*Help my tortoise Sheldon

[Kaaayy.cc]

Hello everyone,
I have been concerned with my 1 year old leopard tortoise for a week now but waited a little bit to see if he would get better but he has not. I just made an appointment to take him to the vet tomorrow and I am hoping they can figure out what is going on. I have noticed his skin is flaking so I looked up on google and on here for any helpful comments on other threads but most of what I have read said, to just soak your tortoise and let nature takes its' course and it should fall off on its own. Also, Sheldon has not been eating as much as he used to because he is having a hard time opening his mouth wide. I can tell he wants to eat but he chooses not to because of the side of his mouth. I have been hand feeding him to help push the leafy greens in his mouth so he doesn't have to work for it by opening his mouth too wide. I will be posting picks, If anyone can get back to me please. Thank you!

 

[Lyn W]

Hi,
I'll see if @Yvonne G can help you with this.
Is the vet you are seeing a tort specialist?
If they suggest a vitamin shot don't have that as they can often cause more harm than good.
Can you post pics of his enclosure so that members can see if there's anything affecting him in there and tell us about his diet and lamps etc.?

 

[TeamZissou]

What foods and supplements are you feeding?

 

[Lyn W]

Don't 'push' the food in his mouth he may choke.

 

[Kaaayy.cc]

Hi,
I'll see if @Yvonne G can help you with this.
Is the vet you are seeing a tort specialist?
If they suggest a vitamin shot don't have that as they can often cause more harm than good.
Can you post pics of his enclosure so that members can see if there's anything affecting him in there and tell us about his diet and lamps etc.?

Hi, Thank you for replying!
I don't think he is a tort specialist but I know that this vet takes exotic reptiles. I have taken Sheldon once last year.
I will post his enclosure

Hi,
I'll see if @Yvonne G can help you with this.
Is the vet you are seeing a tort specialist?
If they suggest a vitamin shot don't have that as they can often cause more harm than good.
Can you post pics of his enclosure so that members can see if there's anything affecting him in there and tell us about his diet and lamps etc.?

Hi, thank you for replying!
I don’t think he is a tort specialist but I know that this vet takes exotic reptiles. I live in Menifee, Ca. Here is a pic of his enclosure. I just recently purchased vitamin C and have been adding that to his diet this week.

 

[Kaaayy.cc]

What foods and supplements are you feeding?

Hello , thank you for responding!
I just posted a picture of what I add to his diet. I also feed him red leaf/green leaf, cucumber/ aloe (sometimes).

 

[Kaaayy.cc]

Don't 'push' the food in his mouth he may choke.

I dont know how to explain it well, i mean to say I don’t push it in his mouth, I kind of help lay it in his mouth. I will have to make a video to show you what I mean. I break up his food into little pieces so he is able to eat them easily one by one.

 

[Lyn W]

The thermometer you are using isn't recommended because they can be unreliable. A digital thermometer/hygrometer with a probe, and a digital temp gun would give more accurate readings.
I think he could be too cold for a baby but check the caresheet and double check your temps.

The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. Babies hatch during the...

tortoiseforum.org

I also think he needs more variety in his diet
Read the caresheet for ideas and also use www.thetortoisetable.org.uk as a guide to tort safe plants for food and enclosures.

What lamps for basking, source of UVB, and night heat are you using?
I can't tell if that's a red lamp you have there but if so they aren't recommended because they can confuse torts and they'll eat things they shouldn't if its red.

I have to sign off now but hopefully US members will be along soon and will be able to tell you more about the skin peeling. @Yvonne G @Tom
I hope everything will be OK

 

[Ray--Opo]

Hello everyone,
I have been concerned with my 1 year old leopard tortoise for a week now but waited a little bit to see if he would get better but he has not. I just made an appointment to take him to the vet tomorrow and I am hoping they can figure out what is going on. I have noticed his skin is flaking so I looked up on google and on here for any helpful comments on other threads but most of what I have read said, to just soak your tortoise and let nature takes its' course and it should fall off on its own. Also, Sheldon has not been eating as much as he used to because he is having a hard time opening his mouth wide. I can tell he wants to eat but he chooses not to because of the side of his mouth. I have been hand feeding him to help push the leafy greens in his mouth so he doesn't have to work for it by opening his mouth too wide. I will be posting picks, If anyone can get back to me please. Thank you!

Maybe @Tom will chime in.

 

[TeamZissou]

How often do you feed all these supplements? What else is on the food list aside from lettuce? They need to eat more weeds, dark green leafy veggies like bok choy, mustard, cilantro, radish greens, dandelion, some grass for this species I believe.

I think you might be giving this tortoise too many vitamins, specifically too much Vitamin A. These pictures seem consistent with the descriptions I read about Vitamin A overdose. I'd be interested to see what others think. I'm not sure what a vet would do aside from recommending discontinuation of the supplements you've been feeding.

I also don't think you need to add supplemental vitamin C. There's already lots of vitamin C (and especially A) in greens.

 

[TeamZissou]

Here's the recommended care for leopards:

The Best Way To Raise A Sulcata, Leopard, Or Star Tortoise

I chose the title of this care sheet very carefully. Are there other ways to raise babies? Yes. Yes there are, but those ways are not as good. What follows is the BEST way, according to 30 years of research and experimentation with hundreds of babies of many species. Babies hatch during the...

tortoiseforum.org

 

[Kaaayy.cc]

How often do you feed all these supplements? What else is on the food list aside from lettuce? They need to eat more weeds, dark green leafy veggies like bok choy, mustard, cilantro, radish greens, dandelion, some grass for this species I believe.

I think you might be giving this tortoise too many vitamins, specifically too much Vitamin A. These pictures seem consistent with the descriptions I read about Vitamin A overdose. I'd be interested to see what others think. I'm not sure what a vet would do aside from recommending discontinuation of the supplements you've been feeding.

I also don't think you need to add supplemental vitamin C. There's already lots of vitamin C (and especially A) in greens.

I also feed him dandelion but not a lot of weeds. I am actually going to buy weeds tomorrow at my local pet store. Thank you for letting me know more of the variety of veggies they are able to consume.
I put the multivitamine maybe 2 or 3 times a week. And vitamin C once a week and I try to feed him the grass tort food on his lettuce.I will double check how much of these vitamins need to be added because I had no idea on the overdose on vitamine A. Thank you for your input this was really helpful!

 

[TeamZissou]

It could definitely be something else, as I have only read about the vitamin A overdose and looked at pictures. This looks like more than normal shedding to me, plus you're feeding a lot of supplemental vitamins. While the overall dryness of your enclosure could be contributing, I don't it's a major factor.

Are you soaking daily for 30+ min? The enclosure also needs to be a lot more humid, like in the 80%+ range, which is tough to do with an open topped enclosure like you have. Temps also need to be kept above 80 F all the time, even at night.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hello everyone,
I have been concerned with my 1 year old leopard tortoise for a week now but waited a little bit to see if he would get better but he has not. I just made an appointment to take him to the vet tomorrow and I am hoping they can figure out what is going on. I have noticed his skin is flaking so I looked up on google and on here for any helpful comments on other threads but most of what I have read said, to just soak your tortoise and let nature takes its' course and it should fall off on its own. Also, Sheldon has not been eating as much as he used to because he is having a hard time opening his mouth wide. I can tell he wants to eat but he chooses not to because of the side of his mouth. I have been hand feeding him to help push the leafy greens in his mouth so he doesn't have to work for it by opening his mouth too wide. I will be posting picks, If anyone can get back to me please. Thank you!

View attachment 317721View attachment 317722View attachment 317723View attachment 317725

Too much vitamin A causes the skin to peel off like that. Are you supplementing vitamins?

 

[Ray--Opo]

Hello everyone,
I have been concerned with my 1 year old leopard tortoise for a week now but waited a little bit to see if he would get better but he has not. I just made an appointment to take him to the vet tomorrow and I am hoping they can figure out what is going on. I have noticed his skin is flaking so I looked up on google and on here for any helpful comments on other threads but most of what I have read said, to just soak your tortoise and let nature takes its' course and it should fall off on its own. Also, Sheldon has not been eating as much as he used to because he is having a hard time opening his mouth wide. I can tell he wants to eat but he chooses not to because of the side of his mouth. I have been hand feeding him to help push the leafy greens in his mouth so he doesn't have to work for it by opening his mouth too wide. I will be posting picks, If anyone can get back to me please. Thank you!

View attachment 317721View attachment 317722View attachment 317723View attachment 317725

How often do you soak Sheldon in warm water?

 

[Ray--Opo]

I also feed him dandelion but not a lot of weeds. I am actually going to buy weeds tomorrow at my local pet store. Thank you for letting me know more of the variety of veggies they are able to consume.
I put the multivitamine maybe 2 or 3 times a week. And vitamin C once a week and I try to feed him the grass tort food on his lettuce.I will double check how much of these vitamins need to be added because I had no idea on the overdose on vitamine A. Thank you for your input this was really helpful!

To supplement Sheldon's diet of greens, you could purchase Mazuri Reptile Diet pellets. Get the 5m21 type and not the LS type. For a tortoise that size feed about 6 to 8 pellets twice a week. Soak them in water just to soften them up a little. You can buy it online in smaller sizes then the 25lb bag at a feed store.If you want I can send you a ziploc bag of Mazuri. I just bought a 25lb bag.I would quit all the vitamin supplements except the calcium. Just put a pinch of calcium on Sheldon's food 1 a week. Like I asked in another post. Do you soak Sheldon?

 

[Ray--Opo]

Too much vitamin A causes the skin to peel off like that. Are you supplementing vitamins?

Yvonne do you think there is a topical solution or ointment that could be put on the corners of the mouth. To help Sheldon open the mouth?

 

[Kaaayy.cc]

Too much vitamin A causes the skin to peel off like that. Are you supplementing vitamins?

Oh really I had no idea.. should I only add the supplemental vitamins once a week ?

 

[Kaaayy.cc]

To supplement Sheldon's diet of greens, you could purchase Mazuri Reptile Diet pellets. Get the 5m21 type and not the LS type. For a tortoise that size feed about 6 to 8 pellets twice a week. Soak them in water just to soften them up a little. You can buy it online in smaller sizes then the 25lb bag at a feed store.If you want I can send you a ziploc bag of Mazuri. I just bought a 25lb bag.I would quit all the vitamin supplements except the calcium. Just put a pinch of calcium on Sheldon's food 1 a week. Like I asked in another post. Do you soak Sheldon?

Oh okay thank you! I will look for those pellets online! I soak him everyday usually every morning

 

[Kaaayy.cc]

Oh okay thank you! I will look for those pellets online! I soak him everyday usually every morning

How often do you soak Sheldon in warm water?

Also with warm water !