leo's head got stuck inside

[leopard777]

i have search past issue ,that apparently some leopards head do get stuck inside the shell , mine got into a incident few days ago , a rodent attempted to injured my leo tortoise , i can see some injury on his front legs but the head got stuck in a awkward positions , i have tried pushing the head inwards but it still doesnt come out ,any solutions will be great , i will get some pics up

 

[Tom]

Never heard of it getting stuck. I've heard of them keeping it tucked for a long time as a defense mechanism.

 

[leopard777]

Never heard of it getting stuck. I've heard of them keeping it tucked for a long time as a defense mechanism.

how long do they tucked it in for ? is it normal behavior for it to walk around with the head tucked in ? its almost a whole day his head is still inside, here is the pic , it look much better after gently pushing inwards , before the nose was way upwards

 

[Tom]

I would think they would hold it in as long as they felt threatened. First the rodent, and now some giant ape poking at him. There may also be an injury from the rodent and he's holding his head in to protect it.

Just so I (we) can learn from this incident, how did a rodent get to him? Was it inside or outside, day or night? Where in the world are you?

 

[Neal]

I haven't seen a tortoise tuck in it's head like that.

Try soaking him in some warm water and stay out of his sight until he comes out.

 

[ascott]

Traumatized for sure....I would offer a warm water soak in a quieter place...and let him alone for awhile...just make sure he will not drown by too high a water level....have you seen him at all with his head out since whatever happened took place? How do you know it was a rodent?

 

[leopard777]

Updated! After some more nudging I left it alone the head pop out by itself, oh god what a relief! I found some food being ransacked in my kitchen, now to trap the culprit.

no, the head was always stuck inside whole day, i find it odd that all four legs came out , it even start to walk around with its head stuck inside in that odd position

 

[Yvonne G]

It might have been a muscle spasm. I'm glad it finally came out.

I have seen one leopard with its head stuck, and heard about others. It was always leopard tortoises. But the reason for the head being stuck was always mis-shapen shells and too-long beaks. And it was never baby leopard tortoises.

Poor baby. Be sure to keep the sore spots clean and maybe treat them with antibiotic ointment.

Good luck in protecting your baby in the future.

 

[leopard777]

hey yvonne , its actually this 2010 thread that i have search http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-leopard-tortoise-head-is-stuck#axzz22mkja5ox , i used q-tip with slight touch of olive oil , could be it was traumatized from the attack that it hide his head wrongly