my lil leopard refuses to eat~advise pls

[tortelini]

Okay so, we've had her a couple of weeks now and the list of ailments just keep stacking up. We took her to the vet with an eye infection last week and are treating her for that but he said otherwise she looked fine. She quit eating over the weekend and now seems to have a bit of a soft shell. I am soaking her in baby food/water mixture twice a day. These are the only times she's active except to move in and out of her hides. EErrg...I can't lose another tort! Anyone have any advise?

I am hoping the guy will give us our money back or something...we spoke to him earlier this week and he said he was having trouble with the other baby that was with ours before we bought her. My hubby feels so bad for buying me a sick baby since we just lost Wilson!

 

[Meg90]

How much have you been supplementing her calcium? What are her temps like?

Does she drink when you soak her?

The hard part about hatchlings is their tendency to be soooo delicate...as babies, everything is fragile. But out of all the reptiles I know about, and have personally kept, torts seem to be the most fragile. Especially the babies. Best wishes....

 

[tortelini]

My temps are normal....87 hot side-cool side 75ish. I supplement calcium once a week (we've only had her for two and hasn't eaten most of this last one) She has uva/uvb, diet consisted of cactus, grasses, dandelion greens and euro blend spring mix (escarole, endive, radicchio, some shredded carrot for vit A to help her eyes) etc. I feel like she is drinking when I soak her. But how long can she go without eating?

Just wishing there was something I could do to tempt her to eat...just a bite or two would make me happy!! I guess another vet trip is inevitable. I feel like I'm going to get the same diagnosis...and send me home with a still sick and weak tort and a $150 deficit in my wallet! These guys have cost me a fortune the last two months.

 

[Meg90]

You should supplement calcium at every feeding....babies need much, much more than the adults do...I supplement my Greek once a week, but he is ten years old...

I had a feeling that was why you had the soft shell issue.

Are you feeding her mazuri? have you tried tempting her with boiled butternut squash? Or maybe a small piece of fruit? usually food with color is what they will go for. My greek LOVES red pepper...He will actually come running for it.

You might want to see about increasing your temps too....being cold can make babies go off of their food. Since she sounds well hydrated...

Babies cannot go long without eating...they are too small, their little organ systems start shutting down...

 

[jorrow]

Yea, I agree i know im talking about a different species but my RF will come running for anything red even if he has already ate.

 

[tortelini]

well poop.....I hadn't thought about supplementing more calcium until AFTER I noticed her shell to be soft. Which was after she quit eating....is there a cacium supplement that I could put in her water? I know all of my russians love red bell peppers so I will buy one later....I know it won't go to waste.

I have been nervous about upping the temps since I know having it too hot can make them inactive as well. six in one hand, half dozen in the other kind of thing!

 

[Meg90]

You could try soaking her in bird vitamins? I know that Danny reccomends that as well, and I think there is D3 and calcium in those...she could be lacking D3 too...

They are in the bird section of your local petstore. Danny's rule of thumb is usually to add just enough to tinge the water light yellow.

I would try that, and buy some nice red pepper. And see if you can't tempt her!

 

[egyptiandan]

The Vitasol does have D3, but no calcium. This looks like it would work http://www.puritan.com/calcium-supplements-001/2-calphonite-034418

Danny

 

[purpod]

I'm not sure how soon after purchase it was that your lil' babe had symptoms of the eye infection, but if the pet store owner admitted to having another sick from the same batch as yours, the honorable thing to do would be for him to refund your vet costs, or allow you to return the tortie for a full refund. Your hubby should not feel bad, the pet store owner should, for selling you a sickly babe!

Were the leppies enclosed with other species of tort's at the pet store?

You must be besides yourself with worry ~ I, too, would suggest keeping the enclosure a bit warmer, and it sounds as tho you've got a good lead on the calcium/D3 deal... the only other thing I can add is that you've got our prayers with ya!

Blessings,
Purpod

 

[tortelini]

I didn't know it was necessarily an infection for five or six days. At first I just noticed her scratching her right eye and thought maybe there was someting in it or had a vit A deficiency. I cleaned it with saline and put a drop of cod liver oil on each. When that didn't help and both eyes seemed to get affected I took her in and got terramyacin. She has seemed just a bit lethargic since the beginning but was eating and moving around the enclosure so I kinda just chalked it up to me being overprotective. Now, she hasn't eaten in days. I upped the temps this afternoon, soaked her and offered red pepper. Nothing yet! Tomorrow, back to vet I guess!

Yes, when I stopped by the shop to talk to the owner about her, the other torts in the enclosure were hermanns and marginated! She was a suprise from my husband however and he is not tort savvy~ he does however, know my weaknesses quite well!

 

[purpod]

Sending you xtra prayers, Dani. And yeah, the intermixing of breeds, 'specially in little guys that are so fragile, is never a good idea and the pet shop owner should've known better. Very disappointing, to say the least.

Perhaps it is time to give hubby some "caaaasual" pointers about buying your favorite gifts... much like how wanna-be brides often let their ring-finger size somehow slip into conversation, wink wink.

Blessings,
Purpod

 

[galvinkaos]

My dad has taught all of his granddaughters at a very you age their ring size is "2 carats". Grandpa taking care of his girls.

Dawna

 

[tortelini]

Today is day seven of not eating. Still soaking in baby food/bird vitamins...ordered some liquid calcium to be here Monday. Her right eye is open and left is a tiny little slit. Though most of the time they are both closed, it's nice to know she is improving in that area. She is soaking right now and is quite persistant at getting out of the container. She still has a little spunk to her so I'm still crossing my fingers that she will pull through.

 

[K9KidsLove]

Hi...Sorry your baby isn't feeling well.
What are you using for a UVB light? Is it a long fluorescent tube, compact, coil, MVB? What number is it? How close is it to your baby?
What substrate is he on?
Good luck
Patsy

 

[tortelini]

Patsy~ All the info is on another thread. I have a MVB 100w....substrate is play sand/coconut coir. I know that it was probably due to her not being able to see, now that her eyes are open it's just a matter of getting her to eat. I've tried it all...greens, weeds, flowers, red pepper, carrot, squash, baby food. I put a little baby food in an infant medicine doser and put some on her mouth. She took a little, but it's been 10 days or something since she actually ate.

 

[purpod]

Hiya Dani ~

I thought you were gonna take your little sick tortie back to the vet? Sunlight has always been a defining factor in my past when a tortie was trying to recover from an eyeball infection, which is where I think Patsy was headed with her questions {forgive me if I am wrong}..

Keep us informed, Hon.
Purpod

 

[tortelini]

Yeah, we took her back in. The vet comes highly recommended and I trust him, but I feel helpless. I see signs she is improving but I'm worried that it's going to take too long to get her back eating. I'll keep trying though. Today she seems listless again while yesterday she was moving around with her eyes open. I live in Oregon and it's just too cold right now to get her outside. I wish this was easier. I'm constantly checking on her and I'm always worried I'm going to find that she's died. She probably wishes I'd just leave her alone already!

 

[Meg90]

What signs of improvement have you seen?

What did the vet do?

Ten days without food is a reallllly long time, especially for a baby. Have you soaked her in anything lately? What are her temps like?

How often are you checking on her, to know that she's been moving around? Like, are you home all day, or at work or etc...

 

[tortelini]

I'm a stay at home mommy so I'm home all day...I check on her at least a couple of times an hour. She is in our spare bedroom in the walk in closet so the kids won't bother her! Temps have been upped 90 and 80-85.....vet gave vit a shot and eye meds. He did a fecal and a mouth swab and said he would call if there was anything out of the norm. Her eyes are open now which had not been the case for quite a while. Yesterday she moved around her enclosure alot where she used to just sit under her heat lamp. She is soaked in baby food/water and bird vitamin morning and night. Just got liquid calcium today that Danny recommended. Had to order off the web cause I couldn't find it anywhere close to home. I know ten days seems horrible. Vet said to return Wednesday.

 

[Meg90]

so she still hasn't eaten anything? Did you ever post any pics of her? Do you have any on her recently? (since the eating stopped?)