odie

[cali]

well, i went to the vet, and she really wasnt much help. she verified that he has mbd but said he was too small for any meds. i wasnt real impressed with her, i guess she specializes in desert torts, but had never heard of a hermanns. then told me they have basically the same care but if she had never heard of the species how would she know. She also told me to feed odie some extra protien like dog or cat food. and i KNOW thats not right. i definatly didnt take her word for it. and she pretty much didnt have any hope for the little dude. BUT i do. anyway, since hes always sleeping on the opposite side of the MVB, i decided to get a 2' strip fixture so he cant escape the UVB!

so since the vet wasnt much help, im really hoping you guys can help me out. Any suggestions on what i should do for the little guy? i bathe him everyday, feeding him on kale, radiccio, red and green leaf lettuce and some romaine, and top his food with calcium no phosphorus with D3 everyday. is this diet okay? and ONE more question, i want to take him outside to get some natural sunlight but its been around 110 here lately, is this too hot for him?

your guys help would be greatly appreciated :]

 

[egyptiandan]

Hi,
Sorry to hear that the vet wasn't much help.
Diet wise I would cut out the Kale as it's high in oxalic acid which binds calcium. If you can't find weeds, than Spring Mix from the store will help. I personally use a supplement with phosphorus in it. I use Reptocal. Your also going to need some liquid vitamins. I use Vitasol for birds. Seeing as Odie has MBD I would add it to the daily bath water, just enough to make the water yellow.
If you can get him some sun early or late that would be great.

Danny

 

[jlyoncc1]

Sorry to hear about Odie. I have a small leopard baby that has not thrived. I started soaking him in the water with vitasol, like Danny said and got him outside and I have seen a big difference. Although he really isn't growing yet, he is much more active and seems much better. Good Luck!!

 

[Crazy1]

Sorry to hear about Odie. I too have had similar expeiences as you and Dee. I also used vita Sol per dannys instructions and game my guy outside time in the morning and afternoon and saw great improvements. Good luck and keep us posted. In the mean time I would start searching for another vet. Should the need arrive you will have them on file.

 

[cali]

thanks guys! i bought some vitasol today and will start using it tomorrow, i am also going to start taking him outside for a couple hours in the morning. hopefully this will help. i switched back to spring mix, and i will be ordering a seed mix from carolina pet supply soon. thanks again guys and i will keep you all posted :]

 

[elegans]

I would suggest that you cut the soaking down to every other or even every third day. One of the things that usually happens when any of us soak our tortoises is that they defecate. This can be premature in so much as they have not finished extracting the nutrition in their lower intestine. Just a thought. I have saved a few torts that were showing the same symptoms this way. Most everything else is spot on. Also Mazuri would not be a bad idea, you could try soaking just one piece at a time. They usually eat it with gusto and it is a very well designed diet. Best of luck Douglas Beard