need advice (deformed Russians)

[RICH STOKES]

HI all
went to pick up 2 spur thigh torts.what I found I couldn't leave,2 torts in a small enclosure and 1 in a state I have never seen before.may be naïve but couldn't leave behind as I maybe a softy.need to know what can be done as already booked to see vet on wed.was told they had never been into hibo and as far as I know they are not spur thighed either.now not sure what to do as mine are already asleep but don't know anything about these 2.

 

[WithLisa]

Poor thing... Probably a Russian?
The malformed shell looks like a congenital defect to me, I guess there's nothing you can do about it. I would just try to make his/her life as normal as possible.
Thank you for rescuing them, best of luck to both!

 

[Lyn W]

What a shocking state for them to be in. Poor things - they look as if they been very neglected. Thanks for taking them in and I hope you can turn their lives around. Which country are you in? The more experienced US members will be along with good advice soon when their day begins.

 

[Yvonne G]

What those poor tortoises must have endured in order to end up like this. I've seen box turtles that look like this, but never Russians.

They have been fed the wrong foods and have not had the proper lighting/UVB or exercise. I'll bet they've lived in something like a 10 gallon aquarium their whole lives.

There's nothing you can do for them besides improve their diet and living conditions. They will never look normal. The experience I've had with box turtles looking like this tells me that they will live a short life, but can live a happy, comfortable life with better care.

 

[Gabriel Mattei]

Have the same problem with a couple of my star tortoises, Thai people keep them in boxes feeding them bananas and other non nutritious vegetables. Right now i will tell you that the tortoise is way too big to be able to produce a nice smooth carapace. You also may want to avoid breeding attempts with that tortoise for safety reasons. You could maybe try to add some calcium to its diet just so he/she can fortify those bones. I have attached a picture of a rescue star tortoise that was handed to me last week and look at his shell, horrible right? Just make sure he has a better life then his last owners gave him. And sometimes the egg tooth and nails need trimming!

 

[WithLisa]

They have been fed the wrong foods and have not had the proper lighting/UVB or exercise. I'll bet they've lived in something like a 10 gallon aquarium their whole lives.

Are you sure those box turtles were deformed because of bad husbandry? I've seen a few pictures of Hermanns looking like this (even though not that extreme) which were not neglected, their carapace (or parts of it) just didn't grow like it should. I don't think those tortoises were well cared for, but I doubt that's the only reason since the other tortoise seems to look normal.

It doesn't matter anymore for this poor creature, I'm just curious what could make a tortoise look that horrible.

 

[Yvonne G]

Well, the ones I've taken in that look like these Russians were all due to bad husbandry. I got the stories straight from the previous keepers' mouths. And none of them realized there was anything wrong with the way their animals looked.

 

[Pearly]

Hi and welcome! Thank God for people like you! There are people here on the forum who have rescued some very badly deformed animals, and have been succesful in many cases rehabing them. I'm glad you couldn't just walk on by and then found this forum. Check out the diet and health sections in here. Please keep us posted.

 

[RICH STOKES]

Hi all
many thanks for all your comments..Have only just joined this group but will now keep a regular eye on what is happening..Still hoping something can be done for big tort as I don't know if shell can be slowly trimmed back over time..Will have long long chat with vet on wed but even if nothing can be done so be it,hes now mine and will get the best I can give..Already started bathing and feeding greens and wow can he move,grease lightning around front room.Not sure where the Russian bit came from but have been told due to him only have 4 claws he maybe a horsfield.Again thanks for all you rcomments

 

[Yvonne G]

Horsefield = "Russian"