Aldabra leg problem

[Zach B]

Hello,
I have a six-year-old Aldabra It has started walking strangely. He has always been healthy and had a great appetite, still does in fact but I have noticed he is walking strangely.
He almost seems to limp on his left rear leg, Every time he attempts to put weight on it he drops onto his shell and scoots with the leg stretched out behind. As I said he’s been healthy otherwise. I’m going to make an appointment with an exotic pet vet, just wondering if anyone has any experience with similar issues.

Thanks,
Zach

 

[wellington]

Possibly @Yvonne G. She had an Aldabra with walking issues. I believe it was a vitamin A deficiency but wait for her too confirm.

 

[Tom]

Hello,
I have a six-year-old Aldabra It has started walking strangely. He has always been healthy and had a great appetite, still does in fact but I have noticed he is walking strangely.
He almost seems to limp on his left rear leg, Every time he attempts to put weight on it he drops onto his shell and scoots with the leg stretched out behind. As I said he’s been healthy otherwise. I’m going to make an appointment with an exotic pet vet, just wondering if anyone has any experience with similar issues.

Thanks,
Zach

While waiting for Yvonne to chime in, what size tortoise is it? They grow at wildly different rates, so the age doesn't tell us much.

What to do you feed it?

Where are you?

What size is the enclosure? Any hills in the enclosure?

 

[Zach B]

While waiting for Yvonne to chime in, what size tortoise is it? They grow at wildly different rates, so the age doesn't tell us much.

What to do you feed it?

Where are you?

What size is the enclosure? Any hills in the enclosure?

While waiting for Yvonne to chime in, what size tortoise is it? They grow at wildly different rates, so the age doesn't tell us much.

What to do you feed it?

Where are you?

What size is the enclosure? Any hills in the enclosure?

Yes sorry, I guess more detail would help.
I am in Phoenix, AZ. I actually have two Aldabs in the enclosure, both 6 years old. It’s been a while since I’ve weighed them but I’m sure they are over 100lbs.
They live in an enclosure that measures about 100 feet by 75 feet. The enclosure has grass growing and a low hill.

In addition to grazing, I give a mix of dandelion, assorted greens, yellow squash, carrots, occasional fruit and random leftover produce from our home each day. I supplement weekly with Reptivite multivitamin and calcium.
They have grown well and been healthy until now. And I’ve never seen any aggression between them.

I’ve attached two pics with the leg extended behind him.

Thanks,
Zach

 

[Tom]

I can only guess based on the info given, but a couple of possibilities to consider are that the diet is too rich for them, and your climate too dry for this species. Their size makes it difficult to soak them, so I suspect either constipation, or possibly a large urate stone has formed. X-ray will confirm or deny these two possibilities.

The other possibility is that it has somehow injured itself. Again, x-ray can help take a look at the joints and the leg bones and may help to discover the problem, unless it is a soft tissue injury.

I would stop the carrots and fruit entirely, and cut way back on the grocery store greens in favor of more weeds, grass, leaves, spineless opuntia, and orchard or Bermuda grass hay as the main staple. Lots of mulberry trees in and around phoenix. Grape vines will grow there too. Great climate for growing opuntia.

 

[Yvonne G]

It sounds like what happened to my male Manouria emys phayrei. @Kapidolo Farms made a thread about it. Do a search for Darth and surgery. I believe he put up the X-ray too.

In a nutshell, the ball at the hip joint came out of the socket and as there hadn't been much success in putting it back in with canines (no record of tortoise), the vet opted for doing the same surgery they do on dogs, that is, they cut off the ball.

I can't explain the science behind it, but it was successful and Darth is as active as prior to the surgery.

 

[Kapidolo Farms]

As Yvonne mentioned https://tortoiseforum.org/threads/case-file-on-darth.116347/

Hello,
I have a six-year-old Aldabra It has started walking strangely. He has always been healthy and had a great appetite, still does in fact but I have noticed he is walking strangely.
He almost seems to limp on his left rear leg, Every time he attempts to put weight on it he drops onto his shell and scoots with the leg stretched out behind. As I said he’s been healthy otherwise. I’m going to make an appointment with an exotic pet vet, just wondering if anyone has any experience with similar issues.

Thanks,
Zach

 

[Zach B]

Hello everyone,
Thank you for your responses and I thought I’d give you an update on my Aldab. I know it’s been a few months but as with most things in the tort world, life moves slowly. I took him to an exotic vet who specializes in torts. They kept him overnight with complete blood work, urine and X-rays.
Although there was no evidence of fracture or dislocation and no significant constipation they suspected he had an injury based on the appearance of the limping. They also suggested a change in diet.
I was prescribed an injectable NSAID And he completed the three week course. I also eliminated most fruits and vegetables and have been feeding orchard grass and Timothy hay in addition to the daily grazing he does on our lawn. We reseeded our lawn with a tortoise seed mixture to hopefully improve his diet as well.
After about a month he stopped limping, he now seems to have no problems at all and he’s cruising around like he used to. I don’t like not knowing exactly what the cause was, but happy that he is back to normal.
Thanks to everyone once again for your suggestions, what a great community!

 

[Tom]

Hello everyone,
Thank you for your responses and I thought I’d give you an update on my Aldab. I know it’s been a few months but as with most things in the tort world, life moves slowly. I took him to an exotic vet who specializes in torts. They kept him overnight with complete blood work, urine and X-rays.
Although there was no evidence of fracture or dislocation and no significant constipation they suspected he had an injury based on the appearance of the limping. They also suggested a change in diet.
I was prescribed an injectable NSAID And he completed the three week course. I also eliminated most fruits and vegetables and have been feeding orchard grass and Timothy hay in addition to the daily grazing he does on our lawn. We reseeded our lawn with a tortoise seed mixture to hopefully improve his diet as well.
After about a month he stopped limping, he now seems to have no problems at all and he’s cruising around like he used to. I don’t like not knowing exactly what the cause was, but happy that he is back to normal.
Thanks to everyone once again for your suggestions, what a great community!

Thanks for the update and the great news.

 

[Sterant]

Yes thanks for the update. Glad it worked out. Beautiful animals you have!