Rescued Leo Struggles to eat

[pspryu101]

I rescued this leopard tortoise at a local pet store that was dropped off to them by an owner who neglected him pretty bad they said and from the looks of him, he has a pretty bad pyramiding and looks malnourished as well. One of my biggest concern was his beak. From the looks of it the previous owner never bothered to trim it or even fed him on a slate or something because he has a overgrown top beak and his lower beak looks deformed. Poor guy wants to eat and he keeps trying to bite on greens but he cant seem to bite it. I posted up a pic for you guys to see. Any suggestions I can do to make it easier for him to eat? Maybe chop up smaller pieces of greens?

 

[LeopardTortLover]

Poor little guy! he looks so thin! wait for a more advanced opinion but id say get a qualified reptile vet to trim his beak down if it's causing him issues.

Have you soaked him and put him in a humid enclosure?

 

[kanalomele]

Yes you can chop up his food into manageable bits. I do this for my rescue Leo. A beak reshaping is relatively straightforward process. But definitely have a reptile vet of someone experienced do it for you if you've never done it yourself.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi pspryu101:

You are going to have to chop his food up into small pieces in order for him to be able to eat. But this is just continuing the problem. Tortoises need to bite off their food in order to keep the beak in shape. So at your earliest convenience, he needs to see a vet to have the beak shaped.

This poor tortoise is probably quite a bit older than his size says he is. Baby beaks don't get to be in that shape in such a short time as it looks like he's been alive. Another thing I THINK that's wrong is calcium. I can't be sure because of the lighting in the picture, but to me it looks as if there's a piece of beak material growing straight out??? Be sure to give this tortoise calcium and a good UVB light or some real sunshine.

 

[BeeBee*BeeLeaves]

Excellent advice already. I just want to say that I am glad you got him. Little leopard will have a better life now. : )

 

[wellington]

Welcome. The poor thing. Along with chopping the food into bits, make sure it is piled up. As he eats, keep piling it up, makes it easier for them to get it. If you haven't yet, you might want to also get some Mazuri tortoise pellets, soak it until mush and give him a little pile of it, should be easy for him to eat. Good luck. Glad you got him and sure hope he makes a great turn around. Keep us posted.

 

[pspryu101]

Hi pspryu101:

You are going to have to chop his food up into small pieces in order for him to be able to eat. But this is just continuing the problem. Tortoises need to bite off their food in order to keep the beak in shape. So at your earliest convenience, he needs to see a vet to have the beak shaped.

This poor tortoise is probably quite a bit older than his size says he is. Baby beaks don't get to be in that shape in such a short time as it looks like he's been alive. Another thing I THINK that's wrong is calcium. I can't be sure because of the lighting in the picture, but to me it looks as if there's a piece of beak material growing straight out??? Be sure to give this tortoise calcium and a good UVB light or some real sunshine.

I've been taking them outside recently for hours for some sunshine since weather has been nice here. I also sprinkle food with calcium without d3 since I take them outside but how often should I do this to their food? Yeah it's so sad, from the picture it looks like he's opening his mouth but really it's actually stuck open like that because his lower beak is somewhat deformed.

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Welcome. The poor thing. Along with chopping the food into bits, make sure it is piled up. As he eats, keep piling it up, makes it easier for them to get it. If you haven't yet, you might want to also get some Mazuri tortoise pellets, soak it until mush and give him a little pile of it, should be easy for him to eat. Good luck. Glad you got him and sure hope he makes a great turn around. Keep us posted.

Okay I will do that. Should I separate the feeding of this guy from my other leo? I remember hearing that unchopped greens are good for them but since this one cant bite but the other guy can should I seperate or just feed them together with finely chopped greens? As far as Mazuri goes, I haven't really had any luck with it whenever I offer some to them or mix it with their greens they tend to just step on it and make it in to a mush and they don't seem to like it. How can I offer it in a way for them to start liking Mazuris?

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Poor little guy! he looks so thin! wait for a more advanced opinion but id say get a qualified reptile vet to trim his beak down if it's causing him issues.

Have you soaked him and put him in a humid enclosure?

Yeah I've been soaking him and keeping humidity over 80% all around. I need to find a vet soon.

 

[Laura]

chop the food and pile it against the side so he can push into it. Id also do babyfood soaks so he can absorb some. Even try a pile of babyfood and he can maybe get some in his mouth.. but yes,, get him trimmed asap..

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have the Vet check for mouth rot too.. something doesnt look right..

 

[pspryu101]

chop the food and pile it against the side so he can push into it. Id also do babyfood soaks so he can absorb some. Even try a pile of babyfood and he can maybe get some in his mouth.. but yes,, get him trimmed asap..

Any good vet around the bay area? Just not sure if a regular vet offers these services?

 

[Laura]

Check the Vet list....

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http://www.tortoiseforum.org/forum-126.html

 

[kanalomele]

Can you possibly post a pic with the lighting behind you vs behind him? The brighter the better so we can get a better idea of what you're dealing with? If you are in the bay area of California there may be someone in my local club that could advise you. And there is a vet in my area that has reptile experience. Im in the suburbs of Sacramento. An area called Elk Grove.

 

[pspryu101]

Can you possibly post a pic with the lighting behind you vs behind him? The brighter the better so we can get a better idea of what you're dealing with? If you are in the bay area of California there may be someone in my local club that could advise you. And there is a vet in my area that has reptile experience. Im in the suburbs of Sacramento. An area called Elk Grove.

I will try to get better pictures tomorrow morning. Oh I know where elk grove is at, although its about an hour drive for me to get there. I can PM you.

 

[wellington]

Yes, I would feed the two separate. You don't want the one that can eat fine getting all the food. It will take him less time then the other will need.

 

[Instinct]

I would try getting the pellets wet and then breaking them up and sprinkle it over the top of the greens. My tortoise hates to eat his pellets and this is the only way I can get him to take them.

 

[kanalomele]

So sorry I missed your pm today. Only just got back here this evening. I replied to you.

 

[pspryu101]

I would try getting the pellets wet and then breaking them up and sprinkle it over the top of the greens. My tortoise hates to eat his pellets and this is the only way I can get him to take them.

I actually tried that but they pick out the greens anyways. I wonder if they'll like the red tortoise sticks better

 

[wellington]

I would try getting the pellets wet and then breaking them up and sprinkle it over the top of the greens. My tortoise hates to eat his pellets and this is the only way I can get him to take them.

I actually tried that but they pick out the greens anyways. I wonder if they'll like the red tortoise sticks better

My leopard never like the Mazuri until he was older. If I remember right, he was over a year before he would eat them.

 

[pspryu101]

I would try getting the pellets wet and then breaking them up and sprinkle it over the top of the greens. My tortoise hates to eat his pellets and this is the only way I can get him to take them.

I actually tried that but they pick out the greens anyways. I wonder if they'll like the red tortoise sticks better

My leopard never like the Mazuri until he was older. If I remember right, he was over a year before he would eat them.

I might just try to mix it better with the greens and see what happens. Does mazuris have expiration date?

 

[LeopardTortLover]

If you cut the food up into really small square (ish) shapes, and then give it a thorough mix with the mazuri so that every piece is covered, they cant avoid it and eventually they will learn to eat the pellets by themselves - they might not love it, but they will eat it.

 

[wellington]

I'm not sure if Mazuri has an expiration date or not. I don't have a bag on hand. However, I purchase the 25 pound bag as I get it much cheaper. I fill gallon size freezer bags with the Mazuri and freeze it. It freezes and thaws, as if it was never frozen.