Incidental Finding- Ingested Screws?

[Nellie Rose]

So i work at a small animal veterinary hospital. The hospital owner brought in her adult sons tortoise for a nail trim after noticing some nails curling under his feet and that she didn't want to extend her back left leg fully.
We did xrays because our machine had a turtle setting and we were curious.
Incidentally we found two screws seemingly in the tortoises abdomen.
We are not an exotic practice, so our doctors are pretty baffled.
The owner has no idea where the tortoise got the screws, as they have had this tortoise for 14 years since it was a hatchling. The only explanation we can think of is that she ingested them somehow.
She has had no issues other than the leg recently. Normal BMs and appetite, active and seemingly bright. I will say the tort has pretty severe pyramiding and is seemingly small for its age.

Any thoughts? Just curious, one of the doctors here is going to consult with an exotic veterinarian, but I thought it was interesting either way so I wanted to share.

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

They are opportunistic eaters, so it is very possible that they were ingested by the tortoise. In this thread is a list of things tortoises have eaten, but not supposed to eat, with an xray of an tortoise that has eaten some jewelry.

Should My Tortoise Be Allowed To Roam around on the Floor of my Room?

Ascott said: To let a tort roam our habitats or not? Always a question that will offer up a bunch of opinions, stories of what happened to some, stories of how dumb it is and success stories....so if you see the trend here, it is that folks do alot of different things based on their own lives...

tortoiseforum.org

I personally would be worried about the screws perforating or blocking something.

 

[Nellie Rose]

They are opportunistic eaters, so it is very possible that they were ingested by the tortoise. In this thread is a list of things tortoises have eaten, but not supposed to eat, with an xray of an tortoise that has eaten some jewelry.

Should My Tortoise Be Allowed To Roam around on the Floor of my Room?

Ascott said: To let a tort roam our habitats or not? Always a question that will offer up a bunch of opinions, stories of what happened to some, stories of how dumb it is and success stories....so if you see the trend here, it is that folks do alot of different things based on their own lives...

tortoiseforum.org

I personally would be worried about the screws perforating or blocking something.

My thoughts exactly.
We were a bit shocked as we were basically xraying out of curiosity, and just happened upon it.
I honestly am shocked it got the big screw down without it doing more damage. I think we're sending the rads to a radiologist. I'm curious if that is scar tissue surrounding the screws on the lateral view.

 

[Ink]

Do you know if the tortoise roams freely through the house? Happy birthday

 

[144 Grandpa Turtle]

Is it kept outside or inside?If it's kept in the house someone put the screws in the enclosure or let it walk around the house till it found the skews

 

[Nellie Rose]

Do you know if the tortoise roams freely through the house? Happy birthday

Thank you!
I asked they said no... but who really knows.

 

[Nellie Rose]

Is it kept outside or inside?If it's kept in the house someone put the screws in the enclosure or let it walk around the house till it found the skews

Outside in the summer and indoors in the winter.
It had to have found them somewhere.

 

[Ink]

Outside in the summer and indoors in the winter.
It had to have found them somewhere.

Exactly.

 

[zovick]

Outside in the summer and indoors in the winter.
It had to have found them somewhere.

It appears that there may be some pebbles or small stones in the gut along with the screws. The tortoise may have found the screws outside in the yard or in the house. The stones/pebbles could be from outside or possibly from the enclosure in which it is kept if dirt is used as a substrate.

What kind of tortoise is this?

 

[Yvonne G]

In my opinion, and because you said the tortoise is badly pyramided, I'm thinking the tortoise was poorly kept, and not well fed. Just like starving dogs eating whatever they can find, cardboard, etc. a starving tortoise will sample anything too.

 

[Dustin]

Amazing detail! Looks like one zip-in screw (most likely contractor culprit would be HVAC), the other is a tapcon style concrete anchor. The tapcons are not that sharp and should be passable, the zip-ins are very sharp and probably pose a larger perforation risk.
I think any tortoise, regardless of its care or hunger level would eat a bright blue, or shiny silver screw. I have found far stranger things in poops before.

 

[Chefdenoel10]

So i work at a small animal veterinary hospital. The hospital owner brought in her adult sons tortoise for a nail trim after noticing some nails curling under his feet and that she didn't want to extend her back left leg fully.
We did xrays because our machine had a turtle setting and we were curious.
Incidentally we found two screws seemingly in the tortoises abdomen.
We are not an exotic practice, so our doctors are pretty baffled.
The owner has no idea where the tortoise got the screws, as they have had this tortoise for 14 years since it was a hatchling. The only explanation we can think of is that she ingested them somehow.
She has had no issues other than the leg recently. Normal BMs and appetite, active and seemingly bright. I will say the tort has pretty severe pyramiding and is seemingly small for its age.

Any thoughts? Just curious, one of the doctors here is going to consult with an exotic veterinarian, but I thought it was interesting either way so I wanted to share.
View attachment 396693View attachment 396694View attachment 396695View attachment 396696

Nice to meet you and thank you for coming onto here.
Happy birthday too!
Do you have pictures of the tortoise and his pyramiding? Can you get any?
Maybe this poor guy needs to be surrendered? That one screw scares me a lot….

 

[Tom]

This is common. Happens all the time, and it shouldn't. This is why I'm constantly telling people not to let the tortoise free roam the house or the yard and to keep it in a dedicated tortoise enclosure away from human activities. I've seen dozens of X-rays like this over the years from my vet friends.

In hoofed stock, they call this "hardware disease". Many horses, horses, cows, goats, and sheep die from ingesting contruction debris and metal pieces like this.

 

[Nellie Rose]

It appears that there may be some pebbles or small stones in the gut along with the screws. The tortoise may have found the screws outside in the yard or in the house. The stones/pebbles could be from outside or possibly from the enclosure in which it is kept if dirt is used as a substrate.

What kind of tortoise is this?

Redfoot tortoise

In my opinion, and because you said the tortoise is badly pyramided, I'm thinking the tortoise was poorly kept, and not well fed. Just like starving dogs eating whatever they can find, cardboard, etc. a starving tortoise will sample anything too.

I don't doubt it. Just looking at its shell and noticing that it seemed quite small for a 14 year old redfoot, I don't know that it was given proper care.

Amazing detail! Looks like one zip-in screw (most likely contractor culprit would be HVAC), the other is a tapcon style concrete anchor. The tapcons are not that sharp and should be passable, the zip-ins are very sharp and probably pose a larger perforation risk.
I think any tortoise, regardless of its care or hunger level would eat a bright blue, or shiny silver screw. I have found far stranger things in poops before.

I don't doubt it. I am kind of shocked it managed to get the big one down, and that it is so low in the digestive tract and hasn't caused any damage yet. Glancing through some tort anatomy diagrams it seems like it is out of the stomach and now in the intestines. Unfortunately I doubt the owner will do anything about it. People don't value tortoises like they do cats and dogs but I could be wrong! I know they are consulting with an exotic DVM friend.

Nice to meet you and thank you for coming onto here.
Happy birthday too!
Do you have pictures of the tortoise and his pyramiding? Can you get any?
Maybe this poor guy needs to be surrendered? That one screw scares me a lot….

Thank you!
Can't get any pictures unfortunately, I have no personal relationship with the owner. I don't disagree, but unfortunately the owner is my bosses son, so I can't say anything. But the good news is the tortoise is currently being looked after by an experienced keeper who noticed the hind leg lameness, and is using UVB light and proper supplementation. He has other adult redfoots who look very well cared for. I spoke to him for a while and he explained he doesn't let his torts free roam at all for this exact reason, and he can't think of a scenario where the tortoise ingested the screws with him.
We also suspect the lameness is due to MBD as well.

This is common. Happens all the time, and it shouldn't. This is why I'm constantly telling people not to let the tortoise free roam the house or the yard and to keep it in a dedicated tortoise enclosure away from human activities. I've seen dozens of X-rays like this over the years from my vet friends.

In hoofed stock, they call this "hardware disease". Many horses, horses, cows, goats, and sheep die from ingesting contruction debris and metal pieces like this.

That's what I told the owner.
I am hoping she speaks to an exotic veterinarian who can point her in the right direction, unfortunately I doubt she respects me enough, but maybe someone with another DVM before their name

Do you think the screws could be passed? Looking at the larger screw, I don't think so. And I could be wrong, but my interpretation of the lateral view is that there is some scar tissue around the screws. I might know more tomorrow. We sent the rads to a radiologist for review.

 

[zovick]

Redfoot tortoise

I don't doubt it. Just looking at its shell and noticing that it seemed quite small for a 14 year old redfoot, I don't know that it was given proper care.

I don't doubt it. I am kind of shocked it managed to get the big one down, and that it is so low in the digestive tract and hasn't caused any damage yet. Glancing through some tort anatomy diagrams it seems like it is out of the stomach and now in the intestines. Unfortunately I doubt the owner will do anything about it. People don't value tortoises like they do cats and dogs but I could be wrong! I know they are consulting with an exotic DVM friend.

Thank you!
Can't get any pictures unfortunately, I have no personal relationship with the owner. I don't disagree, but unfortunately the owner is my bosses son, so I can't say anything. But the good news is the tortoise is currently being looked after by an experienced keeper who noticed the hind leg lameness, and is using UVB light and proper supplementation. He has other adult redfoots who look very well cared for. I spoke to him for a while and he explained he doesn't let his torts free roam at all for this exact reason, and he can't think of a scenario where the tortoise ingested the screws with him.
We also suspect the lameness is due to MBD as well.

That's what I told the owner.
I am hoping she speaks to an exotic veterinarian who can point her in the right direction, unfortunately I doubt she respects me enough, but maybe someone with another DVM before their name

Do you think the screws could be passed? Looking at the larger screw, I don't think so. And I could be wrong, but my interpretation of the lateral view is that there is some scar tissue around the screws. I might know more tomorrow. We sent the rads to a radiologist for review.

Personally, it appears to me that surgery would be required to remove that larger screw at this point. The question for me personally would be whether the cost is justifiable in a tortoise which has probable MBD and is about half or less the size it should be for its age. I would be tempted to euthanize the tortoise instead of subjecting it to surgery if the choice were mine.

Good luck with a difficult situation.

 

[Nellie Rose]

Personally, it appears to me that surgery would be required to remove that larger screw at this point. The question for me personally would be whether the cost is justifiable in a tortoise which has probable MBD and is about half or less the size it should be for its age. I would be tempted to euthanize the tortoise instead of subjecting it to surgery if the choice were mine.

Good luck with a difficult situation.

It's not my tortoise, it is my bosses, not really my situation to deal with i just thought it was interesting and wanted to share.

Some good news, the tortoise somehow managed to pass several pieces of gravel and the large screw on its own. My boss showed me the picture of what it passed. The angles of the gravel match up with the shapes on xray. She had been consulting with an exotic veterinarian who had recommended an endoscopy, but before they had made any decision it passed it on its own. No sign of the small screw yet.

Just to clarify, I have no input or control over the situation. I have worked at this hospital for one year, and have met this tortoise exactly once the day I helped xray it.

They are waiting and seeing right now. I've been told she seems to be doing okay subjectively, is eating and is active.