a 250 watt red light. My tortoises sleep at night. The red light doesn't interfere with their sleep cycle any more than a full moon would on full moon nights. Some people say the red light causes the tortoise to eat his substrate because the substrate looks different in red light. My tortoises are sleeping, and there is no substrate in their sheds, so I don't have that problem

I keep the smaller habitats warm at night using black lights. There is substrate in these habitats, however, the occupants in these habitats sleep at night and don't eat their substrate while they're sleeping.

So, if the red light works for you and doesn't cause your tortoise stress or cause him to eat his substrate, use it.

But if you want to go the CHE route, go for it. This is another way to provide heat without light, and it does its job very well.