Red foot after surgery

taylorm101099

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Jan 4, 2018
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i rescued a red foot hatchling from the pet store I work at after they refused to get him treatment for a penile prolapse. The surgery went well and he is now in recovery. I am not familiar with dealing with them after surgery and ami wondering how long I can expect it to be before he is more active is eating regularly again. Also any tips anyone can give about post op care in general would be greatly appreciated!!
 

mark1

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I would keep him 80-85 degrees , and humid …… i'd most likely keep him on clean wet sphagnum moss in a small Tupperware container enclosed in a covered tank of 85 degree water , like a diy egg incubator ……. and keep my fingers crossed that he does well , not much you can do other than offer him optimum conditions …….. make sure he has access all the time to food and water , don't assume he will regulate his own temp . he will probably just hide regardless of temp …… a good food to offer is whatever he was eating before his surgery ………… pretty much , when a doctor , vet or human tells me a surgery went well , I take it to mean the patient survived it …… surviving the recovery seems to me to be the more crucial part of any surgery I've been involved in …….
 

taylorm101099

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Thanks for your advice everyone, unfortunately when I woke up this morning the little one had passed. I was very distraught because of how much faith I had that I could help him. The vet made the procedure seem so simple, but I think it’s possible that we didn’t look closely enough at what caused his prolapse. He said this normally happens when there are multiple tortoises and they engage in sexual behaviors, but the little red foot was housed alone. I think he may have ingested some sphagnum moss, it’s the only theory I have that would lead to that kind of constipation. Seeing young tortoises die like this makes me so upset they have such potential for great long lives that the loss of them is even more painful. It’s hard not to wonder if you changed something in your husbandry if the outcome would have been different, and it’s equally difficult not to blame myself in part as one of he people responsible for his care. But I know I can’t let this take away from the care that I provide to my Greek tortoise, who is thriving and I will ensure does not suffer the same fate as the little rescue redfoot.
 

Yvonne G

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I'm sorry to hear this.

Prolapse occurs due to intense, continued straining. Maybe he had stones, or was constipated or had an overly large load of parasites. My guess is the pet store kept him too dry and he was constipated. You did your best. I'm sorry it didn't work out.
 
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