# New Desert Tortoise



## dmarshall1991 (Nov 29, 2014)

Today I got the desert tortoise rescue that I've been anticipating the past two weeks. The poor thing is in worse shape than I expected.. he is 5 years old, hatched in 09. He fits in my palm, has pretty bad pyramiding for a desert tortoise, he was attacked by the previous owners dogs countless times. They would find them chewing on him.. he has a messed up jaw, it looks misplaced or something. His top beak doesn't line up with the bottom. He's also got his back toenails growing around and curling up into his poor little feet. He also was fed a very poor diet of fruit and tortoise pellets made for forest dwelling tortoises. He's going to take some TLC but I have no doubts he will be happy and healthy in no time  he will not be hibernated this winter. Here are some photos I took off him. His name is Wrangler.


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## Yvonne G (Nov 29, 2014)

Aw, poor little guy. Desert tortoises are hard to sex until they get almost full grown, but that one certainly looks female (at the moment). I've never see toenails to grow like that. For cryin' out loud!!! And with that beak, I'll bet it's hard for him/her to bite off pieces of food. Keep us up to date on the tortoise's progress. I love a happy ending.


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## Ciri (Nov 29, 2014)

Wow! Sorry to hear Wrangler has had such a tough time. But what an angel you are for changing his life for the better. The curling toenails are probably due to too much fruit in his diet – but I could be wrong. I'll be very interested to hear what the vet says. I think this little guy is going to do really well in your care.


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## leopard777 (Nov 29, 2014)

possible to trim it ? does it affect his walking ?


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## gingerbee (Nov 29, 2014)

Wow didn't know their toe nails could grow like that!!' He/she will do nothing but improve with your TLC!!!!


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## dmarshall1991 (Nov 29, 2014)

Thank you everybody. I have very high hopes for him! (I just always assume my torts are boys until they prove me wrong) lol. I will definitely keep this thread updated on his progress as time goes on


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## Kenno (Nov 30, 2014)

Does Wrangler walk well? My Desert Torts walk on grass, concrete, and terra cotta tiles and all their toenails stay short and trimmed. Earlier pictures of Wrangler showed him on linoleum, which probably wouldn't grind his nails.


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## dmarshall1991 (Nov 30, 2014)

Kenno said:


> Does Wrangler walk well? My Desert Torts walk on grass, concrete, and terra cotta tiles and all their toenails stay short and trimmed. Earlier pictures of Wrangler showed him on linoleum, which probably wouldn't grind his nails.


Wrangler has a kind of strange walk. His back two legs kinda just are there. He uses them and pushes with them but I think most of his weight is carried on his two front legs. He was kept on a concrete patio. A very smooth almost plastic like concrete. I think it had some sort of coating on it from what I saw when I was there. So it wasn't something that would keep his nails filed down.


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## kathyth (Nov 30, 2014)

poor guy!! i'm really happy he now has a home that will provide proper care.
I wonder is he was getting adequate UVB and calcium.
Please keep us posted.


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## Kenno (Nov 30, 2014)

Does he ever walk with all four legs, raising his shell off the ground? His back legs do look pretty thin.


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## dmarshall1991 (Nov 30, 2014)

Kenno said:


> Does he ever walk with all four legs, raising his shell off the ground? His back legs do look pretty thin.


I have yet to see him do this in the 24 hours I've had him. He just sits there he doesn't hardly move. I think he might have been starting to go into hibernation because he was kept outside and the temps are getting down in the low 40s at night now.. but he didn't have a burrow to go into or anything. Like I said earlier he was being kept on a concrete appartment patio. I'm hoping the warm temperatures of his basking light help get him moving some so I can get a chance to see him walk around.


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## dmarshall1991 (Nov 30, 2014)

kathyth said:


> poor guy!! i'm really happy he now has a home that will provide proper care.
> I wonder is he was getting adequate UVB and calcium.
> Please keep us posted.


He was getting no uvb and no calcium other than what little amounts were in the poor food he was being fed. Im starting to suspect that he has MBD.


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## dmarshall1991 (Nov 30, 2014)

I just gave him a soak in warm water and he dunked his head and drank for a good 20 minutes straight only coming up for air 2 or 3 times. It scared the crap outa me so I kept pulling him up out of the water. If i didn't do it I don't think he would have even come up for air once. After he drank this stuff came out of him.. and I'm not sure what it means or even is. I THINK it's urates.. but I don't know because it's tan in color and it looks like sawdust. What does this mean?


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## Carol S (Nov 30, 2014)

Poor baby. He must of have been very dehydrated. Soak him every day and have a saucer of water available at all times (I like the terracotta plant saucers - a big enough one for him to self soak and drink whenever he wants). He needs to have a good UBV bulb (I personally like the ZooMed PowerSun mercury vapor bulb); however, nothing is better than real sunshine when the weather permits. I hope your baby has a speedy recovery to good health.


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## Ciri (Nov 30, 2014)

That is uric acid. In your initial pictures when you first brought him home, his face looked pretty dehydrated. Of course, with soaks that will soon clear up. Over time there should be less uric acid coming out. Meanwhile of course you are flushing his system and that helps a lot.

This is heartbreaking – the people who had him neglected him to the point of abuse. It's really good they let you take him. I'll be really interested to hear what the vet says.


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## Kenno (Dec 3, 2014)

Kenno said:


> Does he ever walk with all four legs, raising his shell off the ground? His back legs do look pretty thin.



I've been noticing in some videos that some young torts drag their shells and just push a little with their back legs. 
Would someone who raises little ones care to comment on this?


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## Kenno (Dec 3, 2014)

dmarshall1991 said:


> Wrangler has a kind of strange walk. His back two legs kinda just are there. He uses them and pushes with them but I think most of his weight is carried on his two front legs. He was kept on a concrete patio. A very smooth almost plastic like concrete. I think it had some sort of coating on it from what I saw when I was there. So it wasn't something that would keep his nails filed down.



(This is what I meant to quote)


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## Ciri (Dec 4, 2014)

Kenno said:


> I've been noticing in some videos that some young torts drag their shells and just push a little with their back legs.
> Would someone who raises little ones care to comment on this?


Hatchlings don't normally drag themselves, they walk. Where are these videos?


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## Cowboy_Ken (Dec 4, 2014)

Ciri said:


> Hatchlings don't normally drag themselves, they walk. Where are these videos?


To expand, “Healthy hatchlings don't normally drag themselves, they walk."


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## Momof4 (Dec 11, 2014)

Poor thing! I am just curious to why the rescue didn't clean him up before adopting him out? Couldn't they have at least trimmed his nails and beak? Maybe a vet check? Maybe there are no funds for this. So glad he is being taken care of now. Keep us updated.


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## ascott (Dec 13, 2014)

dmarshall1991 said:


> I just gave him a soak in warm water and he dunked his head and drank for a good 20 minutes straight only coming up for air 2 or 3 times. It scared the crap outa me so I kept pulling him up out of the water. If i didn't do it I don't think he would have even come up for air once. After he drank this stuff came out of him.. and I'm not sure what it means or even is. I THINK it's urates.. but I don't know because it's tan in color and it looks like sawdust. What does this mean?



The first pic shows that tort likely ingested sand...that is sand being passed.....when a tort drinks water they submerge their head, some will do so entirely and some will only submerge their mouth and partial nostril area....they can stay under water for a long long long time---so resist pulling them up for air...lol...I would be sure to soak this tort a couple times per day for a couple weeks...in long warm water soaks (30 minutes at the least)...I also would offer this tort wet type foods within the entire diet to assure as much intake of water at every opportunity....I would also let this animal have access to space in which he can move about...this tort likely was impacted...and if so, they they will drag their back end....the key is to get that animal cleared out....in my opinion that is....


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## puffy137 (Dec 13, 2014)

ascott said:


> The first pic shows that tort likely ingested sand...that is sand being passed.....when a tort drinks water they submerge their head, some will do so entirely and some will only submerge their mouth and partial nostril area....they can stay under water for a long long long time---so resist pulling them up for air...lol...I would be sure to soak this tort a couple times per day for a couple weeks...in long warm water soaks (30 minutes at the least)...I also would offer this tort wet type foods within the entire diet to assure as much intake of water at every opportunity....I would also let this animal have access to space in which he can move about...this tort likely was impacted...and if so, they they will drag their back end....the key is to get that animal cleared out....in my opinion that is....


It goes to show that given a chance these creatures know whats good for them. Luckily he was saved by dmarshall just in time.


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## TigsMom (Dec 16, 2014)

Looking forward to seeing the updates in the coming year and more. Your new shelled rescue has great potential to completely turn around into a wonderful success!

Very best wishes for a rapid and wonderful recovery!


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## dmarshall1991 (Dec 21, 2014)

Thanks for all the help everyone!!! he's doing good. I ended up not liking his name lol so he now is known affectionately as Desmond the Desert tortoise. Haha. Anyways, He is still kickin. I'm having a lot of trouble with him though because he is insisting on hibernating. I have been soaking him and keeping his habitat very warm with his heat lights but he will NOT eat and he will NOT come out of his little burrow unless I pull him out. I do not want him to hibernate because he's been so neglected that I fear he may not survive. He NEEDS to eat he's thin and weak. How should I get him to come out of hibernation??? Any tips? Am I not keeping him.warm enough? The ambient room.temp is about 75 and the hot spot in his enclosure is about 85. any advice would be greatly appreciated


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## Ciri (Dec 21, 2014)

I'm relieved to hear that he still alive – I was concerned about him. The fact he is not eating is pretty worrisome. I seem to recall that you were going to take him to Dr. Jarchow? Is that right? If so, have you taken him in yet? Since he's so undernourished, I think there's more going on than just the urge to hibernate. When I get turtles or tortoises who are undernourished, they usually want to eat a lot. One thing you could do is to bring up the warm end to 90°F, cool end to 80°F. Have you tried fruit, like strawberries (just to see if he'll eat)? What foods have you offered him?


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## ascott (Dec 21, 2014)

dmarshall1991 said:


> Thanks for all the help everyone!!! he's doing good. I ended up not liking his name lol so he now is known affectionately as Desmond the Desert tortoise. Haha. Anyways, He is still kickin. I'm having a lot of trouble with him though because he is insisting on hibernating. I have been soaking him and keeping his habitat very warm with his heat lights but he will NOT eat and he will NOT come out of his little burrow unless I pull him out. I do not want him to hibernate because he's been so neglected that I fear he may not survive. He NEEDS to eat he's thin and weak. How should I get him to come out of hibernation??? Any tips? Am I not keeping him.warm enough? The ambient room.temp is about 75 and the hot spot in his enclosure is about 85. any advice would be greatly appreciated




You will want to provide a basking spot of 100-115 and an overall temp of no less than 80 degrees...( this overall temp of no less than 80 is suggested ONLY to try to encourage the tort to get an appetite... and not during the normal time of the year)....also, do pull him out each and every day, several times per day actually...and offer warm water soaks for no less than 30 minutes....then at night, the temp should not fall below 80 degrees either....


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## dmarshall1991 (Dec 22, 2014)

Ciri said:


> I'm relieved to hear that he still alive – I was concerned about him. The fact he is not eating is pretty worrisome. I seem to recall that you were going to take him to Dr. Jarchow? Is that right? If so, have you taken him in yet? Since he's so undernourished, I think there's more going on than just the urge to hibernate. When I get turtles or tortoises who are undernourished, they usually want to eat a lot. One thing you could do is to bring up the warm end to 90°F, cool end to 80°F. Have you tried fruit, like strawberries (just to see if he'll eat)? What foods have you offered him?


Yes he's still alive  I've been worried about him as well but thanks to you and everyone here we are on the right track. I did take him to the vet. He's malnourished, has got MBD, and was severely dehydrated. They trimmed the nails back just a tiny bit enough so they don't continue to grow into the feet and they want him to naturally file them down over time. 
I will focus all of my attention today on bringing his temperature up more. Hopefully that will encourage him to eat. I've tried feeding him collards, dandelion greens, kale, grass, clover, and dichondra. He has not taken a single bite of food since I've had him. All he wants to do is hibernate and stay burrowed. When i pull him out and put him in front of his food he turns around and heads back to his hide.


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## dmarshall1991 (Dec 22, 2014)

ascott said:


> You will want to provide a basking spot of 100-115 and an overall temp of no less than 80 degrees...( this overall temp of no less than 80 is suggested ONLY to try to encourage the tort to get an appetite... and not during the normal time of the year)....also, do pull him out each and every day, several times per day actually...and offer warm water soaks for no less than 30 minutes....then at night, the temp should not fall below 80 degrees either....


Thank you! I'm gonna focus on meeting these temperatures today.


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## keepergale (Dec 22, 2014)

I do not know his enclosure details. If it is possible maybe you can remove his hide during the day so he can not retreat into all the time.


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## Ciri (Dec 22, 2014)

dmarshall1991 said:


> ... I've tried feeding him collards, dandelion greens, kale, grass, clover, and dichondra. He has not taken a single bite of food since I've had him. All he wants to do is hibernate and stay burrowed. When i pull him out and put him in front of his food he turns around and heads back to his hide.


 I know this must be tough – knowing he really needs to eat more than anything right now. It's great you're hanging in there. I had a thought – what about taking some of the collards, dandelion greens, kale, grass, clover, or dichondra and putting it in a blender with water. Then if you purée it to a green liquid and add that to his water dish he'll be able to get in some nutrients, and get familiar with what are healthy foods for him. I would suggest starting out slowly – maybe a dozen Dichondra leaves the first time. And then build up slowly, adding more healthy foods. He may be weak enough that he needs to start out drinking his foods, and absorbing them through the cloaca. You could also add a little bit of fruit: a small piece of tomato, or strawberry, just to try to entice him. I hope things go well in his recovery.


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## dmarshall1991 (Dec 22, 2014)

Ciri said:


> I know this must be tough – knowing he really needs to eat more than anything right now. It's great you're hanging in there. I had a thought – what about taking some of the collards, dandelion greens, kale, grass, clover, or dichondra and putting it in a blender with water. Then if you purée it to a green liquid and add that to his water dish he'll be able to get in some nutrients, and get familiar with what are healthy foods for him. I would suggest starting out slowly – maybe a dozen Dichondra leaves the first time. And then build up slowly, adding more healthy foods. He may be weak enough that he needs to start out drinking his foods, and absorbing them through the cloaca. You could also add a little bit of fruit: a small piece of tomato, or strawberry, just to try to entice him. I hope things go well in his recovery.


This is an amazing idea! He drinks water when I soak him so that will be a way to force him to get at least a little nutrients in him. Thank you! I also got him a bigger enclosure today so that I can control the heat more. Unfortunately on the way home it shattered in the bed of the truck so I'm going to have to have the front replaced. So he's not gonna get to go in it right away, but until then I'll be keeping his Temps up high and trying the puree food in the water idea. I'll definitely let you know how it works out!


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## Momof4 (Jan 28, 2015)

@dmarshall1991 How is Desmond doing? I was just thinking about him and that curly toenail of his.


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## dmarshall1991 (Jan 30, 2015)

He is not doing too well.  it's a tough struggle with him. Taken him to the vet 5 times already and about $600 later still not much improvement. He doesn't eat on his own and he just lays still all day. Cant lift his head or move his legs well at all. Going to keep trying though. its going to come to a point where me and the vet are going to have to decide weather or not it's worth the suffering he's going through for us to keep trying or if it's better to stop his suffering. A decision that is going to absolutely tear me apart  but I'm not giving up on my little guy. He's a fighter I have hope.


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## Ciri (Jan 30, 2015)

I'm so sorry to hear that he's having such a rough time. It did sound like a really difficult situation – trying to counteract the effects of such neglect by the previous keeper. It brings tears to my eyes to hear what is going through – and you as well. I hope things turn around soon. I'm curious – has the vet done any tube feedings? That's something my vet did when my desert tortoise got really sick.


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## Yvonne G (Jan 30, 2015)

Hi Danielle:

I'm so sorry that you're having such a tough time with this tortoise.

Is it possible to find out what the previous owner was feeding him? Sometimes when a tortoise is used to eating a certain thing all the time, they don't recognize good food as food. So if you knew what he was eating before, maybe you could offer that food to him and him might just try to eat. 
You can add a few drops of liquid bird vitamins to his soaking water. That will help get some nutrients into him. And I would put him in front of the food dish every time you walk past his habitat.


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## ascott (Jan 31, 2015)

dmarshall1991 said:


> He is not doing too well.  it's a tough struggle with him. Taken him to the vet 5 times already and about $600 later still not much improvement. He doesn't eat on his own and he just lays still all day. Cant lift his head or move his legs well at all. Going to keep trying though. its going to come to a point where me and the vet are going to have to decide weather or not it's worth the suffering he's going through for us to keep trying or if it's better to stop his suffering. A decision that is going to absolutely tear me apart  but I'm not giving up on my little guy. He's a fighter I have hope.




I would not put him down....I would continue long long long warm water soaks each and every day....he is likely impacted still with that damn sand (as shown in prior pic)...sand is a son of a b*&$h...it can take months to get it out of the tortoise....I would be more concerned with soaking the tort than eating...until his system is cleared he will not eat.....I would warm him up, I would bug him several times per day, I would do long warm water soaks and bug him while he is soaking--try to get him mobile.....if he is ill and is going to die...then let him do so...but if he has life and is not wanting to let go "I" personally would not put him down...this is a very tenacious species....they can pull through ALOT .....now, that is just my feeling on it and you are the one that is doing the footwork and are the one who is going to decide his ultimate situation in captivity....


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## dmarshall1991 (Jan 31, 2015)

PROGRESS!!!! For the FIRST time he is eating! I have tried everything possible and today I got a butternut squash for the torts and my bearded dragon and decided to try and see if he would be interested after his soak. He couldn't bite it because he's so weak so I boiled it for a while and made it nice and soft and he ate several bites. 'm so happy I can't even put it into words. I have been working so hard with him. Vet apointments, injections, tube feedings, soaks 2 times a day, keeping the habitat in pristine condition at the perfect temperature and perfect humidity. And he finally took a few bites on his own today! It was really looking bad the past couple weeks. He was really deteriorating but this is a HUGE step forward.


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## Ciri (Jan 31, 2015)

WOW!!! Congratulations! This is fabulous news. You have done a fantastic job of taking care of him. All that hard work and expense has really paid off. I am thrilled to hear of this wonderful development. And it's great to see the picture of him eating.


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## TigsMom (Feb 1, 2015)

YAY! That is fantastic news! Congratulations!


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## Carol S (Feb 1, 2015)

I am so happy he is eating. Desert Tortoises are such a personable breed of tort. When the weather warms up real sunshine will also do wonders for him. A fast way to cook the squash is to cut it into large pieces and wrap it in paper towels that are dripping with water and then microwave it. I cook mine until it is slightly tender. I also feel that cooking it in the microwave retains more vitamins versus boiling in water. Keep us posted on how he progresses.


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## stojanovski92113 (Feb 1, 2015)

AWWW... I'm glad to hear he's eating. I'm hoping this is the turnaround


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## Momof4 (Feb 3, 2015)

How is the the the fighter today? Hopefully getting stronger!


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## dmarshall1991 (Feb 5, 2015)

Momof4 said:


> How is the the the fighter today? Hopefully getting stronger!


Hasn't eaten any more but he did move around a little bit after his soak this morning.


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## ascott (Feb 8, 2015)

dmarshall1991 said:


> Hasn't eaten any more but he did move around a little bit after his soak this morning.




Keep soaking soaking soaking....keep his stress levels down and routine is so key....you can also offer up italian squash--the guys here will kick down a door for it....


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## Ciri (Feb 12, 2015)

I had a thought of something that might help in getting Desmond to eat. One of my box turtles wasn't eating when she was sick. She was getting treatments that probably killed her appetite. I boiled some squash and cooked fish – the smell wafted in to the dining room where she was and seemed to really pique her appetite. She ate really well that day. Obviously your fellow isn't going to be eating fish, however the smell of squash boiling, or some other suitable food, could improve his appetite. Perhaps that was a factor in him eating that squash you cooked for him not long ago. Hope things are continuing to improve with him.


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## dmarshall1991 (Feb 13, 2015)

He hasn't eaten since the day he took those few bites of squash. Still keeping up with soaks twice a day and offering him food several times daily. Have tried everything but I refuse to give up. Every now and then he will move a little bit but for the most part he's a stationary rock. Really worried about my little guy.


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## Ciri (Feb 13, 2015)

that's great you're not giving up. I hope the weather which is starting to warm will prove helpful. I'm curious, what is your vet saying about this situation? It sure is a difficult one. You're very brave.


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## dmarshall1991 (Feb 13, 2015)

Ciri said:


> that's great you're not giving up. I hope the weather which is starting to warm will prove helpful. I'm curious, what is your vet saying about this situation? It sure is a difficult one. You're very brave.


 Yea on those days that it was about 85 I took him outside and had him soaking in direct sunlight. Seemed to perk him up a little bit. The vet is saying there's really not much else I can do. We have tried everything. They keep hinting at maybe it's time to let him lose the fight and put him down but I'm not accepting that. He's still got a chance. He's a little fighter and I'm not going to give up on him like that. He's had such a tough life he deserves someone to have hope in him and keep trying. So we continue our struggle.


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## dmarshall1991 (Feb 24, 2015)

UPDATE: He ate a little bit of Mazuri!


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## bouaboua (Feb 24, 2015)

Hooray! ! ! !

On the way to full health! ! !Best wishes to you and this torts! ! ! !


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## Ciri (Feb 25, 2015)

good job! With things warming up it looks like you'll be in the clear pretty soon. So glad to hear the positive news.


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## dmarshall1991 (Mar 15, 2015)

Desmond is improving slowly day by day  Today we reached a very important milestone! I had to share a photo to celebrate


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## TigsMom (Mar 15, 2015)

Amazing! Great to see some progress! Congrats on the new milestone!


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## gingerbee (Mar 15, 2015)

Wow!! Slow but sure!!


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## Momof4 (Mar 15, 2015)

So glad to hear!! I'm rooting for Desmond!!


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## Ciri (Mar 15, 2015)

Congratulations! Great to see him eating!


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## dmarshall1991 (Mar 17, 2015)

Thanks everyone for all the advice and support with him ♡ i really appreciated it all. I've grown so attached to him after all the stuff I've had to do for him and all the countless hours bathing and going to the vet and trying to get him to eat. I can't imagine not having the goofy little crippled guy lol. So thank you all again. You helped me save his little life. Desmond says Thank you aswell


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