seeking LOTS of (Home's?) hingeback help & advice

[ErinB]

Thanks for your advice about Pearl's enclosure! I think I saw your thread about her and thought the same thing - they really do look very similar! Coleus is a great idea, I'll have to try it on my quest to get her eating plants.

Now, finally, some updates!

First off, I had QUITE the scare the other day - Jenny got her head stuck in her shell! Apparently it's happened once or twice before, and we were able to help her get it out (in the past and this time). It was a bit too far back, but the problem was that her head was down behind the part of her plastron that curves up (I'm not sure what that part is called). I've read that this can happen if their beak is too long, does hers look long enough to bet stuck? Any advice on preventing this in the future, or is it just a kind of freak thing we need to look out for? It was only stuck for about 15 minutes, so it's hard to say if she would have sorted it out on her own or if we really did need to help. How long should we wait to try and pull it out if it does happen again?

Her gait is also still pretty terrible. I took another video, sorry it's shaky. She still drags her plastron quite a bit. Is there anything I can do other than keep getting her out for exercise?

NOW - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5J-58_HYk4U&feature=youtu.be

One month ago (for comparison) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFDZDaRGFM8

I might take another video of her on the carpet again this evening to compare more easily. Does it seem like she has had any improvement at all?

The rest of her condition is definitely improved. Her skin is almost a different color, and no more horrid sores on her neck thanks to the humidity outside and daily soakings! Her nose is still a little battered, and I'm worried about these cracks on her plastron, although they are not new and don't seem to be getting worse or anything. How does she look?



She's eating better, but any and all greens are a major work in progress. I put hibiscus leaves and flower on top of her mushroom & freeze dried food, only to find trampled hibiscus and an empty food bowl. She'll only eat it if I chop it up and literally stuff the mushrooms with hibiscus!

I also finally have an update on the ongoing enclosure renovations.

The angle makes it very difficult to tell the size, but it's MUCH better. She still barely moves while she's inside, but that's quite the habit to break. It's also obviously very barren for now - I'm going to put in more rocks & wood for climbing.

The substrate is coconut coir about 5" deep, and the warm end stays a little more than 80 degrees.

The current plan is to hook up a timed humidifier to a hide and set it up as her primary hideout, since I'm not really sure how else to go about getting the humidity up in this set-up. For now she's getting soaked daily and staying outside where the humidity is pretty high, but I'm worried about after summer ends. She does also tend to sit in the water once you put her in for a while, but I'm not sure if she soaks herself on her own. She goes in the water to use the bathroom at least.

I'm also going to put in a standing UVB light, with plants underneath, for once she's not spending all day out in the sun. Do you think she'll still get enough UVB if I only have a humid hide? Any other set-up suggestions for working out these two elements?

Sorry for the long post, thanks for reading and for all of your help so far and in the future!

 

[NudistApple]

Perhaps I'm not following...why would only having a humid hide regulate the amount of UVB that she is receiving?

 

[ErinB]

RE: seeking LOTS of (Home's?) hingeback help & advice

Sorry! I feel like if I expect her to hang out in a dark hide all day for the humidity, she won't get enough light. Or if she stays out in the light, she won't be humid enough. Maybe I'm overanalyzing it though and she'll just go to whatever she needs!

I suppose if I have an actual humidifier going it will provably keep most of the tub humid, and the coir holds moisture well. Plus the water evaporating in the hot end.

 

[Jacqui]

I have to say, I have never saw a Home's with that overgrown of a beak. I think it is needs to be ground down, especially if it is causing the trouble you talked about. It may only be because I want it to be true, but I really do think I am seeing a lot of improvement in her walking. This is going to be a slow process. It took years for her to lose muscle tone and whatever else is at work there and it will take time to gain it back. I just think you are doing an extremely marvelous job with her and I am so very impressed!

 

[ErinB]

RE: seeking LOTS of (Home's?) hingeback help & advice

Yikes! Poor thing! I feel bad that I didn't even realize how bad her beak is. My vet did her nails but I'm not absolutely positive of their reptile experience, I'll have to call around.

When I first took the video of her walking I didn't think there was any improvement, but then watching the one from a month ago I agree that it might look better. At the very least it's not going to keep getting worse! It's still a little painful to watch though

Thanks for the encouragement!

 

[ErinB]

I tried another video on the carpet. She was being a little uncharacteristically inactive after her morning soak, but I definitely think things are looking better. It seems like she maybe has figured out that her back legs can do more than just drag behind her, but it's still a work in process getting them into shape again. That aerial view is what looks way better to me, even if her plastron is still dragging most of the time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxE5WabhK_M&feature=youtu.be

I'll be finding a reptile vet this evening, I'm not positive when we can get her in for her beak, it will come down to whether I feel like I need to be there or if my mother can take her without me. Does anyone already know of a good vet in Chicago/the north suburbs?

 

[Riverhorse]

I tried another video on the carpet. She was being a little uncharacteristically inactive after her morning soak, but I definitely think things are looking better. It seems like she maybe has figured out that her back legs can do more than just drag behind her, but it's still a work in process getting them into shape again. That aerial view is what looks way better to me, even if her plastron is still dragging most of the time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxE5WabhK_M&feature=youtu.be

I'll be finding a reptile vet this evening, I'm not positive when we can get her in for her beak, it will come down to whether I feel like I need to be there or if my mother can take her without me. Does anyone already know of a good vet in Chicago/the north suburbs?

I couldn't load the last video on the carpet, but the earlier one looks like she is getting stronger. I like how you lift her shell up while she is walking. My hingeback walks very tall in the hindlegs She can climb up a wall of rocks very easily. If you lift Jenny's shell as she is excercising, I think her leg muscles will develop better because they will be building strength in the correct position(under the shell).

With 5" of coir your enclosure may be too shallow once Jenny can stand on her back legs. The risk is her pulling herself over the edge with her beak and front legs and then toppling over the edge. Once you put rocks and logs in the risk becomes greater. They even use their food dishes to climb. I raised the walls on my tortoise home to 12" above the surface of the substrate! A screen over the top that latches to the sides would work too.

Don't worry too much about the UVB. If you put the bulb over the food dish, she will always get some exposure and sprinkling the food with calcium and D3 takes care of some of it. I use a ZooMed reptisun 5.0 UVB Tropical compact flourescent bulb. This is an expensive bulb but I use it because the flourescent tube is SO bright that she doesn't want to sit under it at all and spends her time in the dark hiding hole. With the compact bulb she will get her UVB while she is eating, and then she can choose to be under it or not. For heat, I use regular black light bulbs for warmth in Winter. I have one 25w cheap bulb and a 28w coil that will bring the hot spot to 85 or 90 (too hot) in winter.

Perhaps a humidifier will work, I use a Monsoon RS400 misting machine, which needs the nozzles replaced after a year because mineral deposits clog them. A smaller misting machine might be better although you have to fill it more often.

To bring her beak down I put her food on a tumbled marble tile. Her beak was filed down as she grabs food off the tile. It was a way to file her beak down with out traumatizing her with a Dremmel sander. or a nail file. I had to take the tile out after it was short enough, a few weeks in our case. You don't want the beak to be too short. Do you know if the spot that is damaged on her beak goes all the way through?
If it does, I would let a vet shorten the beak. Dont' want to risk the whole chunk falling off.

The nails on my Pearl are curled. The vet (a good one) didn't seem concerned that they were curling. She said I could dremmel them down but it wasn't necessary. They have not gone in to her skin and it has been a year. I want to sand them down but I don't want to traumatize her. Do you think nail clippers would work?

I am going to experiment with a thin shade cloth over the habitat so she spends less time in her hiding hole. Perhaps it will make her more secure. I love silk plants , I have a wires that support the plants like a canopy over one part of the habitat. She loves sitting there. Shade cloth, silk flowers, long peices of bark across the top of your habitat will also help hold humidity in. Or use a sheet of acrylic if you want to still be able to look at her.

Looks like you are enjoying Jenny. She's a cute one, Her eyes look really clear.