Fire ant attacked 4 yr leopard tortoise

[jeannettep]

Wed my 4 yr old leopard tortoise was attacked by fire ants. I pulled her out immediately started wiping her off, soaked her, made extra sure they were all off. Some on her eyes. The stress gave her runny nose so I put some vet rx on her. That night she started to swell. Soaked her again & she ate a couple bites & poo. Thurs am soak, she was so swollen she was hard, not opening her eyes. Afternoon soak, swelling down, eyes opened, ate. Today, swelling almost gone, not opening her eyes, not eating, no poo. Added some pedialyte to her water sprinkled some probiotics on her food. I guess I'm on a wait and see if she can pull through. Any ideas? Thanks

 

[wellington]

So very sorry. I don't deal with fire ants. Maybe @Yvonne G has had to deal with them in her past rescues, I don't know
I would just keep her warm, enclosure 85 day and night. Soak daily and keep close eye on her.
Good luck keep us posted.
@Tom might be able to help too.

 

[Anastasia 22]

Wed my 4 yr old leopard tortoise was attacked by fire ants. I pulled her out immediately started wiping her off, soaked her, made extra sure they were all off. Some on her eyes. The stress gave her runny nose so I put some vet rx on her. That night she started to swell. Soaked her again & she ate a couple bites & poo. Thurs am soak, she was so swollen she was hard, not opening her eyes. Afternoon soak, swelling down, eyes opened, ate. Today, swelling almost gone, not opening her eyes, not eating, no poo. Added some pedialyte to her water sprinkled some probiotics on her food. I guess I'm on a wait and see if she can pull through. Any ideas? Thanks

Hello. Really sorry to hear what happened to your tortoise.
I have a bad allergy for the fire ants and I have the same reaction as your tortoise has (plus fever). Do you see any accumulation of pus on her body? Usually it looks like a bump with fluid on top of it. I wonder if experts here would recommend to remove it and disinfect it. I know it works for people but have no idea if it works for tortoises.

 

[wellington]

Hello. Really sorry to hear what happened to your tortoise.
I have a bad allergy for the fire ants and I have the same reaction as your tortoise has (plus fever). Do you see any accumulation of pus on her body? Usually it looks like a bump with fluid on top of it. I wonder if experts here would recommend to remove it and disinfect it. I know it works for people but have no idea if it works for tortoises.

Remove what? A bump that may have puss?
I wouldn't remove anything but an antibiotic cream could be put on any sores or bumps, after first washing any puss or dirt away.

 

[jeannettep]

Hello. Really sorry to hear what happened to your tortoise.
I have a bad allergy for the fire ants and I have the same reaction as your tortoise has (plus fever). Do you see any accumulation of pus on her body? Usually it looks like a bump with fluid on top of it. I wonder if experts here would recommend to remove it and disinfect it. I know it works for people but have no idea if it works for tortoises.

I'm so sorry, my grandmother was very allergic. We always put fingernail polish remover w/acetone on the bites asap. She would still flare up, but not as bad. If I get a dab on mine, they don't even get red. I don't see any pockets on her yet, except her eye lids are swollen. Her back legs are swollen still but not hard. I did not put fingernail polish remover on her. Her front legs are back to normal. I had been keeping a close eye open for fire ants, they go crazy right before the 1st cold front. We had some bulldozer work done in the pasture last week, I wish I had put up perimeter bait. It never crossed my mind til we've been overrun.

 

[Anastasia 22]

Remove what? A bump that may have puss?
I wouldn't remove anything but an antibiotic cream could be put on any sores or bumps, after first washing any puss or dirt away.

Not the bump but the head of the bump. The postule accumulates pus and liquid. The doctor told me to remove it and disinfect it with alcohol. Again, I don't know how it works on animals.

 

[Blackdog1714]

you could do a carrot juice soak to help as well

 

[Megatron's Mom]

Yikes, I'm so sorry your poor baby is feeling like poop right now.
Fire ants suck. I would call a reptile vet or find the group called Only Vets on FB and see if Benadryl is safe for tortoises. Maybe calamine lotion to help is the pain and itchiness. Heck I would even try manuka honey if you have it.

 

[jeannettep]

you could do a carrot juice soak to help as well

That's a good idea. I'll do that in the morning. Thanks

 

[jeannettep]

Yikes, I'm so sorry your poor baby is feeling like poop right now.
Fire ants suck. I would call a reptile vet or find the a called Only Vets FB group and see if Benadryl is safe for tortoises. Maybe calamine lotion to help is the pain and itchiness. Heck I would even try manuka honey if you have it.

I reach out to them. Thanks.

 

[Megatron's Mom]

I reach out to them. Thanks.

Keep us posted please. It would be very helpful to others too.

 

[Tom]

Long and frequent warm soaks to flush the venom and keep the tortoise hydrated should help.

Check with a good reptile vet to see if antihistamines would work.

 

[jeannettep]

Long and frequent warm soaks to flush the venom and keep the tortoise hydrated should help.

Check with a good reptile vet to see if antihistamines would work.

Thanks Tom

 

[jeannettep]

Keep us posted please. It would be very helpful to others too.

Will do cause I read a lot from previous posts about fire ants to kill them, but didn't find much on recovery.

 

[Ink]

I'm sorry this happened to your tortoise. Fire ants are horrible. I couldn't save my tortoise. It sounds like you are doing a great job.

 

[Tom]

Will do cause I read a lot from previous posts about fire ants to kill them, but didn't find much on recovery.

Recovery can take months. Keep up those soaks for a long time.

 

[jeannettep]

Recovery can take months. Keep up those soaks for a long time.

Thank you Tom. That is good to know! I'm trying not to bother her too much, but doing a lot of long warm soaks. But she is opening 1 eye now & wanted a head scratch. Hopefully tomorrow she will eat some mazuri or something on her dish & get the other end going.

 

[jeannettep]

I wanted to give an update. Halfpint seems so much better. I had started wiping Manuka Honey on her. She must have liked it because she stretched out for me to rub her & scratch her head. After a very long soak with some pedialyte, she dirtied her water, she loves mazuri, rose petals, cactus pads, carrot, etc. I've been chopping small so she didn't need much effort. She ate abt a tablespoon. I've been using vetrx & her runny nose is almost gone. I put a camera on her that alerts me to movement. Yesterday afternoon it started going off with her walking around some. This morning she's very active exploring her new accommodations. I wanted everyone to know the improvements.

 

[Ink]

That is great news.

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

Glad to hear!