MBD?

[Kez]

Hi.
I’m fostering a Herman’s Tortoise for a friend whilst she’s looking for a new house. He’s hardly eating & is wobbling & banging his shell on the ground. She’ll isn’t soft but I’m concerned he could have MBD.
I have a Mesopotamia tortoise kept in the same conditions & he is fine.
They are not kept together.
The fostered one has lost 39grams in a month & mine has gained 50 grams.
Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Tom]

Hi.
I’m fostering a Herman’s Tortoise for a friend whilst she’s looking for a new house. He’s hardly eating & is wobbling & banging his shell on the ground. She’ll isn’t soft but I’m concerned he could have MBD.
I have a Mesopotamia tortoise kept in the same conditions & he is fine.
They are not kept together.
The fostered one has lost 39grams in a month & mine has gained 50 grams.
Any advice would be appreciated.

Are you soaking the tortoise? How is it being housed? UV? Diet? We need more info.

 

[Kez]

Are you soaking the tortoise? How is it being housed? UV? Diet? We need more info.

Hi Tom.
Thanks for your reply.
Both tortoises live outside in a secure garden. Garden is divided in half so they don’t mix. Insulated night box, sun room with lumisol which heats up when the sun is on it, heat lamp for cold days.
soaked every other day.
Diet is mostly suitable weeds, lambs lettuce , flowers & a weed patch in the garden & other plants to graze on. Calcium supplement once a week.
I tried to upload a video but couldn’t, I could only upload a photo which seemed of little use.

 

[Tom]

Hi Tom.
Thanks for your reply.
Both tortoises live outside in a secure garden. Garden is divided in half so they don’t mix. Insulated night box, sun room with lumisol which heats up when the sun is on it, heat lamp for cold days.
soaked every other day.
Diet is mostly suitable weeds, lambs lettuce , flowers & a weed patch in the garden & other plants to graze on. Calcium supplement once a week.
I tried to upload a video but couldn’t, I could only upload a photo which seemed of little use.

With that diet and access to sun, MBD could be eliminated. If it has been indoors with no UV for months on end prior to coming to you, then MBD might be a factor.

Do you soak this tortoise regulalrly?

What are the temperatures? How warm is it in the sun room? The night box? What is the overnight low?

 

[Kez]

I soak him every other day for about twenty minutes.
Sun room is between 25-30, night box overnight low 15.
Although this Tortoise has been a garden tortoise he has had a poor diet of banana, green beans, lettuce, cucumber & not a lot else. He has also had no calcium supplement.
Although I’m providing the correct diet he won’t eat.
I’ve been looking after him for around nine weeks & in five weeks he has lost 39 grams, my tortoise has gained 52 grams.
The tortoise is 57. Hasn’t eaten again today, hardly moving & when he does the same wobbly walking & banging his plastron on the ground.

 

[Yvonne G]

It's time for you to intervene. Buy either strained carrot human babyfood, or liquid bird vitamins. If you go with babyfood, mix it 50/50 with warm water. If bird vitamins add several drops to warm water. Soak the tortoise daily in either solution for at least 45 minutes and longer is even better. It would be helpful if you can set him up in a tub indoors just until he starts eating. And it's ok to offer him foods they like instead of what's good for him - you can wean him off once he's eating. Even iceberg lettuce. I normally see improvement after three days of the carrot soaks.

 

[Kez]

Hi Yvonne.
Thank you for your response. I will buy some carrot baby food in the morning & try that. It’s not a problem to set him up indoors for a while so I’ll also try that.
I have tried giving him food that he likes, he still won’t eat. At one point I was mashing up banana with some water & spraying his food with it, that worked twice. I will try what you have suggested. Thank you.

 

[Maggie3fan]

Don't stand there to watch him eat. Some tortoises won't eat if you are watching

 

[Kez]

Thanks. I usually just put their food down & leave them to it.