My girl is broken

Darkmornings

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my tortoise is limping. I can only speculate on what happened. It’s her back left leg and she is doing ok without it but, she shouldn’t be like this.She is 10 and has a lot of years ahead of her. I gave her a week to shake it off. She hasn’t. What’s next?

Does anyone know any tortoise vets near Nashville TN.

She is eating, drinking and pooping like normal. She is also using the leg, just not the way she used to.

Any advice or references would be great.
 

dmmj

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Is she draging it?
Using it but not at full capacity?
Any chance it is rubbing up against the shell?
 

Yvonne G

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That happened a couple years ago to my big male Manouria. X-rays showed us that the hip ball had come out of the socket. Dr Boyer in SoCal operated and cut off the joint and ever since it healed he's been good as new.

Your tortoise needs to be seen by a vet. She may be in pain.
 

Yvonne G

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I don't know how to copy/paste links from my Kindle, so you'll have to look at our vet list yourself. From the home page it's the next line after Tortoise Health.
 

Darkmornings

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She is using it but, not the way she used to.

We named her speed bump because I almost ran her over with my car when we found her. We nicked named her speedy because she used to be really fast. She isn’t now. She is a survivor. I’ll help her.

I’ll look to the list now. I was hoping for someone ho had experience with one of your vets
 

Darkmornings

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We went to the vet this morning. We were given baytril and predisone.

Any known tricks to give a tortoise a pill?

I was thinking coffee grinder on the pills and putting them on or in fruit.

The zoo told my vet they give pills in a tube or injections. (I’m not sure if I can do that.)My husband will give the shots a try if I can’t get her to eat the pills.

My girl only eats grass and hay and a cuttle bone every once in a while. We feed hibiscus and roses as a treat (she loves red stuff)
 

eric joranson

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I would take a hibiscus flower and wet it down....grind down the pill into a powder an sprinkle it over the flower; the water should hold most of it in place till eaten
.
 

Yvonne G

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Did they do an X-ray? What did the vet say about the leg? I don't understand why they'd give an antibiotic for a limpy leg.
 

Darkmornings

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Did they do an X-ray? What did the vet say about the leg? I don't understand why they'd give an antibiotic for a limpy leg.
No X-ray. They yanked on her leg and watched her walk. she was annoyed and pulled it back fiercely. We are on a wait and see plan. She is using it, and she is walking on it. It just isn’t working like the other leg. He thinks it’s probably an infection or strain. Either way he wants to wait. it seems they’re don’t like to drug and anesthesia anything “exotic “

The vet hasn’t seen a tortoise like my Speedy before. He had to call for advice(to another vet, a zoo and a website) I thought that was promising...or dooming He didn’t just spout bologna out of his mouth.

Who is Melissa Kaplan? I know she is a vet that deals with tortoise and reptiles. T vet right her site. Do you all have an opinion about that or her?
 

Darkmornings

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Spell correct is my monster.

My girl is around 20yo. I have had her 10ish years. She is 50lbs.

I moved recently to middle Tennessee. There aren’t many like her here.The vet treated her like something new. The techs were so excited that she was there. I will move to a farm soon where she (to Miami standards) won’t be a weird thing. I will be able to get my horsy vet to look in on her. For now, she is broken in the suburbs.

She seems ok ish. I asked about her shell and no one answered.
 

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Yvonne G

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She's an educator and wildlife rehabber. She really hasn't kept up on the current way to raise baby tortoises, but most of her health stuff is ok.
 

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