New adopted Sulcata and I have questions!

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ascott

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Yes, give her time and patience.... :D

What did the prior owner tell you they were feeding her? I am kinda cringing while waiting for your reply.....
 

HollyH8

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ascott said:
Yes, give her time and patience.... :D

What did the prior owner tell you they were feeding her? I am kinda cringing while waiting for your reply.....

She didn't go into detail but said she fed her fresh greens, hay and strawberries. I'm thinking the "fresh greens" was mostly if not all romaine because the area around her tail is all poopy which indicates runny stool either that or they fed WAY too many strawberries.
 

Laura

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Probably MBD.. lots of sunshine and calcium,, excercise.. he should recover somewhat..
I would get some dark greens like srping mix, or find local weeds and grasses, pick them and make them avail to him.
Outside all day is good, but he needs access to shade too. if he fees too exposed, its stressful, and he wont eat.
Definately needs a good soaking.. you can run a hose or dig a hole or get a garbage can lid, make a depression in the ground and use that.. plastic not metal.
Coral boards and a few posts would be a good start for an outdoor pen.
 

ascott

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Well it would be cool if she likes hay.....when she was outside did she show any interest in grazing on anything? I would imagine that she was likely more in awe of how good the sun felt and the fresh air...huh? I would say to be patient and let her settle in some. If she has not consumed any water yet I bet she will love the soak...but perhaps you may want to have the warm water in a few jugs then once you get her in the tub slowly pour the water in by letting it flow over her shell about half way down the she'll towards her butt as this will sometimes stimulate them to drink and see what happens....she though may not know what is going in so hopefully your tub is tall enough that she will not be able to walk out to quickly...you know? She will get use to it though.....then maybe have some food to offer her a little after she gets done soaking....I hope she gets it sooner rather than later....lol :D I would love to know how all goes :D

By the way....do you have any other tortoise? The reason I ask is...if your tortoise does enjoy the soak and it does encourage her to drink..she may sink near all of her head, including her nose, under the water and can remain there for along time (they can safely hold their head under for around 15 minutes...and if not aware of this it is not uncommon to feel freaked out thinking they are trying to do themselves in....lol..just mentioning incase :D:D
 

HollyH8

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ascott said:
Well it would be cool if she likes hay.....when she was outside did she show any interest in grazing on anything? I would imagine that she was likely more in awe of how good the sun felt and the fresh air...huh? I would say to be patient and let her settle in some. If she has not consumed any water yet I bet she will love the soak...but perhaps you may want to have the warm water in a few jugs then once you get her in the tub slowly pour the water in by letting it flow over her shell about half way down the she'll towards her butt as this will sometimes stimulate them to drink and see what happens....she though may not know what is going in so hopefully your tub is tall enough that she will not be able to walk out to quickly...you know? She will get use to it though.....then maybe have some food to offer her a little after she gets done soaking....I hope she gets it sooner rather than later....lol :D I would love to know how all goes :D

By the way....do you have any other tortoise? The reason I ask is...if your tortoise does enjoy the soak and it does encourage her to drink..she may sink near all of her head, including her nose, under the water and can remain there for along time (they can safely hold their head under for around 15 minutes...and if not aware of this it is not uncommon to feel freaked out thinking they are trying to do themselves in....lol..just mentioning incase :D:D



I have two Sulcata hatchlings and her. I'm going to try soaking her the way you described. She's probably never been soaked or sprayed in her life. Thank you! :) :D
 

ascott

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Lol....oh yeah, I just loomed at your signature and see the 2tortoise unknown sex indicated...apologies..sometimes I get excited and forget to peek there....I am happy and get excited when I see a true tortoise rescue..which is what you did...good job :D
 

HollyH8

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ascott said:
Lol....oh yeah, I just loomed at your signature and see the 2tortoise unknown sex indicated...apologies..sometimes I get excited and forget to peek there....I am happy and get excited when I see a true tortoise rescue..which is what you did...good job :D

Haha! No worries :D And thank you! Hopefully I can get her healthy :)
 

dmarcus

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Yes you will, just never get discouraged, there will be ups and downs with her until she is in good shape...
 

BrinnANDTorts

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Laura said:
Probably MBD.. lots of sunshine and calcium,, excercise.. he should recover somewhat..

I completely agree with this, with how badly your poor new tortoise shells looks (severe pyramiding, very very dark indicated pretty much no UVB) I would say the poor fella has at least some MBD. Maybe a bad case of it I'm not sure because its hard to tell if his/her shell is dipping in the back because of the pyramiding
 

TORTOISEMAN1

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vary sad! but thank goodness you got him/her now! lol :p
 

HollyH8

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Joker said:
vary sad! but thank goodness you got him/her now! lol :p

I know right! Poor thing. She'll have a forever happy home with me from now on.
 

HollyH8

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ascott said:
Holly, how did the soak go today? :D

Well at first when I started pouring the water on her she hissed (which was expected) but then like 2 seconds later she closed her eyes and looked like she fell asleep. It was so cute! I think she enjoyed it for the most part. Although she still didn't drink or eat anything..it's going on day 3 of no eating or drinking. I don't know what else to do!?
 

ascott

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Lol...nice. well I would soak her each day for awhile....and I would let her soak for as long as she wants to.....for at least an hour...even if she is not drinking there are points of her body that absorb the water.......and keep offering her food...maybe try some pumpkin or squash...perhaps try to get her to eat some goodies....also if she was use to eating romaine as main part of diet then perhaps offer that mixed with some organic spring/herb mix and cut it up kinda small and then spray it with water as this makes it trickier for the tort to pick through for only specific items....just a thought :D

Also..continue to be patient...all is still new for the two of you....
 

HollyH8

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ascott said:
Lol...nice. well I would soak her each day for awhile....and I would let her soak for as long as she wants to.....for at least an hour...even if she is not drinking there are points of her body that absorb the water.......and keep offering her food...maybe try some pumpkin or squash...perhaps try to get her to eat some goodies....also if she was use to eating romaine as main part of diet then perhaps offer that mixed with some organic spring/herb mix and cut it up kinda small and then spray it with water as this makes it trickier for the tort to pick through for only specific items....just a thought :D

Also..continue to be patient...all is still new for the two of you....

Thank you! I will try that. Although I have tried giving her romaine, apples and a tangerine to see if the colors would look enticing and she still didn't touch any of it. She's going on day 5 of no eating or drinking..and I'm just worried she's not going to survive. I bought a cuttlebone today and put it in her enclosure but of course she didn't want anything to do with it. I hope daily soaks will help..I'll keep offering food but I just don't know exactly what she was eating previously and I have no contact with the past owner. :/
 

ascott

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Yeah, none of my tortoise here will eat apples and I only had one of the CDTs touch his mouth on an orange and immediately wanted nothing to do with it...lol

If you sit down on the ground with her and chill for awhile, does she become interested in you? Or does she flee the scene?

I ask because sometimes we get anxious and that feeling is something an animal can sense (rather easily). I wonder if you find a patch of time in the day that you can just sit down on the ground with her, let yourself calm and relax (and have the treats you want to offer----really would try pumpkin, squash and maybe some watermelon) and just sit with the food near you...maybe see what she will do? I had to do this with the old man tortoise Humphry when I helped him with his impaction issues...the calmer I became the more curious he became...which worked out well because at that point he was willing to take food from me bite by bite...but it did take awhile to develop a relationship with him...but it did happen....

Also, think positive and don't give up....YOU ROCK AND YOU CAN DO IT!!!!! :D
 

HollyH8

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ascott said:
Yeah, none of my tortoise here will eat apples and I only had one of the CDTs touch his mouth on an orange and immediately wanted nothing to do with it...lol

If you sit down on the ground with her and chill for awhile, does she become interested in you? Or does she flee the scene?

I ask because sometimes we get anxious and that feeling is something an animal can sense (rather easily). I wonder if you find a patch of time in the day that you can just sit down on the ground with her, let yourself calm and relax (and have the treats you want to offer----really would try pumpkin, squash and maybe some watermelon) and just sit with the food near you...maybe see what she will do? I had to do this with the old man tortoise Humphry when I helped him with his impaction issues...the calmer I became the more curious he became...which worked out well because at that point he was willing to take food from me bite by bite...but it did take awhile to develop a relationship with him...but it did happen....

Also, think positive and don't give up....YOU ROCK AND YOU CAN DO IT!!!!! :D

I gave her some romaine and a strawberry today (I know not the best) and she ate a couple bites. Which is progress! I sat in her enclosure and she didn't do anything..so I guess that's good! I'm definitely seeing progress with her. Also with her MBD how exactly do you cure it? Or is there really no "cure" per say?
This is what I'm doing: Soak her first thing in the morning for an hour then I take her outside and feed her (she's outside for atleast 5 hours a day) I usually take her in around 5pm. Then I'll spray her a couple times throughout the day. Also, I bought her and Hercules and Hazel (my other two sullies) a cuttlebone but neither of them have touched it. Is there a way to get them to eat it? Thanks so much for your help! :D
 

BrinnANDTorts

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The natural sunshine that u are giving her well make her MBD heal If she has some
And once she starts eating supplement her with calcium , I don't think u need to supplement her with D3 too since she gets five hours of sunlight everyday
I'm so glad she is making progress !!!!!
 
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