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I'm not familiar with that name.
The few I checked out claimed to be turtle and tortoise rescues
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The few I checked out claimed to be turtle and tortoise rescues
thank you. what are the names of those? I’ve been having trouble finding them
@ZEROPILOT - are the rescues you know of truly bad/fraudulent (like they will euthanize rather than try to help unless its a quick buck) or are they just people who do "turnover" but call themselves a rescue? I kind of think ANYONE willing to take this guy other than to euthanize him would be better than the situation he is in now. (and yeah, not sure that euthanasia isn't in his future anyway).
@agggie - keep looking even if outside your area. Try to find ANYONE who knows proper care of sulcatas who might try to save him... that guy is kind of like when you see a malnourished dog that is basically a walking skeleton - that's the condition he is in. Hopefully the vet will tell your parents that.
Try posting on the Adoptions thread (https://tortoiseforum.org/forums/adoptions.12/), and/or making a new thread here called "Need help with Sulcata in the Miami area" (or maybe rename this thread so you get more eyeballs). Be SURE to post photos (tho I think that is hard to do on the adoptions tab), that you are in Miami, and that you are looking for anyone here who can try to help him...
My heart breaks for him...
@agggie - keep looking even if outside your area. Try to find ANYONE who knows proper care of sulcatas who might try to save him... that guy is kind of like when you see a malnourished dog that is basically a walking skeleton - that's the condition he is in. Hopefully the vet will tell your parents that.
Try posting on the Adoptions thread (https://tortoiseforum.org/forums/adoptions.12/), and/or making a new thread here called "Need help with Sulcata in the Miami area" (or maybe rename this thread so you get more eyeballs). Be SURE to post photos (tho I think that is hard to do on the adoptions tab), that you are in Miami, and that you are looking for anyone here who can try to help him...
My heart breaks for him...
- Joined
- Jul 16, 2014
- Messages
- 29,128
- Location (City and/or State)
- South Eastern Florida (U.S.A.)/Rock Hill S.C.
SOUTH FLORIDA REPTILE RESCUE is on FACEBOOK.
I'm hopeful that if you post on there, you can find someone with Sulcata experience and enough care to take him in.
I actually didn't see the guy that runs (ran) the fake rescue I'm most familiar with down in Miami. He either stopped his game or just changed the name of his business. He briefly joined this forum a few years ago and then left after I challenged him to prove that he wasn't just reselling animals. (And hadn't previously attempted to sell some very sick Redfoot to me)
I'm sorry I'm not better set up to take in your tortoise. Even just temporary.
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yes, please do...
Hi all, it’s been a busy past few days, over which I’ve had hours of conversations with my dad about Freddy’s care. My dad is finally learning, and the vet’s input certainly helped. We took him to the vet for an emergency visit on Monday morning. The vet explained that his horrible shell shape is due to malnutrition. My parents only fed him romaine lettuce growing up before he was big enough to graze outside on the grass and weeds.
I grew up with this tortoise and just trusted my parents did their research. They did do some research, but it obviously was severely lacking. I don’t know who or what source told them it would be okay to only feed romaine lettuce.
A problem was revealed at the vet. His shell was preventing his right leg from moving, and it was swollen. 6 years ago, his shell was cutting in his right leg so my parents took him to the vet (this was his last vet visit). The vet cut off a part of the shell. But as the shell continued growing, it started to constrain his leg. My mom thought the vet said that his leg would never be the same, but that vet had said to my recollection that his shell would never be the same. So seeing him walking and his leg stretched out always, she thought it was ok. And my dad didn’t notice the leg. I visited my parents very little as an adult, so I wasn’t there looking at Freddy or noticing how they cared for him. Anyways, the vet noticed the leg immediately and my dad was horrified and got extremely worried. The shell was remolded and Freddy is recovering. His bloodwork and x-ray came out ok. He ate yesterday and today. He walked a lot yesterday considering everything, but today he walked only a few feet and didn’t graze. We woke him up and made sure he walked a good distance to a pile of food. Here are some videos: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-HoHzFBrLhZp6D8RXXSKt0otUvFtGB7h It seems like his stride is uneven but that is understable given what he has gone through. We were planning on emailing these videos to the vet to make sure he is walking good.
The vet visit really has made my dad come to his senses and has taught him a lot, along with the uncomfortable necessary conversations I had with him. He now understands lethargy isn’t okay, he needs to monitor temperatures, he needs to make sure Freddy is getting the correct nutrients, and he has a lot of learning to do. I wish he listened to me initially, but the important thing is that he is listening and understanding now. He promised to do more research on sulcatas and I will hold him to it. He promised to bring Freddy to the vet every year. I pointed him toward this forum as a resource and he has been reading. I am going to be checking in very often once I’m gone. I’m here for a few more weeks.
(My mother and I aren’t talking right now due to an argument, but this is a patriarchal household unfortunately, so as long as I am getting through to my dad it will be ok.)
A review on the Broward Avian and Exotics Vet: our experience was overall good, but I have a few criticisms. I brought a fecal sample and they just didn’t do it even though I asked, so unfortunately I will have to drive all the way back up there. I also wish that they did a better job at talking to my dad about care. The vet said “so tell me about this shell,” to me but didn’t actually initially state it was bad though it was implied she was worried. I had initially asked if we could talk about care, but I really had to guide the vet conversationally so that my dad would understand that the shell was in really bad shape and that it was due to his own actions. In the home care sheet, the vet recommended: “I recommend offering timothy hay (Oxbow Timothy stacks is an ideal product), grazing and leafy greens such as different lettuces, red and orange vegetables such as peppers and carrots.” I think it would have been important to mention that peppers are sugary, and those fruits & veggies should only take up 10% of the diet, and to be careful with greens that are high in oxalates.
Thank you so much for your support through all this. <3 I really really appreciate you all. <3
I grew up with this tortoise and just trusted my parents did their research. They did do some research, but it obviously was severely lacking. I don’t know who or what source told them it would be okay to only feed romaine lettuce.
A problem was revealed at the vet. His shell was preventing his right leg from moving, and it was swollen. 6 years ago, his shell was cutting in his right leg so my parents took him to the vet (this was his last vet visit). The vet cut off a part of the shell. But as the shell continued growing, it started to constrain his leg. My mom thought the vet said that his leg would never be the same, but that vet had said to my recollection that his shell would never be the same. So seeing him walking and his leg stretched out always, she thought it was ok. And my dad didn’t notice the leg. I visited my parents very little as an adult, so I wasn’t there looking at Freddy or noticing how they cared for him. Anyways, the vet noticed the leg immediately and my dad was horrified and got extremely worried. The shell was remolded and Freddy is recovering. His bloodwork and x-ray came out ok. He ate yesterday and today. He walked a lot yesterday considering everything, but today he walked only a few feet and didn’t graze. We woke him up and made sure he walked a good distance to a pile of food. Here are some videos: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-HoHzFBrLhZp6D8RXXSKt0otUvFtGB7h It seems like his stride is uneven but that is understable given what he has gone through. We were planning on emailing these videos to the vet to make sure he is walking good.
The vet visit really has made my dad come to his senses and has taught him a lot, along with the uncomfortable necessary conversations I had with him. He now understands lethargy isn’t okay, he needs to monitor temperatures, he needs to make sure Freddy is getting the correct nutrients, and he has a lot of learning to do. I wish he listened to me initially, but the important thing is that he is listening and understanding now. He promised to do more research on sulcatas and I will hold him to it. He promised to bring Freddy to the vet every year. I pointed him toward this forum as a resource and he has been reading. I am going to be checking in very often once I’m gone. I’m here for a few more weeks.
(My mother and I aren’t talking right now due to an argument, but this is a patriarchal household unfortunately, so as long as I am getting through to my dad it will be ok.)
A review on the Broward Avian and Exotics Vet: our experience was overall good, but I have a few criticisms. I brought a fecal sample and they just didn’t do it even though I asked, so unfortunately I will have to drive all the way back up there. I also wish that they did a better job at talking to my dad about care. The vet said “so tell me about this shell,” to me but didn’t actually initially state it was bad though it was implied she was worried. I had initially asked if we could talk about care, but I really had to guide the vet conversationally so that my dad would understand that the shell was in really bad shape and that it was due to his own actions. In the home care sheet, the vet recommended: “I recommend offering timothy hay (Oxbow Timothy stacks is an ideal product), grazing and leafy greens such as different lettuces, red and orange vegetables such as peppers and carrots.” I think it would have been important to mention that peppers are sugary, and those fruits & veggies should only take up 10% of the diet, and to be careful with greens that are high in oxalates.
Thank you so much for your support through all this. <3 I really really appreciate you all. <3
Sounds like you are doing a good job with an uphill battle to climb. I don't know how technology-savvy your dad is, you may want to just print this out and give it to him:
tortoiseforum.org
so he doesn't end up going down the rabbit hole of bad youtube videos...
Info For New People. Please Read This First.
Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...
tortoiseforum.org
so he doesn't end up going down the rabbit hole of bad youtube videos...
good idea! thank youSounds like you are doing a good job with an uphill battle to climb. I don't know how technology-savvy your dad is, you may want to just print this out and give it to him:
Info For New People. Please Read This First.
Hello and welcome to tortoiseforum.org! We are all glad you are here! There is no other forum like this anywhere. We have tens of thousands of members from all over the world ranging from kids with their first tortoise to people who have been breeding and keeping high end tortoises since the...
so he doesn't end up going down the rabbit hole of bad youtube videos...
I could not continue to watch the videos of this staggeringly tragic creature. I cannot stay on in this thread. Your efforts are sincere, so I wish you and this amazing tortoise the best of luck in the quickest possible time. Whatever happens needs to happen very quickly.
I do suggest you try to find a rescue for him, those videos are really... not good.
Keep us updated but the videos are rough
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