Injections of medicine

Devinh

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Sep 21, 2018
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Maryland
I have a 5 year old 21Lbs sulcata. I took him to the vet for a respiratory infection and they gave me two medications both are shots. I got lucky with the first round of medicine by flipping him just for a second and getting in between the spurs underneath. This man is a menace and onto all my tricks. I am out of ideas. Today ended by trying several times and ending with him on a bucket flinging the needle off by shaking his arms. I can’t seem to find a spot to save my life. Any help would be greatly appreciated. By the way the wheezing is gone and he’s still eating like a horse as always but I don’t want to not give him the rest of the meds.
 

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Jan A

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I have a 5 year old 21Lbs sulcata. I took him to the vet for a respiratory infection and they gave me two medications both are shots. I got lucky with the first round of medicine by flipping him just for a second and getting in between the spurs underneath. This man is a menace and onto all my tricks. I am out of ideas. Today ended by trying several times and ending with him on a bucket flinging the needle off by shaking his arms. I can’t seem to find a spot to save my life. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Bythe forcthe way the wheezing is gone and he’s still eating like a horsI'e as always but I don’t want to not give him the rest of the meds.
Welcome to the forum. I'm sorry it's while your tort is ill. It's a great photo illustrating why you're here. I have a redfoot that i've owned about 5 months, so I don't know how to help except to say, "Gawd, they're stubborn animals, these torts!"
 

Maggie3fan

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Flip him over and inject between the spurs on a back leg. More towards the 'wrist', right above his foot...
 

Tom

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I have a 5 year old 21Lbs sulcata. I took him to the vet for a respiratory infection and they gave me two medications both are shots. I got lucky with the first round of medicine by flipping him just for a second and getting in between the spurs underneath. This man is a menace and onto all my tricks. I am out of ideas. Today ended by trying several times and ending with him on a bucket flinging the needle off by shaking his arms. I can’t seem to find a spot to save my life. Any help would be greatly appreciated. By the way the wheezing is gone and he’s still eating like a horse as always but I don’t want to not give him the rest of the meds.
First and foremost: Tortoises do not get sick for no reason. Treating the symptoms is pointless if you don't find and correct the CAUSE of the sickness first. I cannot figure out why, but vets seldom address this. In most cases RI in sulcatas is cause by cold temps, especially at night. They should never drop below 80, and they need to be able to warm up into the 90s every day. I don't know how in the heck you do that in a Maryland winter, but good luck.

To give your injections, rest the tortoise's butt on a towel on your five gallon bucket with its nose facing the sky. Give your injections on alternating legs between the heavy leg scales of the FRONT legs only. Get the needle deep into the muscle for IM injections.

Next item: Most vets don't know any better and still prescribe Baytril for this. Baytril is extremely caustic. It buns them at the injection site. This causes tissue damage and tremendous pain. It should not be used in injectable form for tortoises. Seconds after I type this, Mark1 will come along and argue each point both this and tell you how great injectable Baytril is. He and I disagree on this point, and I choose to take the word of the vets I work with that treat tortoises regularly, and my own observations of the damage this drug does.

In most cases, the cause of an RI is cold. The cure is heat. Only in extremely advanced cases have I not been able to turn this around with heat, hydration, and no meds. Warm your tortoise up, and soak daily to keep it hydrated with the extra electrically generated heat.
 

Maggie3fan

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NNNNNNOOOOOOO no no no no no no no!!!!!!!!

NEVER inject anything into the back legs of a tortoise. Renal portal system.
My Vet sticks in the ankle sort of...I was jsu saying what I've seen...sorry
 

Maro2Bear

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Greetings….Tom has you covered as far as what to do. ✅

My question or two is…how’s your enclosure & are you keeping it above 80F 24x7 and out of the cold, wind, rain?

Is your tort’s enclosure & nightbox inside or outside? We have had a pretty mild Winter so far here in MD, but….nights are still below freezing.

Our big baby of a Sully at 100# has been inside since early October and will be there ‘til probably May. Right now, temp in her indoor nightbox is 84, outer living quarters at 80, complete with basking bulbs.

Its important & critical to keep these guys warm.

Hope the shots work! Good luck & happy holidays.

This cold in Maryland
09D51C03-28B5-4F77-BFEF-B16C869B6297.jpeg
 

mastershake

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ill add to what tom said. we do them a bit different but somewhat the same, we go slightly upper leg. so first its a LOT easier with a helper. if not a wooden dowel can be helpful make sure its thick enough they cant break it easily. they key is to get their front feet out (sometimes touching or kind of tickling the back feet makes them put the front feet out) once they are out grab one of them and have someone hold it out, if you are by yourself a dowel can be placed there inside the leg to block them from pulling it in. now it depends if you have to do sub q (under the skin) or im (in the muscle) this can depend on the meds used and how you are most comfortable. generally sub q is fine for most meds. towards the upper part of the leg where the spurs start to stop there is some actual skin. this imo is the easiest place to do them. i agree with baytril if you are doing baytril it should ALWAYS be mixed with inj water or saline to dilute it and reduce chances of the necrosis is can cause on the skin or inside the muscle. i would personally much prefer to see fortaz used for injections unless baytril is shown to be 100% needed for a specific infection.

i also agree with upping the heat sometimes this ALONE can get rid of an ri.
 

Devinh

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Sep 21, 2018
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Location (City and/or State)
Maryland
First and foremost: Tortoises do not get sick for no reason. Treating the symptoms is pointless if you don't find and correct the CAUSE of the sickness first. I cannot figure out why, but vets seldom address this. In most cases RI in sulcatas is cause by cold temps, especially at night. They should never drop below 80, and they need to be able to warm up into the 90s every day. I don't know how in the heck you do that in a Maryland winter, but good luck.

To give your injections, rest the tortoise's butt on a towel on your five gallon bucket with its nose facing the sky. Give your injections on alternating legs between the heavy leg scales of the FRONT legs only. Get the needle deep into the muscle for IM injections.

Next item: Most vets don't know any better and still prescribe Baytril for this. Baytril is extremely caustic. It buns them at the injection site. This causes tissue damage and tremendous pain. It should not be used in injectable form for tortoises. Seconds after I type this, Mark1 will come along and argue each point both this and tell you how great injectable Baytril is. He and I disagree on this point, and I choose to take the word of the vets I work with that treat tortoises regularly, and my own observations of the damage this drug does.

In most cases, the cause of an RI is cold. The cure is heat. Only in extremely advanced cases have I not been able to turn this around with heat, hydration, and no meds. Warm your tortoise up, and soak daily to keep it hydrated with the extra electrically generated heat.
First and foremost: Tortoises do not get sick for no reason. Treating the symptoms is pointless if you don't find and correct the CAUSE of the sickness first. I cannot figure out why, but vets seldom address this. In most cases RI in sulcatas is cause by cold temps, especially at night. They should never drop below 80, and they need to be able to warm up into the 90s every day. I don't know how in the heck you do that in a Maryland winter, but good luck.

To give your injections, rest the tortoise's butt on a towel on your five gallon bucket with its nose facing the sky. Give your injections on alternating legs between the heavy leg scales of the FRONT legs only. Get the needle deep into the muscle for IM injections.

Next item: Most vets don't know any better and still prescribe Baytril for this. Baytril is extremely caustic. It buns them at the injection site. This causes tissue damage and tremendous pain. It should not be used in injectable form for tortoises. Seconds after I type this, Mark1 will come along and argue each point both this and tell you how great injectable Baytril is. He and I disagree on this point, and I choose to take the word of the vets I work with that treat tortoises regularly, and my own observations of the damage this drug does.

In most cases, the cause of an RI is cold. The cure is heat. Only in extremely advanced cases have I not been able to turn this around with heat, hydration, and no meds. Warm your tortoise up, and soak daily to keep it hydrated with the extra electrically generated heat.
Very informational, I spend a crazy about of time and money to keep this passion, no matter what location . But yes, he has a semi indoor enclosure like a dog house he can go out of in the summer that’s heated and everything. He got sick bc we had a crazy drop in temp so I moved him to the huge shed I have really made it to the t. So yes it was tenpature issues. And you treat them with heat and intense care? That’s awesome. And the only way I can do it is if he’s in his back and I hold him someone in the shell blocking everything then a shot
 

Devinh

New Member
Joined
Sep 21, 2018
Messages
13
Location (City and/or State)
Maryland
First and foremost: Tortoises do not get sick for no reason. Treating the symptoms is pointless if you don't find and correct the CAUSE of the sickness first. I cannot figure out why, but vets seldom address this. In most cases RI in sulcatas is cause by cold temps, especially at night. They should never drop below 80, and they need to be able to warm up into the 90s every day. I don't know how in the heck you do that in a Maryland winter, but good luck.

To give your injections, rest the tortoise's butt on a towel on your five gallon bucket with its nose facing the sky. Give your injections on alternating legs between the heavy leg scales of the FRONT legs only. Get the needle deep into the muscle for IM injections.

Next item: Most vets don't know any better and still prescribe Baytril for this. Baytril is extremely caustic. It buns them at the injection site. This causes tissue damage and tremendous pain. It should not be used in injectable form for tortoises. Seconds after I type this, Mark1 will come along and argue each point both this and tell you how great injectable Baytril is. He and I disagree on this point, and I choose to take the word of the vets I work with that treat tortoises regularly, and my own observations of the damage this drug does.

In most cases, the cause of an RI is cold. The cure is heat. Only in extremely advanced cases have I not been able to turn this around with heat, hydration, and no meds. Warm your tortoise up, and soak daily to keep it hydrated with the extra electrically generated heat.
First and foremost: Tortoises do not get sick for no reason. Treating the symptoms is pointless if you don't find and correct the CAUSE of the sickness first. I cannot figure out why, but vets seldom address this. In most cases RI in sulcatas is cause by cold temps, especially at night. They should never drop below 80, and they need to be able to warm up into the 90s every day. I don't know how in the heck you do that in a Maryland winter, but good luck.

To give your injections, rest the tortoise's butt on a towel on your five gallon bucket with its nose facing the sky. Give your injections on alternating legs between the heavy leg scales of the FRONT legs only. Get the needle deep into the muscle for IM injections.

Next item: Most vets don't know any better and still prescribe Baytril for this. Baytril is extremely caustic. It buns them at the injection site. This causes tissue damage and tremendous pain. It should not be used in injectable form for tortoises. Seconds after I type this, Mark1 will come along and argue each point both this and tell you how great injectable Baytril is. He and I disagree on this point, and I choose to take the word of the vets I work with that treat tortoises regularly, and my own observations of the damage this drug does.

In most cases, the cause of an RI is cold. The cure is heat. Only in extremely advanced cases have I not been able to turn this around with heat, hydration, and no meds. Warm your tortoise up, and soak daily to keep it hydrated with the extra electrically generated heat.
Yeah thanks for the info. I build a huge dog house that he can go in at night that heated and insulated and everything . Then in the winter I put him in a huge shed that’s fully insulated and kept at 85 degrees . You are correct, a cold front hit and dropped to about 58 a few months ago ( even though he was in the heated box ) and that’s when I noticed it and immediately put him in the winter enclosure. So heat really will cure it? I mean he’s better but I don’t think heat fixed it
 

Devinh

New Member
Joined
Sep 21, 2018
Messages
13
Location (City and/or State)
Maryland
Greetings….Tom has you covered as far as what to do. ✅

My question or two is…how’s your enclosure & are you keeping it above 80F 24x7 and out of the cold, wind, rain?

Is your tort’s enclosure & nightbox inside or outside? We have had a pretty mild Winter so far here in MD, but….nights are still below freezing.

Our big baby of a Sully at 100# has been inside since early October and will be there ‘til probably May. Right now, temp in her indoor nightbox is 84, outer living quarters at 80, complete with basking bulbs.

Its important & critical to keep these guys warm.

Hope the shots work! Good luck & happy holidays.

This cold in Maryland
View attachment 337975
Another Marylander ! These desert people don’t understand us ? I’d love to get ideas from you!! I have a pretty sweet set up so far but definitely need ideas to improve it
 

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