1st vet visit (terrifying)

Cleopatra 2020

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I thought I would throw this post out there to get some feedback about the do's and don'ts of that visits I already got a few pointers from one of you but I would just like any and all advice that anyone that has experienced this or gone through this can give me some pointers as far as what to allow and not to allow my 6 month old leopard tortoise has been slowly swelling up more and more so I've decided it was best to get her looked at I was referred to a experienced herpa vet as it turns out he's retired and only helps out once in awhile so he referred me to the clinic which the vet I'm seeing has only been out of school 5 years so being she's new and fresh is good but I'm a little worried on the experience side....any advice?
 

Minority2

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Tortoise Hell
I thought I would throw this post out there to get some feedback about the do's and don'ts of that visits I already got a few pointers from one of you but I would just like any and all advice that anyone that has experienced this or gone through this can give me some pointers as far as what to allow and not to allow my 6 month old leopard tortoise has been slowly swelling up more and more so I've decided it was best to get her looked at I was referred to a experienced herpa vet as it turns out he's retired and only helps out once in awhile so he referred me to the clinic which the vet I'm seeing has only been out of school 5 years so being she's new and fresh is good but I'm a little worried on the experience side....any advice?

Only 5 years is not good unless that recent veterinarian trained directly under the retired and experience reptile vet. Then again, this younger vet may know their stuff; you never know.

What I do know is that there aren't too many new or ongoing studies on tortoise health. Veteranarians are most likely still using data from decades ago. You might wanna double check everything before you agree any procedures, especially injections.

Are there any other choices besides the younger vet? Is there another experience, recommended reptile vet close enough for you to visit instead?
 

Pastel Tortie

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Ask if the younger veterinarian is a member of the Association of Reptilian and Amphibian Veterinarians (ARAV). It isn't a requirement, but ARAV membership would be somewhat more reassuring. Even more so if the veterinarian regularly attends ARAV conferences and similar events.

My herp vet is still reasonably young, but she KNOWS her stuff. I took my box turtle in early on for a meet and greet (well, somebody had to test the waters). I was pretty sure my young boxie was female, but I played ignorant. I left the gender off the paperwork and played dumb with the receptionist. My herp vet didn't miss a beat. She explained in detail and pointed out the three criteria she uses to determine gender in a box turtle, and she articulated where my turtle stood on each of the criteria. Nailed it. We were planning to get a bearded dragon in a few months, so I asked her about diseases transmissible between reptiles. I was listening for the word adenovirus, and she did one better: atadenovirus. She goes to the conferences and keeps up with the latest. I hear it in both her vocabulary and her thought process.

So young in a veterinarian (or human doctor) isn't necessarily a bad thing. Regardless of the age of the medical or veterinary professional, I like to have a few "dumb" questions that I've already researched and am pretty sure I know the answers to... or at least the main points a decent answer should address.

The ones who get to know me well realize quickly that my dumb questions aren't really dumb... They're loaded.
 

Cleopatra 2020

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El Mirage. Az
Only 5 years is not good unless that recent veterinarian trained directly under the retired and experience reptile vet. Then again, this younger vet may know their stuff; you never know.

What I do know is that there aren't too many new or ongoing studies on tortoise health. Veteranarians are most likely still using data from decades ago. You might wanna double check everything before you agree any procedures, especially injections.

Are there any other choices besides the younger vet? Is there another experience, recommended reptile vet close enough for you to visit instead?
I'm looking into that right now.... probably not but worth a shot..... I only went with this place because it was recommended by the guy that I originally wanted to see so I don't know what choice I have they claim he helps out there still so my next question or thought would be why doesn't eat schedule a day that he can come look at my turtle unless it's just really extreme instances where they call upon the old guy.... my exotic vet is in her 60s or 70s but she doesn't deal with tortoises very much as far as I gather but I got to figure out something before Friday or just go see her anyway I looked her up online and read some of her experience she supposedly has a lot of reptile experience she even owns a couple of iguanas or bearded dragons or something like that.... my tortoise is my baby after losing after losing our last leopard hatchling Cleo back in March from hatchling failure syndrome we got this one online a few weeks later from a reputable breeder that doesn't dry start theirs ....anyway I thought I was doing everything perfect for her temperatures humidity diet eats daily she eats like a pig every day she poops every day she basks on her tile I even took her lights away for a while and that didn't even make the swelling go away so now I'm stuck having to take her in which is scary for me cuz I don't trust doctors...??
 

Minority2

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Tortoise Hell
I'm looking into that right now.... probably not but worth a shot..... I only went with this place because it was recommended by the guy that I originally wanted to see so I don't know what choice I have they claim he helps out there still so my next question or thought would be why doesn't eat schedule a day that he can come look at my turtle unless it's just really extreme instances where they call upon the old guy.... my exotic vet is in her 60s or 70s but she doesn't deal with tortoises very much as far as I gather but I got to figure out something before Friday or just go see her anyway I looked her up online and read some of her experience she supposedly has a lot of reptile experience she even owns a couple of iguanas or bearded dragons or something like that.... my tortoise is my baby after losing after losing our last leopard hatchling Cleo back in March from hatchling failure syndrome we got this one online a few weeks later from a reputable breeder that doesn't dry start theirs ....anyway I thought I was doing everything perfect for her temperatures humidity diet eats daily she eats like a pig every day she poops every day she basks on her tile I even took her lights away for a while and that didn't even make the swelling go away so now I'm stuck having to take her in which is scary for me cuz I don't trust doctors...??

One of the episodes during the first season of a show on the Animal Planet channel called "Scaled" featured a veterinarian with an adult Russian tortoise in need of a bigger enclosure. The custom builders created a 4ft x 2ft custom coffee table for her to house the adult Russian tortoise in. They made to clutter the hell out of the enclosure and add all the wrong things inside it. The vet practically ate it up. Sure veterinarians have a good idea about the tortoise's anatomy but most of them know crap all about what it takes to give tortoises a healthy and safe environment to live in. I'm still mad thinking back about that. Neither the builders nor the vet got anything right and the show's only 2 years old.

I don't trust veterinarians and doctors neither.

But if you think it's seriously you gotta do what you gotta do. And if you're unsure of something involving tortoise care, keep asking questions. Someone in the forum is going to help steer you into the right direction.
 

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