Posibly sick tortoise won't eat and is just burrowing and staying there

[imgliniel]

Alright guys I need help round two for little Mr Boysenberry. My brother in law took him to a reptile vet who said that his feet (worn down to nubs from the rock hard dirt) and shell (peeling) will heal with proper food, water and softer substrate. He gave him a vitamin injection and an oral antibiotic. The BIL can't get him to take the antibiotic so any advice on that is helpful.

But more so he has no interest in food and BIL says he is just digging in and staying there for at least half a day at a time.

Currently he is inside in a large rubbermaid tub. He has play sand and coconut coir half and half by weight. The ambient house temperature is between 78 and 83 degrees. He is next to the sliding glass door and is getting some indirect sunlight through it. He has a standard 100W halogen bulb in one corner, but seems to be staying in the unlight corner. I don't know the exact temps at substrate level because BIL does not have a thermometer handy. And honestly I have no idea if that bulb is bad, good, useless, etc.

any help you guys can give me is greatly appreciated.

 

[wellington]

I can't help you much. But does he get outside for sun light and UVB. The uv does not go through glass. Do you give any calcium? Others will be along with more help. Good luck, hope all is well with him.

 

[imgliniel]

I can't help you much. But does he get outside for sun light and UVB. The uv does not go through glass. Do you give any calcium? Others will be along with more help. Good luck, hope all is well with him.

He has been at this apt for like 2 days. He was housed outside at our parents house, it is along story I posted it here. Let me find it I will link it.

The plan is to build him an outdoor enclosure. The indoor tub is temporary. We have to do some work outside because the fence arouns the little backyard patio is not secure enough, he would be gone really quickly. But most of us are fairly broke at the moment and the vet visit was the first priority.

---

Here is the first thread about him with his history

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread...ome-serious-help-with-a-russian#axzz24PVDvdib

 

[Laurie]

The first thing I would do would be to get the temperatures right. There are four temperatures that need to be adjusted.
Basking- 95
Nighttime-65
Warm side-80
Cool side-70

What were the symptoms that prompted the vet visit? Are these new symptoms since the medications or was this the initial problem?

Being that your tort is sick, I would probably keep him a little warmer. Maybe 80-85* range.

Make sure to soak the tortoise in Luke warm water daily for about twenty-thirty minutes. Keep the water warm by either putting a heating pad under it or a light over it.

UV light does not pass through glass. Does the tortoise get outside? If not, he will need an artificial uv light source.

Try soaking the tortoise to wake him up a bit, then offer some favorite foods. You can always do baby food soaks as well.

This would be a good thread for you to read.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Beginner-Mistakes#axzz1y6gfMklV

 

[imgliniel]

The first thing I would do would be to get the temperatures right. There are four temperatures that need to be adjusted.
Basking- 95
Nighttime-65
Warm side-80
Cool side-70

What were the symptoms that prompted the vet visit? Are these new symptoms since the medications or was this the initial problem?

Being that your tort is sick, I would probably keep him a little warmer. Maybe 80-85* range.

Make sure to soak the tortoise in Luke warm water daily for about twenty-thirty minutes. Keep the water warm by either putting a heating pad under it or a light over it.

UV light does not pass through glass. Does the tortoise get outside? If not, he will need an artificial uv light source.

Try soaking the tortoise to wake him up a bit, then offer some favorite foods. You can always do baby food soaks as well.

This would be a good thread for you to read.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Beginner-Mistakes#axzz1y6gfMklV

I did just read that thread actually haha. The vet visit was to address the poor shape he was in coming from my parents house. His feet are worn down and raw from being in dirt that was rock hard and his shell was peeling funny.

One problem is we are all a bit spent out with the vet work and buying the basics and They don't have a decent thermometer at the apartement

No UV light, and was housed outside before the move, and has only been there I think two days, I will make sure they take him outside regularly going forward. Once he is doing better and we have a bit more money we are planning to build him a permanent outdoor enclosure.

---

here is my first thread about him so you guys have some more of his history

http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread...ome-serious-help-with-a-russian#axzz24PaR13wX

 

[Laurie]

If he's only been indoors for a bit, I wouldn't worry about the uv lighting for now. Its pretty important to know the temperatures, I would get a thermometer ASAP.

Why is he being treated with antibiotics? Are the raw areas of his feet infected? Does he have a respiratory infection? Antibiotics can affect appetite.

What injections did the vet give?

Also, you want to make sure his enclosure is not over heating next to the window.

 

[imgliniel]

If he's only been indoors for a bit, I wouldn't worry about the uv lighting for now. Its pretty important to know the temperatures, I would get a thermometer ASAP.

Why is he being treated with antibiotics? Are the raw areas of his feet infected? Does he have a respiratory infection? Antibiotics can affect appetite.

What injections did the vet give?

I am getting the info from my BIL and please know we are all pretty reptile clueless so I am doing my best to answer.

I was just told he was being put on antibiotics for his feet. no more really, so I assume they have some infection going on. I will ask what exactly the vet told the bil. And I was told it was a vitamin shot. I think bil mentioned b vitamins.

---

I was thinking that it just might be to warm for him. We are in the middle of a heat wave and I think the apartement is staying at 78 overnight, so that would be to watm right? Could that trigger him to try and do that summer semi hybernation to save water thing?

 

[Laurie]

He may be too warm if you are experiencing a heat wave and his enclosure is in front of a window. This is where a thermometer would help , they will try to bury themselves to escape heat.

The summer hibernation thing you're talking about is aestivation.

 

[imgliniel]

He may be too warm if you are experiencing a heat wave and his enclosure is in front of a window. This is where a thermometer would help , they will try to bury themselves to escape heat.

The summer hibernation thing you're talking about is aestivation.

Thank you, I could not remeber how to spell it

Do you know what type of thermometer is best and can you give me an idea of what they cost?

Also can you elaborate on "baby food soaks"?

 

[Laurie]

If money is an issue, I would just get a temperature gun. You can get them from homedepot, lowes, target, Walmart. Some can be pretty expensive, but I've seen them for as low as fifteen to twenty dollars. You can also find them on amazon to give you an idea.

This explains soaking
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Soaking-Tortoises--41739#axzz24PlUrlIU

 

[imgliniel]

So I got pictures yesterday (not exactly sure how to post them, they are on my phone at the moment, anyone more tech savvy then me care to explain it?) His feet are pretty bad. No nails, no scaley skin, like totally pink raw ground down The vet did say it should heal, it just makes me sad. Also I realized after getting pictures of the enclosure he hasn't put a hide in it! No wonder he is digging! He has no where to hide!

I have one of these things that I bought for my bunny but he turned out to be to big for it. Will this be acceptable? At least temporarily? I am thinking partially bury it on the cool side and cover it with some rocks or something like that.

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2753302

 

[JoesMum]

.... was housed outside before the move, and has only been there I think two days, ...

This is probably the most important information you've given us.

Yes, you need to sort out temperatures especially for basking and also the UV

However, the main reason your tort is not eating and is hiding away is likely to be be due to the dramatic change in his enclosure.

Torts are rubbish at handling change. It can take weeks for them to learn to trust a new home. Patience, peace and daily soaks are also required... I really don't think this tort is sick

 

[imgliniel]

I think perhaps I should clarify what housed outside means in this case. We are not talking a large ground level habitat with live plants and hides and organic topsoil. His previous enclosure was a used bathtub filled with dirt from the yard. The dirt was to hard for him to dig in, and he wore his front feet down to pink raw flesh trying. The entire thing was under a roof (so no direct sunlight for basking, and no temperature control of any kind) and the water dish was shallow but only maybe 1/4th the size of the tort. There was a wooden house/hide for them in there. (There used to be a female, but she recently passed away, which is what triggered the move, my parents did not want to have to care for them anymore).

But it is good to know that it may just be down to the new enclosure and new place freaking him out. We are working on the temp and soaking.

 

[JoesMum]

It is still a change of enclosure. Tortoises really don't 'do' change and you have moved him and into a new enclosure and lifestyle.

He's only been in it for two days. That's no time at all.

Treat him like a newly bought tortoise.

1. Make sure heating and lighting are correct.
2. Make sure the lights and heat go on and off at roughly the same time every day (a timer will help)
3. Before he's warmed up properly, soak him for a good 20-30 minutes My soaking tips
4. Feed straight after the soak
5. Leave him alone to explore and work out that this new home is safe. tempting as it is, don't stand over him to watch; it's intimidating.

He will come round, especially as he already knows the people involved. Depending on the tortoise it maight take anything from a few more days to a few months... there's no telling!