Box turtle not using his back legs?!

ShellDon'sMom

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Sheldon hadn’t eaten in two days, we thought he might have decided to hibernate. ( he's been burrowed/hiding the last few days)
He was alert and looking around so I decided to give him a soak today, and when he got out of his pool I noticed he wasn’t using his back legs.
He was just pulling himself along with the front ones. Should I be concerned?
 

Yvonne G

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Yes, you should. The most common cause is some sort of pressure on the nerves back there. . . constipation, impaction, egg bound, etc. It would be a good idea to get an x-ray. In the meantime place him in a container he can't climb out of and soak him in warm water for a long time.
 

wellington

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What size enclosure is he in? I rescued a leopard that couldn't use his back legs. Would pull himself along with only his front. It was all due to an enclosure that was way to small for him to get enough exercise to build up strength and muscle. I did hydrotherapy on him and now he is faster the my other torta and walks on all 4.
A 4x8 foot enclosure is the minimum for all small tortoises and box turtles and they really need more. Think about all the room they travel in the wild. They have to be able to build strength and muscle.
So consider this too along with Yvonnes suggestions.
 

ShellDon'sMom

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Yes, you should. The most common cause is some sort of pressure on the nerves back there. . . constipation, impaction, egg bound, etc. It would be a good idea to get an x-ray. In the meantime place him in a container he can't climb out of and soak him in warm water for a long time.
Hello It's been a while.. wanted to circle back on this & hopefully get some advice. Last I posted Sheldon wasn't using his back legs, we took him to the vet and he let us know Sheldon was impacted by the substrate & malnourished. (we adopted him last December, so he was not in the best care before we got him) After the vet cleared out the blockage, he suggested that we replace the substrate with a reptile mat, which we did, but I wondering if there is something I could put in his encasement that would allow him to burrow, but that would be safe for him.
 
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