3 legged CDT

[Levi the Leopard]

4 months ago an adult CDT was turned into my CTTC chapter. The owners were babysitting a Pitt Bull and the dog ate the front leg off their pet CDT. The dogs owner wouldn't pay for the damages so the owners surrendered him to us.
We took him to the vet for surgery and he's been recovering.
He only has a small stump left of his front left leg.
After spending some time with him, I have fallen in love with him. He is pretty beat up, lots of missing scales, ripped up skin (no open wounds) and some bubbles in the nose. But that doesn't dampen this old guy's personality one bit!

My boys get to name all the torts. They chose the name Luke Skywalker for him because of the cut off arm...silly star wars fans. I wanted a different name but being the only girl, I was over ruled!

He manages to hobble around ok but my husband is looking into "wheel" options. We do plan to give him some time to settle in before trying something like that.

Here he is. any of you CDT experts have tips for me?

I'm pretty sure he is a he. I used Yvonne's sexing thread to determine that since I'm new to these guys.

 

[T33's Torts]

Are you going to eventually rehome him?

 

[diamondbp]

I see the hope in his eyes. Best of luck with him!

 

[Yvonne G]

Please, please, PLEASE!!!!! Continue the antibiotics until you've used it all according to the vet's requirement. Even though the tortoise seems ok, continue to use them until gone.

We had Mildred, same story as your story. We put a furniture slide under that side on her plastron. She seemed to be doing just fine and all of a sudden she just upped and died. The only thing I can figure is there was rampant infection running through her body from the injury, infection that didn't have any outward symptoms.

 

[bouaboua]

God bless your heart and this old fellow. Also your husband which I believes must be a geniuses man. The thread like this, just made my day.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

Yvonne, he is no longer on antibiotics. The vet gave him the ok to go after these 4 months of recovery. How long was Mildred on antibiotics?

 

[kathyth]

He is a cutie Heather! I'm so glad Luke Skywalker is in your home. That is so cool!

In appearance only, he looks like my sisters 2 . CDT boys and unlike my girl. This probably means nothing.
He looks like a Luke to me!
See you at the Chino meeting!

 

[wellington]

Heather you have a great heart. So glad you have the room too to take in this "needs a little more care then usual" handsome fella.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

I definitely have the room for him
I have been meaning to measure out my property, cuz I'm curious... I'm a corner property so I get that extra space.

 

[lynnedit]

He's wonderful and so are you.

I have also heard of more than one tortoise doing well with a 'door bumper', especially if it is round so the shell is off of the ground.
Something like this but in brown:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002KFZVH0/?tag=exoticpetnetw-20

 

[Levi the Leopard]

Thanks for that idea Lynne! We are looking at all the different possibilities
He is a special guy who already has a special place in all our hearts

 

[ascott]

Also looks as though there is some damage to the nostrils? Or is that simply the picture?

I would be interested in a pic of the plastron as well as a shot of the tail...

 

[Levi the Leopard]

Angela, he has damage all over. I'll get some pics up for your thoughts.

 

[Yvonne G]

For Mildred, we put a furniture slide under that part of her leg, on the plastron. When we saw that one slide still didn't raise her up high enough, we added another on top of that one. They are peel and stick, and they stick pretty good. It enabled her to motate all over the pen without plowing down into the grass.

http://www.staples.com/Mighty-Mite-...8&srccode=cii_17588969&cpncode=35-153114710-2

 

[compassrose26]

http://m.cnet.com/news/tortoise-gets-lego-wheel-prosthetic-for-missing-leg/57611760?ds=1

 

[Yvonne G]

If you do use a wheel, you have to get a multi-directional wheel. If it only goes forward and backwards, the tortoise has a hard time turning.

 

[Levi the Leopard]

Furniture slide is in our consideration, too! Thanks

Yes we saw the Lego wheel! We've just about googled all the tortoise wheel/leg info out there

 

[compassrose26]

Re: RE: 3 legged CDT

Furniture slide is in our consideration, too! Thanks

Yes we saw the Lego wheel! We've just about googled all the tortoise wheel/leg info out there

I love reading about these things. It's always nice to see a happy ending

 

[Levi the Leopard]

Yvonne, do you happen to have any photos of Mildred with the furniture slide on?

---

We saw the Sulcata with a swivel wheel so changing directions wasn't a problem. I think the toughest thing to consider is attaching the wheel or slide. We want it to stay put but not be impossible to remove it should we need to. I also need to figure out the right height for him.
My husband is toying with the idea of making a permanent base that can have interchangeable "wheel/slide" attachments. But we will see.. Still lots more research to do.

I'll get some more photos of him today. You guys can confirm it is a him (I'm pretty sure) and see the rest of his damage. Maybe you'll have an idea of what caused some of it.

 

[Yvonne G]

I don't think so, but Maggie might. I'll send her an email.