First post needing assistance

[chicagojohn]

Hi everyone,

I live in a suburb of Chicago. We have been caring for a Testudo ibera that we raised from a 19 gm hatchling. He is now about 18 years old.

I am going to look for the health questions section of the forum. We have a problem and I will post a picture of it there -- his rear scute appears to be growing into and cutting off his tail. He is still able to defecate perfectly and urinate and expel urates, but when you see the pictures you will see why we are concerned.

We are taking him to a vet tomorrow and are hoping to avoid surgery. If anyone has experience with this, I would very much hearing your thoughts. I will post a picture or reference to one in my Flickr account.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi John:

Welcome to the Tortoise Forum!!

I see this quite a lot, especially with sulcata tortoises. I really don't know why it happens, but I THINK its due to diet and sunshine. I don't know how to fix it, and the vet I talked to about a sulcata I took in didn't want to file or clip the shell because there would be quite a bit of bleeding involved. I can only suggest you contact a very well-qualified tortoise vet and get an opinion.

I hope it works out for you, and I'm looking forward to seeing pictures of your Greek tortoise.

 

[chicagojohn]

Thanks for the reply, emysems.

His diet has consisted mainly of dandelion and plantains along with an occasional bit of bell pepper as a rare treat and occasional romaine. We collect and dry dandelion and plantains all summer and feed the dried leaves and flowers during the winter. We also mix these greens with timothy grass, often in "rollups" my wife feeds him by hand when he is soaking, to provide more fiber for digestion, and he has excellent quality poops and no internal parasites.

We have been using calcium with D3 a few times a week and vitamin powder once in a while.
He has a large outdoor pen when he goes whenever the temperature falls between 60 and 90°F, and we have one of the UV Heat lamps whenever he is indoors.

Also, we soak him at least 3 - 4 times a week in luke warm water. Once about 8 years ago, he almost died from a large bladder stone our vet was able to get out without surgery.
(He almost died because the original vet completely misdiagnosed the problem completely and had us treating him with antibiotics.) The new vet is one of the best herp vets in this part of the country and he is nationally known. I am pretty sure that bladder stone was promoted by lack of hydration, and we have had no incidents of any kind since introducing the grass and frequent soaks.

He will be seeing the herp vet tomorrow, and I'll let you know what we learn.

Thanks again for the welcome I'll post some pictures of him during the weekend.

 

[kanalomele]

Welcome to the forum. It is great to have such a dedicated keeper with us. I have no advice to offer but a sincere hope that everything works out well for you and your tort.

 

[pam]

Welcome

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Welcome!

 

[chicagojohn]

Thanks so much for the welcome. Nice there are so many friendly people here.

 

[TORTOISEMAN1]

Hello and welcome!