hi there, i recently got a horsefield that no one else wanted because she was blind, when i got her she seem to find the food and water but im not sure how she new it was there. she is back home now and has been since yesturday. i have watched her go for water but not for food and im worried and not sure exactly what to do, please help she is adorable and i just want to make sure she is alright

Hi,
I'd put her in front of the food everytime I fed her. Try to fed her in the same place everytime. I would also hold a piece of greens in front of her until she started to eat. She should than keep eating the pile of greens you have for her.

Danny

Besides the good advice you got from Danny, go to a feed store or to the vet and buy a little tube of eye ointment. The name on the tube is
"Terramycin" and it is mfg'd by Pfiser. Its a really small tube only about an inch and a half long. But it is a miracle drug. There are many reasons for a tortoise to go blind...being kept on pine substrate, having the UVB light too close to the floor of the habitat, to name a couple, but some of them are curable. If you use the eye ointment three times a day for a week or so, I'll bet you will start seeing some results.

I received a 3-toed box turtle several years ago that had been left outside too close to the surface of the soil one winter and her eyes sustained frost damage. They were both white, indicating scar tissue. By faithfully applying the eye ointment 3 times a day for a couple weeks then once a day for the rest of the year, she slowly regained her sight, and the scar tissue went away. It took almost a year, but she's as good as new.

And in the meantime, I had to do what Danny suggested that you do. They have a pretty good sense of smell and can usually find the food on their own, but it doesn't hurt for you to help.

Yvonne

That was so sweet of you to take on this little one. Congrats on your new little one.

Congrats on your new shelled baby. I just read a post on bad lighting.
its worth a look. http://tortoiseforum.org/bad-uvb-light-p...-1817.html