poisoned?

[armandoarturo]

Hi everyone...
I've been kind of away from the forum, but I still come in every week...
Its just that I have had very busy days...

The thing is ... im having a problem with one of my baby DTs...
This little rascal escaped from the enclosure...
It took me several days to find her...
She was hiding under this lantana plant...
So... I took her back into her enclosure...
next day she was really down, it barely moves, and then stops and falls asleep oO
As soon as she tries to ear food, once again she falls back and stops eating....
I've been trying to get her to eat and drink, but nothing seems to work.
I've been trying the warm baths, but still nothing.
I dont know if she ate some lantana and its poisoned or something...
has anyone had any previous experiences with poisoning plants?
Im not quite sure if she really ate it, but I'm trying everything I can to get her back up again =(
Thanks everyone

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Armondo:

Here's what Wikipedia says about lantana:

Conditions of poisoning

Animals in pastures with sufficient forage will often avoid Lantana, perhaps because of its pungent aroma and taste, but animals unfamiliar to the plant may ingest enough to affect them. Fifty to ninety percent of animals newly exposed may be affected. Foliage and ripe berries contain the toxic substances with the toxins being in higher concentrations in the green berries. Species affected include cattle, sheep, horses, dogs, guinea pigs, and rabbits (Ross, Ivan A. Medicial plants of the world. Totowa, N.J.: Humana. 1999. p. 187.)


Give her lots of soakings, maybe even two or three times a day. It may help to flush out her system.

 

[armandoarturo]

hey Yvonne...
thanks for your advice..
I'll keep soaking ..
I hope it gets well...
its really sad for to see her that way =/
It might be something else, but still I will try everything to get her back.

 

[TortieLuver]

What about the past thread on olive oil or pumpkin?

 

[armandoarturo]

what do you mean?

 

[TortieLuver]

Well many people advise to use pumpkin in a situation like this, but the thread with Rachael and the cucumbers...didn't her doctor tell her to give them pumpkin when something was toxic/poison to help.

 

[lynnedit]

There was a very distressing thread recently about a member's torts being affected by an unknown poison on cucumbers. She was able to help some of them by feeding them straight pumpkin (did not say if mashed) and olive oil. I think that speeds up the gut transit (diarrhea) to expel the dangerous food, if it is there. Not sure how you force feed a tortoise, but any food that we usually would not give them often (that they particularly like), that causes loose stools, might help.
She also soaked the torts several times per day.
Others may have suggestions as well.

 

[TortieLuver]

Sorry, vet said olive oil (typed wrong). Both are supposed to cleanse the system and yes, lots of soaks.

 

[armandoarturo]

OK
I will do that right away
Thank you all !!!

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Please keep us posted...

 

[dmarcus]

definitely keep us posted, always sad when things like this happen..

 

[October]

Another thought on lantana is that it can cause severe skin irritation in many animals, including humans. I'm not sure if it would affect tortoises with their thick skin, but the converse side of that is if it did get to the skin it will have a very hard time making it's way back out. Because it's the oil from the lantana that irritates, water soakings may not help.

My first reaction would to be to use something like olive oil rubbed in then wiped off, Dawn dish soap (only Dawn) or petroleum jelly rubbed on then rubbed off. It will help disburse and pull any oil out. I know Dawn is commonly used on wildlife, but being a new tortoise keeper myself I'm new to all of this. Maybe do some research or someone more knowledgeable to torts can give a yay or nay?

(I really hate to give advice because I have no experience but maybe I can help, so disregard if this was the dumbest idea ever )

 

[armandoarturo]

Well...
Its really sad for me to announce that the little one passed away (U)
Its really hard for me, when stuff like this happens, but I also know how delicate this beautiful creatures are.
I brought this little tortoise last summer, with another 4, they were all in a little shoe box inside the house of an old lady, no heating, no natural sun light, and romaine lettuce as staple food.
I couldnt believe when I saw that, I had to ask the old lady if she would give them to me, and she refused... So I told her I was willing to pay for them no matter what.
That same evening, I came in home with all of them.
All of them with severe mbd, their back legs didnt work, and their carapace was really soft.
I placed them in my backyard, In a nice and sunny enclosure, and fed them properly, and loads of calcium.
Now they all seem to start walking and doing fine, till this happend.
I dont know if it was the lantana plant, or something else... and I know its not completely my fault, but its still hard to get over it.
I moved the plant and placed it in a pot, away from the reach of my tortoises.
And well... I just really hope the other 4 little ones can really make it.
Thanks everyone for your help and concern. I really really appreciate it.

 

[lynnedit]

You did the best you could. You certainly saved them from a definite fate in their previous home, and their life the past few months have been great. Hope the others are fine.

 

[dustytrailzz]

Sorry to hear about your little one. My tortoise has eaten lantana before, (if you have the same lantana. we have in Arizona). Just a couple times she has eaten a leaf and moved on to something else like she didn't like it. She never seemed to have any sort of reaction to it, but she's a healthy adult tortoise

 

[armandoarturo]

yes, I actually live about an hour from arizona, so it might be the same latana...
Thanks for your support guys, I really hope the other 4 make it. Im sure they will, as I will be even more over them.

 

[CtTortoiseMom]

I am so sorry for your loss. It was lucky to have you.