Diet question.

[beccayauyau]

My two year old russian tortoise's eyes have recently started to get red and puffy and she always rubs them whilst she is walking. Is this something to do with her diet and her calcium intake? I have tried feeding her cuttlebone but she hates it so much that she just won't eat her food with it on it.

Her diet consists of romaine lettuce, raddish leaves, roses, dandelion weeds and dried pellet food. I find it hard to get a wide variety in my local supermarkets. What other kinds of greens can i feed her to help her diet? Will having a good variety help her eyes?

Please help!!!

Thank you!!

 

[Laura]

might be the light bulb you are using.. Coil? stop using it.
Or her substrate is irratating.
Diet... Spring Mix or another similar mixed salad in a bag are good..

 

[Redstrike]

I'm with Laura on this, it sounds more like a lighting or substrate issue and less like a diet issue, though we could be mistaken. Could you tell us what your using for lighting, substrate, and a general diet? Have you made any changes to either lighting or substrate recently (new brands/types)? Try giving it a soak in baby food (carrots, squash, or sweet potato - something with a good amount of Vit. A)

The other option - now don't flip out - is it could be an upper respiratory issue developing. I think I'd keep this on the back burner until we get some more info on your lights and substrate, this just seems less likely. Sometimes these things are manifested via eye symptoms, but not always.

Fill us in! If it's getting really bad and you haven't made any changes to your enclosure, perhaps a vet visit would be in order? If your vet suspects a Vitamin A deficiency, start with the soaks (above) first for a few days (15-20 minutes each time), I've heard some ugly things about Vit. A injections on here, though I'm not a qualified veterinarian and probably shouldn't recommend one way or the other. I'd just be cautious of any vitamin injections.

 

[Madkins007]

Probably not calcium intake by itself, and is most likely light or dust, but the diet is not real solid.

You may want to invest in some calcium powder and some multivitamins with minerals (I just crush human tablets) and offer a pinch of the calcium every 2-3 meals, and a pinch of the vitamins 1-2 times a week. Vitamins are an insurance policy and can help make sure the tort gets all the vitamins and nutrients it needs as you continue to prefect the diet. It is possibly (but unlikely) a vitamin A problem and this would help although there are other things we can suggest if it actually is, like feeding more orange veggies.

 

[Yvonne G]

Lots of dark, leafy greens are high in vitamin A. (vitamin A deficiency sometimes shown as eye problems)

Here's a nice site to bookmark. You can put in what type of food you want information on and it gives you the nutrition content:

http://www.healthaliciousness.com/n...php?o=11233&t=11568&h=11270&s=100&e=100&r=100

 

[cherylim]

Regarding the cuttlefish, rather than putting it on her food have you ever tried just putting a full one in her enclosure? I don't put any calcium supplements on to Emrys' food, but he has a cuttlefish in his enclosure - he just eats it in his own time.