Russian tortoise liver faliure

[PenguinGod]

Good morning,

We have a russian tortoise going through some sort of renal faliure and were wondering if anyone here has experience with it.

Bobo has been lethargic for a bit over a month now, and in the past week he has stopped eating. Yesterday he became very swollon. We have been following vet advice this whole time and now he has a feeding tube implanted, but it has not seemed to improve his condition at all.

I suppose I'm just looking to learn if anyone has had an experience like this and had the toroise recover? Are we just prolonging his suffering at this point or is there a chance for him still?

 

[KarenSoCal]

Generally, to try to fix something, you have to know what's wrong with it.

Have you come up with the cause of his kidney failure?

How old is Bobo, and how long have you had him? Were you soaking him daily in a pan of water, and/or did you see him drink and soak himself? Does Bobo live alone in his enclosure? Inside or outside?

I'm so sorry your tortoise is sick! Kidney failure can be caused by lots of things. At least he is being fed.

What did the vet say about it? Is your vet an exotics vet, or really familiar with torts? Did he take any x-rays?

Sorry about so many questions, but I'm trying to help you figure out what went wrong. It's very possible we'll never know. But if he pulls through, it is important that this doesn't happen again.

 

[PenguinGod]

No we have not come up with a cause, the vet we have is the only herpatologist around but I'm not sure how familiar she is with torts. To be honest I wasn't really able to get a lot of opinions or answers from her so that is why I came to the forum! I'll answer all your questions below to help me make sure I've got them all. Thank you so much for your help!

Generally, to try to fix something, you have to know what's wrong with it.

Have you come up with the cause of his kidney failure?

-No, current vet hasn't been to helpful in that regard. When I first got him from an online large volume dealer he seemed pretty lethargic and had a tinge of pink in his urate, so I'm wondering if it might be a chronic thing? That was about 5 years ago.

How old is Bobo, and how long have you had him? Were you soaking him daily in a pan of water, and/or did you see him drink and soak himself? Does Bobo live alone in his enclosure? Inside or outside?

-We got him 5 years ago, he was not a baby when we got him but the dealer has said he was under 3? Not sure how I could confirm that. He lived inside in a 2'×4.5' table with a uvb, uva, and a ceramic heat bulb. I would see him soaking in a water dish kept in his table, when he started slowing down I gave him a warm soak every other day and would see him drink and poop. Thinking back on it I didn't see much in the way of urate but I had just assumed it was clear given the amount of soaking he was getting. Since this past week tho he hardly wakes up even in the presence of water so I have stopped soaking him.

I'm so sorry your tortoise is sick! Kidney failure can be caused by lots of things. At least he is being fed.

What did the vet say about it? Is your vet an exotics vet, or really familiar with torts? Did he take any x-rays?

-She didn't even suggest x-rays

Sorry about so many questions, but I'm trying to help you figure out what went wrong. It's very possible we'll never know. But if he pulls through, it is important that this doesn't happen again.

-Thank you so much for your help! I would love to figure out what it could be or if I need to improve something. If he does pull through id love for this not to happen again, if he dosnt id like to know if we should consider another tort in the future or if our habitate is unsuitable.