Sylvia it's been almost a year.

[Len B]

I adopted Sylvia last September, I have know idea of her age, she had never been kept outside,fed the wrong foods and is very deformed, seemed very scared and unsure at first, But that was a year ago, today she is very outgoing, eating better foods and getting exercise. She stays outside all the time and did great last winter knowing when to go to her heated house to warm up after eating. I have never seen where Walker has sensed Sylvia even being on the property or her sensing him being around. there are 2 barricades between them, so they have never seen each other. The biggest problem she has is a short neck that keeps her from picking items from the ground.In the pic you can see how she starts her day with the food items just thrown in willie nillie, later I will rearrange what she can't reach and then sometimes hand feed her a little. She measured 17 inches when I got her I haven't measured her since then,I don't think she has grown much in length but has put weight on. She is my first real special needs tortoise,I'm glad she found her way to me. If I could figure a way to feed her mazuri I would feel better. The first pic is the first pic I took of her last year, and the 2nd I took this morning.

 

[wellington]

So nice to hear she is having a great life now with you. What a lucky tort.
Have you tried piling the Mazuri on top of her greens? or did you mean she doesn't want to eat it?

 

[sibi]

Len, I too have a special needs sulcata. She was 3 years old, weighing only 4 ounces when I got her. She too had a short neck due to MBD. I hand feed her twice a day. At first she didn't know what mazuri was and didn't go for it. I introduced it by putting a little on her favorite green. Whala! She's been eating it ever since. Can you spend about 10-20 minutes to hand feed her everyday? After a while, she's chomp that mazuri down in 5-10 minutes. Try that, and I suggest you start weighing her so you'll see the progress. Also, I'm assuming you are giving calcium supplements? I can see you're already piling up her food, but she flattens it when she tries to eat, right?

 

[Yvonne G]

When a shell is as deformed as that, it's probably a good idea NOT to offer the foods that will cause her to grow, like Mazuri. In my experience with deformed tortoises, the soft tissue grows too fast and the tortoise inside the shell soon sticks out too much and grows too big for the shell. Just let her grow slowly and naturally.

I love that first picture of her. Even though I know she's deformed, its a beautiful picture.

 

[Len B]

So nice to hear she is having a great life now with you. What a lucky tort.
Have you tried piling the Mazuri on top of her greens? or did you mean she doesn't want to eat it?

It's hard to explain (for me anyways) you would have to see her try to eat, her bottom shell is in the way, in the pic you see how far her neck is stretched, well that's all the neck she has. I do believe she would it mazuri though.

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Len, I too have a special needs sulcata. She was 3 years old, weighing only 4 ounces when I got her. She too had a short neck due to MBD. I hand feed her twice a day. At first she didn't know what mazuri was and didn't go for it. I introduced it by putting a little on her favorite green. Whala! She's been eating it ever since. Can you spend about 10-20 minutes to hand feed her? After a while, she's chomp that mazuri down in 5-10 minutes. Try that, and I suggest you start weighing her so you'll see the progress. Also, I'm assuming you are giving calcium supplements? I can see you're already piling up her food, but she flattens it when she tries to eat, right?

Yes she flattens it, walks on it, but after a while she gets most of it down.

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When a shell is as deformed as that, it's probably a good idea NOT to offer the foods that will cause her to grow, like Mazuri. In my experience with deformed tortoises, the soft tissue grows too fast and the tortoise inside the shell soon sticks out too much and grows too big for the shell. Just let her grow slowly and naturally.

I love that first picture of her. Even though I know she's deformed, its a beautiful picture.

I am concerned mostly about her shell growing more but mazuri would be nice as a supplement in winter when all the home grown food is gone.

 

[Jacqui]

With my one, it helped to use a upside down food bowl to get the mazuri high enough for him to be able to reach it easy. You also might try (especially since you do hand feeding) making the mazuri served as burritos with some green leaf as the wrapper.

 

[Yvonne G]

The point I was trying to make was that the shell is compromised and is NOT growing as it should. It will take a very long time to catch up. But the body inside the shell is not compromised, and will grow faster than the shell. So you should not encourage faster/more growth because you will get growth in the soft tissues/body, but NOT the shell. The shell will continue to grow slowly. I have seen this many times in box turtles and leopard tortoises.

 

[mikeh]

Re: RE: Sylvia it's been almost a year.

The point I was trying to make was that the shell is compromised and is NOT growing as it should. It will take a very long time to catch up. But the body inside the shell is not compromised, and will grow faster than the shell. So you should not encourage faster/more growth because you will get growth in the soft tissues/body, but NOT the shell. The shell will continue to grow slowly. I have seen this many times in box turtles and leopard tortoises.

Yvonne G is right. The shell may appear to be large, but the inside volume for the body is actually not. Shell being compromises it may not expand (grow) in right places to allow for body to grow inside, in which case the body will start to push out of the shells, making the tortoise appear to be fat, possibly causing mobility, respiratory and other issues.

sent from mobile device using TFO app

 

[sibi]

I have a sully whose shell is compromised; however, it's not as bad as your tort's, Len. Although my tort has a concaved top straight in the middle, which has shortened her neck, she's growing at a steady pace. Her shell has kept pace as well. But, your tort has a greater defect. Yvonne is right as far as feeding him mazuri. Perhaps in winter months when there isn't any grass or weeds to eat, you can mix some cut up hay with little bits of other greens, and hand feed him. My tort is only 4 years old and she still has some growing to do despite the MBD, so use your intuition. If worse comes to worst, at least use the mazuri in tiny bits once a week and see how he does.

 

[Len B]

The point I was trying to make was that the shell is compromised and is NOT growing as it should. It will take a very long time to catch up. But the body inside the shell is not compromised, and will grow faster than the shell. So you should not encourage faster/more growth because you will get growth in the soft tissues/body, but NOT the shell. The shell will continue to grow slowly. I have seen this many times in box turtles and leopard tortoises.

With Sylvia her shell is to big for her body, she can not extend her head out far enough to reach the food, the food is pushed away by the bottom shell, so I have to mound it up for her or hang it off the fence, she can pick the large fat cactus fruit off the ground but not the narrow ones(different types of opuntia), in the back of the pic there are little green plants, they are hosta and she can't reach down any farther than what you see growing, she keeps them well trimmed. She eats fine but has to put a lot of effort into it.

 

[luvpetz27]

She is adorable!! She is so lucky to have you! She looks like a real sweet heart!!

 

[Lauraryan]

Perhaps you could facilitate her ability to reach food AND keep nutrients low by hanging chopped great quality hay in some sort of non destructable bag or collander hung within her reach. Horses eat out of head-high hung rope hay bags which of course would not be suitable for tort as they could become entangled.

You could stab a heavy piece of steel rod in the ground about 2 feet high with ring attached to very top and hang a wire container that the tort could pull the exposed bit of hay toward her. She'd probably catch on quick, esp. if she's hungry. Hay can be dampened too to make it more appetizing but watch for mold. Maybe it would work, curious to get feedback.