Hi, Sorry for my 1st post being a long one, but am hoping that by giving you as much info as possible you will get good idea of my problem ;
My family recently bought me a young Hermanns, this was a special gift due to me having a run of bad luck lately. They really didnt know that where they bought it from has a dreadful reputation- not for much longer as a recent TV expose has probably put an end to them. Initially Gimble was fine, then he developed a severe eye complaint but local vet _ general small animal not Exotics.prescribed the right treatment and his eyes are fine.
Trouble is he hardly eats a thing , digs down for most of the day, as he doesnt eat much or drink I am giving 4 warmbaths a day this produces small amounts of normal looking urates but more often than not no faeces. When he does produces solids they are normal- green and fibrous with no obvious signs of parasites. My Exotic vet is over 45 miles away but has agreed to test a sample if I can mail one. Trouble is as there's not much going in thenhardly anything is coming out. I was going to describe his set up but think Ive posted enough for a first timer. Any help appreciated please, I'm pretty desperate as I think he may be fading away.
Love Tawny
Hi. If i were you i would take a poo sample to the vets. Even though you can't see worms etc doesn't mean he doesn't have them. If it's where i think it is from it will have worms even though you can't see them. You are not the only one to have a tortoise from there. I also have 1 and so do a few others that i know of. Mine had worms. His poo was normal looking too. He acted the same. Now hes wormed and checked over hes fine and healthy. I really do think the problem is worms. Email or pm me and tell me where he is from if you can. When mine was wormed he was like a different tortoise. What set up have you got him in?.
Hi Please post some pics of your set up!!! What sort of temps is he being kept at? Do you weigh him regular? Sorry now your having questions back.
What sort of lighting do you have for him and what substrate is he on?
Thankyou for a speedy reply.I have Gimble on a tortoise table, substrate is sand and top soil. His basking slate is 32C and the cooler end is 25C. He has hides at either end. I spray the substrate with warm water twice a day and soak his Habba Hut hide in warm water and let it dry off a bit before his lights out.
His lighting is a 5% new UV tube and his basking spot lamp is 75W normal spot not coloured. I calculate his weight using Jacksons calculator. His SCL is 6.5cms and his weigh in pre bath is now 48G , 5 up from when I first got him, His diet isn't what I would like it to be- weeds from my organic garden but I have 3 seed trays of Winter Mix Tortoise seeds coming up in the greenhouse. Meanwhile he is being fed a bit of everything I can lay hands on, supplimented with Reptivite. I must confess to you all, please dont yell at me, that out of sheer desparation I made him up 8 pellets of that Komodo banana mix- begged from a friend, and he ate half of it. I do know pellets are highly frowned upon , really I do, but in all truth if I thought for 1 second he' d eat a lump of raw walrus I'd go and get it just to see him eat something.Right now hes burying himself after his last bath of the day and a gentle towelling. A reasonable amount of urates were passed (usual consistancy and colour) but again nothing solid to mail to the vets. I'm sure I havent remembered to tell you everything so please ask. Once again, thankyou for the help youre showing a newby, please help me not let this wee lad die. I am asking OH to take some pics of him tomorrow so maybe you could spot something obvious that I'm missing?
Love Tawny
Hi Jan. One problem i see is he needs a 10% uv light not a 5% one. 5% uv lights are more for desert torts. The tortoise table with sand and soil is correct. Do you put the slate under his basking lamp? If so i would move it from under his lamp. I find that the slate gets to warm for them. Mine seem to snuggle into the soil and bask better. I use reptavite with my torts. Do you use limestone flour(calcium power)?.Torts need this. Pellets are not good at all for your tort. I know it's hard when they won't eat but he will come round with the right diet. If you have only just had him he could be settling in. Most torts don't eat when you first have them. You could always try him on florettes mixed salad from the supermarket. It will be much better than pellets. Just keep up with his baths everyday. He will come around. Post us some pictures so we can help you. No one will yell at you on here. Keeping torts is a learning curve and thats why we are all here.
Thanks Paulette. I did query the strength of the UV and was told a 5% would be fine as torts retinas can be damaged by high strength UV- should have known better who turns the suns rays down during the day?
When I said basking slate I meant to say bask space, he does have several bits of slate- to add different textures and to help keep his nails trim but none of them are directly under the bask lamp. I dont as yet have any limestone flour but do dust whatever hes fed with Reptalux calcium dust, I didnt add to the pellets though as the blurb says it contains calcium. As soon as he performs I will mail a sample to the vet and as soon as he can O.H will take photos, Thanks again for the very warm welcome and all the help.
Jan
Hi Jan. On the whole your set up sounds ok. Another thing to remember as well is it is still winter. Torts that are not hibernated do slow down over winter. He has put weight on since you have had him so that is a good sign. On the whole he should put on no more than 2-3 grams a month. I like his name by the way.
Thanks Paulette, Hes called Gimble because that what he does- gimbles around like a living pork pie!. Well , I have replaced the uv for a 10% and also raised the temps to 35. As usual after morning baths- urate no poo, he went back to digging in. BUT , much to my amazement an hour or so later he unearthed himself and went and sat in his waterbowl. Not much to report you might think, but when you consider that hes hardly ever come out again and never sat in his bowl I think its progress. Tomorrow at 10.00 I have to rush a sample to local vet who has kindly agreed to send it to a lab for testing. The collection cut off is 10.30 so I am praying he performs tomorrow so I can fly down to the vets clutching a film cannister of poo!! Oh forgot to say he ate a tiny dandelion leaf, some curly endive and an inch of raddichio. so I can only assume the extra UV is to thank for this. Bless you for the advice.
Jan
Hi Jan. You mad me laugh. I was sitting here thinking about a pork pie walking around a tort enclosure. Lets hope he does a poo for you. Once you have had a sample tested it will put your mind at rest. If he hasn't got worms then it could be just a case of him settling in. Some torts take longer than others. It could also be a case of just tweeking his enclosure for him. I'm always playing around with mine. Some of them love it when you move things around. I have 1 though that sulks if you touch his enclosure. They are all different. The good thing is hes started to eat. Let us no how you get on.
Ok, this morning in the bath he produced a lovely poo. Rushed it to the vets and she said she'll ask the lab to test it for just about every parasite they can think of, thats good but the downside is the time it takes she said it can be 3 weeks, Yikes! anyway, today is a good day at the present time 2.pm he has eaten : a large piece of lambs lettuce- he got very excited and tore clumps off like a madman I've never seen him so enthusiastic over anything, a piece of raddichio and the tiniest dandylion ever seen. Banana Komodo pellets about 6 were totally ignored so I have removed them and given them to my millipedes, I sprinkled Nutraboil on it all and now I'm waiting for the limestone flour to arrive, I'll put this in a flat dish but am worried he'll trample all over it like he does most of his food. The change in the UV has produced fantastic results and I could slap myself for not realising sooner. I know I might be being optimistic but I do honestly think he's improving every day. Hope you wont chuck me off the forum when he's 100% fit though!
Love Jan