visioninlace
New Member
Hi!
I’m new to posting here, so I hope I am providing all of the correct things I need to post in order to get some helpful insight.
My Russian tortoise (appears to be a year old? Unsure) has been acting extremely out of character.
Some are saying he may be constipated, so I have been soaking him more frequently with no luck. The only hopeful thing is his appetite has come back, and he’s drinking A LOT of water.
I have had him for a year now, and understand that when the weather gets cold, activity slows down, but it appears that he is having trouble lifting himself up to walk.
I have never seen this before- all of his legs are able to move, but he cannot prop the back of himself up.
I was given the wrong diet information when we got him, and was told romaine lettuce was fine to feed him. So for the first 7-8 months, he was eating the romaine and he had A LOT of energy, was never lethargic.
I recently switched him to a diet of arugula, chard, cucumber (sparingly) and I give him calcium powder without D3 3-4 times a week, every other day. This diet change was abrupt, but he still seemed okay until a week ago.
We had a vet appt today and they cancelled. It is the only reptile vet in my area that was open today, but the reptile specialist called out sick.
Here are other concerns:
Soaks for 10-20 minutes a day, only seems interested in drinking water when soaking, although a water dish is kept in his enclosure.
Lighting:
Heat lamp stays on for 12 hours a day, 6-9 am until 6-9 pm
The UVB we have is a coil light- as suggested by the pet store but I am now hearing coils are bad?
Substrate:
Reptisoil fills most of his enclosure, while I left some wood chips on the other side because once again- pet store recommended it, and he seems comfortable with the wood chips. I recently added the soil, but he’s been acting funky before I added soil.
I’m new to posting here, so I hope I am providing all of the correct things I need to post in order to get some helpful insight.
My Russian tortoise (appears to be a year old? Unsure) has been acting extremely out of character.
Some are saying he may be constipated, so I have been soaking him more frequently with no luck. The only hopeful thing is his appetite has come back, and he’s drinking A LOT of water.
I have had him for a year now, and understand that when the weather gets cold, activity slows down, but it appears that he is having trouble lifting himself up to walk.
I have never seen this before- all of his legs are able to move, but he cannot prop the back of himself up.
I was given the wrong diet information when we got him, and was told romaine lettuce was fine to feed him. So for the first 7-8 months, he was eating the romaine and he had A LOT of energy, was never lethargic.
I recently switched him to a diet of arugula, chard, cucumber (sparingly) and I give him calcium powder without D3 3-4 times a week, every other day. This diet change was abrupt, but he still seemed okay until a week ago.
We had a vet appt today and they cancelled. It is the only reptile vet in my area that was open today, but the reptile specialist called out sick.
Here are other concerns:
- has been lethargic
- has not pooped in almost a week, also has not been passing urates
- has trouble crawling in and out of food dish and water dish, I usually have to prop the back of him up so he can crawl in
- irritated eyes/scratching at eyes, one eye appears faintly red with no discharge or tears that I can see
- lately when trying to walk, he cannot lift himself, his legs move, but the front leg can’t seem to plant itself on the ground/any substrate. Back of shell seems to drag.
- he no longer digs or burrows
Soaks for 10-20 minutes a day, only seems interested in drinking water when soaking, although a water dish is kept in his enclosure.
Lighting:
Heat lamp stays on for 12 hours a day, 6-9 am until 6-9 pm
The UVB we have is a coil light- as suggested by the pet store but I am now hearing coils are bad?
Substrate:
Reptisoil fills most of his enclosure, while I left some wood chips on the other side because once again- pet store recommended it, and he seems comfortable with the wood chips. I recently added the soil, but he’s been acting funky before I added soil.
