Got a softie today :(

[Torty Mom]

Need some CDT help from you fine folks here!!

One of my co-workers brought me her hatchling CDT today, who is soft as can be. Plastron is MEGA soft and the carapace, has Alot of give.

I put the little dude under my MVB for about 4 hours then I took him outside for 2 more hours, he ate some grape leaf and a few bites of Mazui.

Some of my concerns are that he may be blind. How can you tell? He would bump the food with his nose, normal, then when he tried to eat, he wouldn't chomp forward, he chomped straight up in the air, like I was holding the food above his head. His eyes are a little puffy and the first thing my son said when he saw him was why is he so flat. So I am also thinking he has the beginnings of MBD. I have not seen him walk around much, hopefully tomorrow I can watch him more closely.

Question: how should I soak him with him being so soft? Should I do the bird vitamin and then baby food or both or neither? I am just so worried because he is sooooo soft.

Thanks in advance everyone, I'll post pictures of him tomorrow.

 

[dmmj]

It's eating right? I would use bird vitamin myself lots of calcium and sunshine.

 

[ascott]

oh jeeeez.....the description that you give about the air head while trying to eat is what my old man humphry does and he can see little to nothing out of his left eye and his "good" eye I believe is affected as well, I believe my guy has cataract type thing....

However, you can do the sneak up on him thing....set him down (or on table top since he is a little dude ) and step out of his view completely for a moment....then quickly appear on say the left side but not so quick as to cause a gust of wind and see if he flinches or reacts at all...then do the same on the other side....while this will not be full proof as he may not react due to his age and his medical state at present...it may help you to try to determine if he is seeing much....

I think that you are bang on with the MVB.....I would continue that when you can not have him outside in the natural sun.....you said he bumped the food....did he eat? If yes then that is a positive sign Even if he is air heading trying to get food, you can put the food right in his mouth (this is what I had to do for a bit when my guy was under the weather before) and hopefully he will eat it that way till he gathers some strength....

I have never used bird vitamins nor baby food soaks....I would if I find the need ever to....so I can not share any experience with you on this....I would not even venture to give an opinion for fear I was wrong when this sounds like such a delicate time for the little guy....

Gosh....I will send out the prayers for your little one

 

[Torty Mom]

Thanks Angela! When he was trying to eat and doing the air biting, it was like he didn't know where it was, so I smeared a little chunk of mazuri on my finger and when he opened his mouth I stuck my finger right on his mouth, so he grazed my finger and got a little mazuri at the same time. When he was trying to eat the leaf, he was chomping all over the place, so when he chomped and opened his mouth, I put a little bit of leaf in his open mouth. Talk about timing!

I can take my finger and put it on his nose and he does not pull into his shell. I will try the sneak up method. He is tiny only 2.8 oz.

I just don't know if I should or how to soak him because he is so soft, I don't want to make it worse.

 

[ascott]

it totally is a timing thing .....I knew my Humphry was getting better when one day he was eating and actually got my finger (my timing faulted for a fraction of a moment ) and it pinched....I was so damn happy....now he eats like a small cow on a huge farm...

okay, so if I were going to give my opinion....with what you have described, I too would be worried about soaking him with all that soft going on....but the benefits of the vitamins would likely be good....so maybe if you do a middle of the road type thing...maybe put all the goodies in the warm water and soak him for like 10-15 mins and then get a warm towel (like a 10 minute in the dryer towel) and cuddle him into the towel until the towel cools totally then put him to bet under a night warm light????? This is just what my gut says to do, as I said, I have no direct hands on experience with soaking with vitamins nor baby food....

I think that if after a couple of weeks of the MVB and as much natural sun light as possible and the hand feeding, I bet he can come out of this like new

By the way, it is so awesome that you have taken on the role of his Guardian Angel and friend....I so hope all works out splendid for you both.... please keep us posted

 

[Torty Mom]

Awwwww your a sweetie. I warned her before I took him, that she couldn't be mad at me if he didn't make it. He is much worse than she described! She has 3 others and she said they are doing great and growing, except the one she brought me. She keeps them on her patio. I didn't get all the details, she said they don't get any sunlight! Hmmm that's why we have a problem! It's gonna be hard to give him back if he makes it!

 

[ascott]

I wonder if since this guy is worse than what she described if the other three are truly "fine"? I don't understand how folks think that they can get a CDT and not expect to make provisions for outside sun time????? I really just don't understand what is in someones head.....jeeez.

I hope that after all you two will go through and if you want to ...she lets you keep em.....

 

[Laura]

torts like to sniff things before they eat.. so it might be that.. and lack of cordination.. and calcium. Has she had him under a coil bulb light?

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Mary Anne:

I would go with David's opinion too...the bird vitamins.

When you pile up the food (high) up against the wall, it helps a blind tortoise eat. That way the food can't move away from him.

So, vitamin soaks, calcium rich foods and lightly dust calcium powder over each meal. And the most important ingredient - sun.

Good luck with him. Take some pictures so if he does make it you have some before and after.

 

[Torty Mom]

torts like to sniff things before they eat.. so it might be that.. and lack of cordination.. and calcium. Has she had him under a coil bulb light?

Laura, they don't get any light at all.....real or artificial.

---

It's eating right? I would use bird vitamin myself lots of calcium and sunshine.

Thanks David will do! I am just worried about actually soaking him, with him being so soft.

---

Hi Mary Anne:

I would go with David's opinion too...the bird vitamins.

When you pile up the food (high) up against the wall, it helps a blind tortoise eat. That way the food can't move away from him.

So, vitamin soaks, calcium rich foods and lightly dust calcium powder over each meal. And the most important ingredient - sun.

Good luck with him. Take some pictures so if he does make it you have some before and after.

Thanks Yvonne, I'll get some pictures today. I'll have my son help me when I feed him and have him take a picture so you can see how he eats. It's very strange. The inside of his mouth is white not pink. I will try the food wall, if not I'll do like I did yesterday.

I hope the little guy makes it. At least he is eating!

---

I can poke both his eyes and he doesn't flinch, only when I actually touch him, very softly of course!!!

What do you guys thinks, do you think he is blind? Any other way to tell?

Not eating this morning!

 

[lynnedit]

Will defer to others about his sight, but I think you must soak him, even twice per day, with bird vits and orange baby food. Sun.
Especially if he is not eating. He is soft due to some deficiency, so brief water exposure should not make that worse, but may be his only hope of absorbing some nutrition when he does not eat...
Tell you what, you can tell that co worker that if he makes it, you keep him or she pays you for your efforts. Imagine admitting that they don't get sun! Sheesh!

 

[Torty Mom]

RE: Got a softie today updated ~ pictures

Here are some pictures of baby LR, which my son named him. LR = Low Rider.

I was able to get him to eat a very small bit of cactus and about 1 kibble of mazuri, I am missing some finger tips but all is good Outside my hubby got him to eat a piece of neimesa and a petal of squash flower.

This first picture shows how flat he is.

What a sweet little face

Any input is greatly appreciated!

 

[yagyujubei]

As far as the biting the air, I have seen this many times with mine, but it was always the result of a small bit of food on their face (sometimes very small) that they see, but cannot reach. Could this have been the problem?

---

He looks better than I thought he would, as long as he is eating, getting calcium, and sunlight, He just may do just fine.

 

[Torty Mom]

I wish that was it, mine do that too from time to time too, it's kinda cute when they do that!!

He can't find the food so what I did this morning was, I put the mazuri on my middle and ring fingers and then when he started trying to bite the air above his head, I held his head down with my right hand, so he could bite in front of him, worked great, got alot more food into him then last night. It's just a little hard to do.

 

[dbsneed69]

What a cute little tort... Thank you so much for taking care of that little one. That is one precious little face.

 

[ascott]

Low Rider is adorable !!!!! He looks good, I believe you may have gotten your hands on him possibly in time to bring him round, he is eating and that is good...after seeing him I would suggest to proceed with the soaking and I think he will do great with it.... please keep us posted and more pics would be just fun

 

[Torty Mom]

Thanks dbsneed and Angela! He is a little cutie with his bugged out little eyes. It's like the skin is bigger than his little beady eyes, hard to explain. He has been walking around good, now sleeping in his humid hide! I'll soak him and feed him again in 3 hours.

His plastron is sooo soft like the middle of a piece of fresh bread

 

[Torty Mom]

Just fed him again, and took a little video on my camera. Now, to see if I can post it on youtube. Gave him a little soak, I'm still all little freaked out about soaking.

 

[ascott]

Hi Mary Anne, hey in your 10:37 am post when you describe what he did while trying to eat and what you did made me recall something that happen to me with one of my red ear sliders (totally different species I know, but)

So, about oh....jeez 2 years ago about I inherited two tiny sliders, they were a 2 for 5.00 dollar special from downtown Los Angeles Garment District... one of my co workers niece was there with her mom and the mom bought them for the daughter because they were tiny and "cute" (like they were 2.5 inches long at best each) well, after a couple of days the mom was like, no you can't keep em...so the turtles were given to my old boss, who really couldn't give a crap about them (don't get me started on this, idiot) so anyways, it turned out that they both were a bit sick, surprise! and so after consulting with a wonderful lady (not wonderful in the way a person is nice to another but wonderful in the fact that this old grumpy mean woman took the time to yell at me about how the one turtle was so "calcium deficient that I should be shot"....well, gladly taking the lashings to obtain this knowledge I upped the exposure to light, increased the calcium in every way possible...well the little girl turtle would try to come up to eat and every time she did she would extend her neck and she would like bite into the air and she would not be able to focus no matter how hard she tried, I thought she was blind...well, after I amped her up with every opportunity with calcium (like about 3 weeks time) she stopped acting like a blind thing and was able to actually keep it together long enough to focus and get the food....so, wow I really walked you the long way around the block on this one huh...LOL

My point being, calcium and sun exposure was what saved her and I was shown truly how important these things are...while these days she still has a little funny swim and an occasional flop of balance, she is HUGE and happy... and about two days ago, she actually acted like a slider... when I took her out of their big tank to put her out in their sunning pool on the porch she opened her mouth as big as she could and cocked her head and looked straight at me with one beautiful little eye like...."ha, look at me I can bite you if I wanted to, ahhhhh" I was so happy she made it...

 

[Torty Mom]

Awww cute story Angela! Thanks for the hope!! Sounds just like low rider. I tried to let him eat on his own tonight, but I just couldn't watch it. I will try to figure out how to post the video. I'm so totally lame when it comes to tech stuff!

He wouldn't eat any greens, my hubby even tried, he thinks the other torts like his food best!

I am going to puree' some cactus tomorrow to put in with his mazuri, that is the only thing he is eating. I fed him 3 times today. He ate about 1 nugget of mazuri each time. At least he is eating!

He only got about 3 hours of natural sunlight it was 104 here again today, I didn't want to bake him! So he was under the MVB most of the day. I put him out in the morning before it's blazing hot. His shell coloring is alot lighter than my others.

His shell is soooooo soft, I feel like his inside are just going to fall out. No one is allowed to hold him or pick him up. I transport him around in a small dish.

I hope he makes it!! My co-worker and I will be having a long talk!! She is a sweetie, but I don't think she understands their needs or care. I have started a list!