Rescue tortoise

Amie.M

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I think your cute Russian is a boy also. Looks like the tail is long and kept swept to the side, right? If that's true then he's s boy. Girls have short tails.
Yes I think she is actually a he! But I’ve kind of got used to calling her a girl now;)
 

RosemaryDW

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Welcome!

If you’ve not already stopped, please stop offering the strawberries, tomatoes and any other fruit. She’s eating some healthier foods now, even if not a ton of them. The fruits are really hard on the digestive system and he doesn’t need other problems with diet. :)
 

Amie.M

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Welcome!

If you’ve not already stopped, please stop offering the strawberries, tomatoes and any other fruit. She’s eating some healthier foods now, even if not a ton of them. The fruits are really hard on the digestive system and he doesn’t need other problems with diet. :)
Hi,
Thanks for the info. I had stopped offering the fruit, it was just a means to get him eating. But he didn’t eat it anyway. The only thing he did eat was dandelion leaves. I am now rethinking my whole set up and researching everything including diet for Russians. So fingers crossed:)
 

RosemaryDW

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Hi,
Thanks for the info. I had stopped offering the fruit, it was just a means to get him eating. But he didn’t eat it anyway. The only thing he did eat was dandelion leaves. I am now rethinking my whole set up and researching everything including diet for Russians. So fingers crossed:)

Mine never knew what to do with fruit either, the two times she saw any. Flowers yes, fruit no.

In the short run, enclosure is almost always more problematic than diet. Good luck!
 

AliG

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Hi Amar

What a lucky little tortoise to have been adopted by you, I do think 'she' may be a 'he' though :)
 

Michael231

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Hello!

I am sorry to hear your tortoise is not doing well. You mentioned your tortoise was anorexic coming out of brumation, however did the vet give any more insight as to why he/she thinks your tortoise was not eating? I'd bet its correlated to another issue (i.e. infection {bacterial,viral, parasitic worms}), which could be making your tortoise more lethargic. For now, I would say don't move him to the garden, and keep him in one place. Keep the terrarium a little warmer than usual, as this will induce a natural "fever" boosting the immune system. The cooler side benefits from being kept around 24-26 Celsius, and the warmer side should be around 32-34 Celsius.

In my experience working on sick tortoises in confiscations and in captivity, the sick ones tend to frequent one spot, and they don't like to move.

Let us know how everything goes and how your tortoise is doing as the treatment progresses.
 

Amie.M

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Hi Amar

What a lucky little tortoise to have been adopted by you, I do think 'she' may be a 'he' though :)
Thank you! I’m so glad I joined this forum, I’ve learned so much already, yes I believe she is a boy, but I’m used to calling him a her now :):)
 

Amie.M

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Hello!

I am sorry to hear your tortoise is not doing well. You mentioned your tortoise was anorexic coming out of brumation, however did the vet give any more insight as to why he/she thinks your tortoise was not eating? I'd bet its correlated to another issue (i.e. infection {bacterial,viral, parasitic worms}), which could be making your tortoise more lethargic. For now, I would say don't move him to the garden, and keep him in one place. Keep the terrarium a little warmer than usual, as this will induce a natural "fever" boosting the immune system. The cooler side benefits from being kept around 24-26 Celsius, and the warmer side should be around 32-34 Celsius.

In my experience working on sick tortoises in confiscations and in captivity, the sick ones tend to frequent one spot, and they don't like to move.

Let us know how everything goes and how your tortoise is doing as the treatment progresses.
Hi thank you for taking the time to read this thread. The history given to the vet was a bit vague. The people who brought him in had apparently rescued him from somewhere where he’d been neglected. He had come out of brumation and wasn’t eating. Bloods showed a low blood glucose and low albumin which may have been due to the lack of food. The lower beak had been trimmed too short so it was unclear if this was the reason as he physically couldn’t eat or if something else was going on. I have considered getting a faecal screen done for parasites to rule this out, since reading some other posts on here. He has ate properly once since I’ve had him, he was being tube fed up until that point because of the beak damage. I now know he can eat but he has tried a couple of times since and seems to struggle and then give up. Since eating last Friday, a good amount of weeds, he has only ate 2 small leaves. I have rearranged the table adding more substrate for him to bury in and he did come out of his hide and bask under the lamp for a couple of hours. I’ve also managed to up the temp by keeping the door shut to that room, the basking spot is now reaching 32-34 as it’s a really sunny room so it seems to make a big difference with the door shut. The cool part is is between 20-26 depending how much sun we have. I was wondering if that was too warm. He remains buried unless I get him out to soak. Sorry for the massive essay by the way! Do you think it would be better not to give him anytime outdoors? On hot days he seems to enjoy it and will sit in the sun for a while before going to hide. I also worry that if I don’t get him out to soak he may dehydrate, would you recommend doing the soaks daily or reducing it? Thanks in advance
 

Amie.M

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Your tortoises eyes look quite watery. Do you see any nasal discharge, any yawning or sneezing?
The eyes may look watery on the first picture because he had just woken up. They don’t seem to be watery. I haven’t heard any sneezing and the nose is clear. The only sound he makes is more like a hiss but that’s only if you approach him unexpectedly and he pulls his head in at the same time, does this sound normal? As for yawning I did think he looked like he yawned once or twice but it’s not been a constant thing, I actually said to my husband, do tortoises yawn. But haven’t noticed it recently. Is this something to be concerned about?
 

RosemaryDW

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A hissing sound is what happens when they are startled and pull in all of the limbs, it’s the escaping air. It’s normal.

Tortoises totally yawn.

As to the best steps for your tortoise from here I’m not competent enough to say; just letting you know some of what you’re describing is totally normal.
 

Amie.M

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2BCF7EB1-5F1F-4A66-AA47-3D2FDD9AFE3A.jpeg Update on Beau, good news!

Since Friday he has ate a small amount every day after having a warm soak. I can tell the beak is improving gradually as he is now ripping the food instead of just picking it up and swallowing it.

Following advice on getting the temp up to 32-34 has most certainly made a difference. It’s around 24 in the cool part. He doesn’t come out of his own accord yet but I think this will come in time.

Once out and fed he’s a lot more active. Today he is outside as it’s a lovely sunny day in the uk, and he’s wandering around the garden and even browsed and ate a few weeds! Luckily my garden has quite a few!! :p
 

Amie.M

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Update on rescue tortoise!
Beau is certainly a lot happier. He is eating... a lot! He has a variety of weeds and plants, dandelion is his favourite. His activity levels have increased massively, we have now had to extend the indoor tortoise table to accommodate this. He has been having access to outdoors, weather permitting and under supervision. We plan to build an outdoor enclosure ready for the spring. It is fast approaching autumn in the UK and although I don’t plan to hibernate him I know he had been hibernated previously. My questions are... If I keep temps up indoors will this be enough to stop his natural desire to hibernate?
Is this the right thing to do?
If he starts showing signs of slowing down, should I try to over winter him?
I’ve followed and valued all the advice on the forum so far, so I’m hoping someone can give it me some tips on this? Although his food intake has increased im not certain he’s gained enough to hibernate and I’m a bit nervous in case he tries!!
Thanks in advance everyone!
 

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Yvonne G

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It's always a good idea to not allow a new-to-you tortoise brumate the first year with you. Sometimes it's difficult to make a Russian stay awake, and in that case you have to allow them to brumate for two or three weeks, then wake them up to bright, long, sun-shiny make believe summer days.

For now, don't allow him to see out a window that the days are getting shorter, make sure his climate is summer-like, day and night.
 

Amie.M

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:)Thank you, I will give this a try. He is currently active most of the day. He wakes up when his a light has been on for an hour or so. He used to bury himself all the time when we first had him but doesn’t do this at all anymore, not even overnight. If he does go and bury himself would this be likely that he is trying to hibernate?
 

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