Hi All,
We have had Louie now for nearly two weeks. Louie is a 6inch RF who came from a petsore. He had been there several months and every time I would see him he would be active, exploring, soaking and eating. About a week before we brought him home they introduced a new little RF in his tank that was very obviously sick (totally inactive would not open puffy eyes). I have observed Louie's activity and appetite decreasing somewhat in the time we have had him which left me concerned that he may have acquired what his prior roomie had. Went back to the petstore and found out the little one had died. I took Louie to the vet yesterday and he feels that a respiratory infection is likely due to some possible labored breathing and puffiness around the eyes. He was very active and alert at the vet but is decreasing in activity at home. So he is started on the baytril (1 0.1ml injection every 48 hours with 5 doses - not sure how many mg/ml). We have his enclosure shortened substantially with a piece of insulation to get the temps up to mid 80's and will be soaking him 15-20 minutes per day. My first question for you all is hopefully to get some feedback that Louie may recover from whatever is ailing him. I find the URTD statistic on the tortoiselibrary site very distressing - that only 20% of torts will recover from this. Can any of you kind folks let me know if you have seen your RF recover from a respiratory illness??
Second topic is regarding flagellates. I asked the vet to do a fecal check and he did while we were in the office and said it was fine. Then called me last night to say that on a couple slides he made after I left he found numerous flagellates. He said with a healthy immune system Louie maybe able to clear on his own but he still would recommend treating it (I am assuming with Flagyl). I told him that I don't see Louie taking a by mouth med during this period we are doing the baytril injections. Would you all think it okay to do these two medication treatments
back to back? Have any of you given your tort probiotics?
I am sorry for the very long post. Seems my worst worries are coming true here...losing sleep worrying about this little sweetie. Any advice or reassurance you all could offer would be very welcomed!
Katie
We have had Louie now for nearly two weeks. Louie is a 6inch RF who came from a petsore. He had been there several months and every time I would see him he would be active, exploring, soaking and eating. About a week before we brought him home they introduced a new little RF in his tank that was very obviously sick (totally inactive would not open puffy eyes). I have observed Louie's activity and appetite decreasing somewhat in the time we have had him which left me concerned that he may have acquired what his prior roomie had. Went back to the petstore and found out the little one had died. I took Louie to the vet yesterday and he feels that a respiratory infection is likely due to some possible labored breathing and puffiness around the eyes. He was very active and alert at the vet but is decreasing in activity at home. So he is started on the baytril (1 0.1ml injection every 48 hours with 5 doses - not sure how many mg/ml). We have his enclosure shortened substantially with a piece of insulation to get the temps up to mid 80's and will be soaking him 15-20 minutes per day. My first question for you all is hopefully to get some feedback that Louie may recover from whatever is ailing him. I find the URTD statistic on the tortoiselibrary site very distressing - that only 20% of torts will recover from this. Can any of you kind folks let me know if you have seen your RF recover from a respiratory illness??
Second topic is regarding flagellates. I asked the vet to do a fecal check and he did while we were in the office and said it was fine. Then called me last night to say that on a couple slides he made after I left he found numerous flagellates. He said with a healthy immune system Louie maybe able to clear on his own but he still would recommend treating it (I am assuming with Flagyl). I told him that I don't see Louie taking a by mouth med during this period we are doing the baytril injections. Would you all think it okay to do these two medication treatments
back to back? Have any of you given your tort probiotics? I am sorry for the very long post. Seems my worst worries are coming true here...losing sleep worrying about this little sweetie. Any advice or reassurance you all could offer would be very welcomed!
Katie
