Kurt won't eat greens anymore?

[Pssh]

I have a rescue sulcata tortoise who was mistreated for the past 9 or so years. He lived in a 30 gallon tank and was fed fruits and not very nutritional lettuces. He has a lot of pyramiding and his shell is still a little soft (but on it's way to being nice and hard!) his muscles are getting stronger every day and he is becoming less and less shy. He has recently has a hemipenal prolapse that was fixed with a purse suture, but his Weewee had gotten a little diseased/infected in the few hours when I was not around to hold his junk in his vent while we were waiting for out vet appointment. He is now on baytril for it.

I don't know if it's baytril related or not, but he has decided to stop eating store bought greens. He has fresh green hay and nice unlimited organic grasses (the meadow mix from turtlestuff.com, and extra fescue that I bought at a feed store.) He seems to only eat the grasses, flowers, and some mazuri pellets. I gave him a handful of his (before) favorite store bought high calcium greens and a little cricket crack and calcium sprinkled on top when he got home from the vet for being such a good boy, but he wouldn't eat any of it! I tried again today, but he still refuses it. I'm not sure how to give him the extra calcium he needs now that he won't eat his greens? I try and put some on the flowers, but he will only tolerate so much on them before he refuses them. He's still very shy so it's very hard to give him the baytril, and I'm not sure I would be able to give him liquid calcium (the pure pregnant woman kind)

Suggestions? Thanks!

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

Will he eat any flavor of baby-food? If so, mix some calcium powder in, or puree some cactus pad into a gooey mush.

Best of luck to both of you.

 

[Pssh]

Will he eat any flavor of baby-food? If so, mix some calcium powder in, or puree some cactus pad into a gooey mush.

Best of luck to both of you.

I've never tried feeding him baby food, how would I feed that?

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Sprinkle powdered calcium over whatever grasses he's eating. If he is eating grass and hay he doesn't need to eat any greens. But I would continue to use powdered calcium over the grasses. baytril is very hard on them and it is not unusual for them to stop eating while they are on Baytril. Are you giving him injections? The Baytril injections sting a lot. Anyhow, just let him continue to eat grass and hay while he is on the baytril and he'll do fine. I don't know what cricket crack is but Sulcata shouldn't actually eat crickets. But if the calcium you are using is liquid calcium carbonate you can still put it on the grass or blossoms he is eating. Thanks so much for taking him in and trying to take good care of him, it sounds like you are doing a good job.

 

[Pssh]

That sounds easier. He's getting the baytril orally. It's a pain in my butt since he won't open his mouth for me, but I get it done. I have to feed him nice bright red hibiscus flowers and ninja it in his mouth really fast, then he gets upset with me and leaves. Cricket crack is a gutload for crickets but it has a lot of nutritionally good things for tortoises as well. Tikitikireptiles.com sells it. I have other bug eating herps, so I have it on hand all the time

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Why don't you inject the baytril into a softened piece of Mazuri???

 

[Pssh]

Why don't you inject the baytril into a softened piece of Mazuri???

I was thinking about that, but I wasn't sure if it was a good idea. I'll try that tomorrow.

Kurt is 5.5 lbs and 9 years old, how far behind is he in growth? Just curious because I'm pretty sure that's way small...

 

[Laura]

can you post pictures?
Sounds liek you are doing ok.. baytril can make them go off food and bit and all the pestering you are doing to him to make him well..
if he will eat a strawberry, try putting the baytril in that.. or a tomatoe.. Mine were are pills and it work great to hand feed them ...

 

[Pssh]

I'll see if I can get some pictures tomorrow. He's sleeping in his dogloo right now. He looks pretty funky. His shell is a bit deformed/caved in and he has some overgrowth in addition to the pyramiding. The first time I went to the vet with him, I could tell the vet wanted to reprimand me because of the way he looked, but then he learned Kurt was a rescue.

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

Will he eat any flavor of baby-food? If so, mix some calcium powder in, or puree some cactus pad into a gooey mush.

Best of luck to both of you.

I've never tried feeding him baby food, how would I feed that?

Put a glob on a plate or a flat rock. One sick tortoise I nursed back to health would take it right off the spoon...pureed carrots and peas, in her case.

Might need to try different flavors until you find out what your tort likes best.

 

[Annieski]

My Mortimer loved "organic" baby food SQUASH. When I had to do a round of med's, I would put the medicine in the squash and it was gone before he knew it was medicated[would help to feed first, to see if your's likes it--- then only give a small amount with the meds in it each day--- then offer the rest of the normal diet]. You may want to offer a "bird" CUTTLE BONE for not only the calcium content but it helps in keeping the beak from getting too overgrown. Mortimer likes it best, when it gets a little wet and he usually goes through 1 large-size "bone" a week. Also, putting the greens on a flat,slate rock will help wear -down the beak.