New guy here. We have a tortoise that was a rescue. He has had a rough life in bad conditions. He has bad pyramiding was only feed Romane lettuce and no UV or been outside. He had a prolapsed penis so we took him to the vet at the near by college. He had most of it removed. After this he stopped pooping. We took him back and they did an X-ray and found a golf ball size bladder stone. So we had them remove it. He still can't poop. All that comes out is a thick clear syrup like liquid. When he secretes this he groans and kicks his back legs terribly. The vet does not seem concerned but he appears very uncomfortable and after $1800 paid hey are really pissing me off. Any thoughts or ideas? Right now he has a feeding tube still and gets food and water through this. He eats canned pumpkin just fine orally. I'm at aloes what to do to help him.
Sulcata tortoise health help needed
- Thread starter Jubylives
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Hello and Welcome
. So sorry to here about your troubles with the poor fella. I don't really know, but my guess would be the mucus is probably pretty normal at this point with all that has gone on inside. I would imagine it should get back to normal soon. If you can give him some nice warm soaks, that my help with getting things moving a little better. Others with more experience will have more help soon.
Good luck, I sure hope he comes out if this with no more problems and gets back to having a better life that you are providing for him.
. So sorry to here about your troubles with the poor fella. I don't really know, but my guess would be the mucus is probably pretty normal at this point with all that has gone on inside. I would imagine it should get back to normal soon. If you can give him some nice warm soaks, that my help with getting things moving a little better. Others with more experience will have more help soon.Good luck, I sure hope he comes out if this with no more problems and gets back to having a better life that you are providing for him.
Welcome to the Forum!
I must say, I admire your dedication and appreciate the way you've taken the tortoise to heart.
If you can get his mouth open squirt some mineral oil down his throat. Depending upon his size, a dropperful or more.
I must say, I admire your dedication and appreciate the way you've taken the tortoise to heart.
If you can get his mouth open squirt some mineral oil down his throat. Depending upon his size, a dropperful or more.
Ask your dumb vet to give you some pain med to relieve his pain! That's academic. Sometimes I wonder why people become vets, really. Your sully is going though hell. Go back to the vet and ask him to check if the tort has a bladder infection. After all the surgeries, the stone removal is very painful for your tort. Pain medication is needed for just this kind of thing.
In the meantime, soak him in warm water for up to an hour. Keep the water warm. And keep doing what you're doing. Pain meds will help him significantly.
In the meantime, soak him in warm water for up to an hour. Keep the water warm. And keep doing what you're doing. Pain meds will help him significantly.
When you say surgery to remove the golf ball size stone...did they do the surgery where they split and separate the shell? If yes, please be careful on doing any soaks---while soaks are generally the aid in alot of situations, if the tort was split and seamed back together you would not want an infection caused by bacteria moving about in the soak----if you do opt to soak--then please be at the ready with warm replacement water in the event of a soiling....how are you treating the tort during his healing?
Thanks for the replies. The stone removal was done from the under side through an opening they cut out. It is sealed with epoxy and some type of screen mesh. The few times we have soaked him we wrap him in food plastic Saran Wrap to keep the area dry. His pen has a laminate floor on it we put down before his surgeries to keep it clean. He is on pain meds. I can't decide if he is constipated or has diarrhea. He lets out three things. Clear runny almost like water. The typical white urates and the clear almost corn syrup texture stuff. The latter is when he complains. His pen is kept at 80f.
Jubylives said:
Does he also have a warmer basking spot?
Pain meds can sometimes cause constipation in humans. I don't know if this happens in tortoises too. Seems like maybe it does.
Forgot to mention there is a radiant heater to keep the temp and am getting a humidifier to regard humidity as it is getting cooler and dryer out. We keep him in a table I built that is 36"wide and 8 feet long. He spent the warm sunny days outside before surgery. He has to be kept clean so he hasn't been out much lately. He's so awesome. He will let us spoon feed him canned pumpkin. It's hilarious to watch. Just trying to make his remaining years a lot better then his previous years. I hopefully got two pics on here. One of him and one of the stone. Hopefully this works as I am doing this on my intensely hated iPhone.
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Wow...that's a pretty big stone.
sibi said:
Actually pain meds for reptiles are a hit and miss most of the time, not much has been researched into making proper pain meds for reptiles that always work, and pain meds that have been found to work always have side effects and sometimes the reptile builds a tolerance to the meds and no longer are as effective(reptiles also have slower metabolism, so it takes a whole to show if it is working or causing more harm), the one I give my Leo with arthritis causes nausea and vomiting and he stops eating. He has to go off his meds for a few weeks and by the end of the 2nd week his arm is swollen again and he cannot move, so long term and short term usage of pain meds are never good, even if it is necessary like in his case.
Secondly most vets have little to no training in reptiles, vet schools do not teach that in their standards, you have to do a exotic animal major with your normal schooling in a vet school and it can only be done in a vet school who offers exotic and zoo medicine, and still those classes focus on more mammalian exotics. So majority of vets really do not know what to do or are very hesitant to prescribe things because they have no clue if the medicine will have a adverse effect on the creature. This is a vet who trying all they can with what little knowledge is on the web ad what any friend can tell them if they call, heck most vets get a lot of information about the exotic animal from the owners.
You have to understand that majority of vets have no clue about exotics, especially reptiles.
Diets that are low in fiber means the animal normally has watery stool, have they done a fecal to check for parasites, parasites can cause problems like this. The good sign is he is passing something, which shows there is movement in his gut. But the groaning and kicking is a bit worrying, because as my zoo vet friend said to me once "it is amazing to see how there is no end to how much a stressed tortoise can poo" maybe look around in the area to see if there is a vet near by who does see exotics or can refer you to someone who can help.
That all makes sense. The person who dealt with the prolapsed penis was a vet from the near by zoo that has tortoises but not sulcatas but tortoises none the less. She is also a friend of the vet we have been dealing with. He is very attractive and he seems to have reduced in his groaning fits. Tomorrow is gonna be warm and sunny so he is gonna spend the whole day outside in the sun. The issues we have is the arrogance of the student vets. I'm a very direct person so my wife talks to them or I will be very direct with them. People usually don't like it but I'm attached to this little guy and am going to do what it takes to get him better. Even if it hurts the feelings of some snot nosed kids.
I dont blame you. You deserve to get answers. From qualified people. Your guy is the cutest by the way...how could you not get attached to him...
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