Please help to diagnose Horsefields' health issues

[cherre]

Please Help!

My horsefield tortoise of ~7-9 years (exact age isn't known) stopped eating properly(Food left untouched most of the times) & stopped moving around her enclosure ~1.5 months ago.
I helped her to eat ~week ago though(by showing her food continuously) and she had quite good appetite.

She lives on the table in the apartment, temps are ~ within limits (she has a hot spot under the lamp & cold spot in another end)

My guess was that she tries to go into hibernation as we had a really cold summer. She lives


She isn't underweight at all according to the formulas I've found on the Internet, and her carapace is strong.

Yesterday we decided to take her to the vet, he said tortoise doesn't have any infections or pneumonia and that overall she's healthy looking.

After we took her to the vet yesterday and after he did 2 shots (antibiotics + glucose), 2 red dots appeared near her tail. Does that mean the vet overreacted or did something wrong? I'm living in really small town and vet doesn't have much experience with tortoises

 

[cherre]

P.S. I know that she has long nails..

 

[cherre]

She usually eats a variaty of weeds, succulents & vegetables

 

[Maro2Bear]

Greetings..

Long nails and a beak as well that needs a good trimming. Are you sure it is getting enough heat, sunlight, exercise...etc. And it is strange those red dots appeared after the visit. Were you with the vet and tort during the entire treatment session?

• Curious what part of Europe was “cold” this year? The UK was sizzling, Greece and Scandinavia too had pretty hot dsys and drought.

Best of luck with your Tort!

 

[cherre]

We're living @ 59N parallel (same as Alaska), summer wasn't THAT cold I guess.. and we know about the beak and nails but we couldn't find a vet to trim it She's indeed moving less than before (we moved here last year)

Yes, we were with the vet whole time, he only did the shots, and I'm 100% positive that it only appeared today, after ~1h after second shot.

 

[Maro2Bear]

We're living @ 59N parallel (same as Alaska), summer wasn't THAT cold I guess.. and we know about the beak and nails but we couldn't find a vet to trim it She's indeed moving less than before (we moved here last year)

Yes, we were with the vet whole time, he only did the shots, and I'm 100% positive that it only appeared today, after ~1h after second shot.

Ok... good luck.... I’m still curious on the location . I know that St Petersburg (Russia) is at about 60n x 30e.

Happy torting.

 

[Minority2]

We're living @ 59N parallel (same as Alaska), summer wasn't THAT cold I guess.. and we know about the beak and nails but we couldn't find a vet to trim it She's indeed moving less than before (we moved here last year)

Yes, we were with the vet whole time, he only did the shots, and I'm 100% positive that it only appeared today, after ~1h after second shot.

Beaks and nails are relatively easy to trim. You can use a rotary tool. There are pet branded nail grinders available.

I use a rotary tool with a speed controller for beaks. I clip part of their nails with toe nail clippers and then file the rest down with a regular nail file to avoid cutting too deep. I finish both beak and nail sections off with (500-1000 grit) sandpaper to prevent them from getting snagged by any obstacles.

Make sure you enclosure has flat rocks, feeding tiles, Cuttle bones, and other hard objects for them to maintain their beaks and nails.

 

[cherre]

Ok... good luck.... I’m still curious on the location

You almost got it right, we're in Vologda, Russia

 

[Maro2Bear]

You almost got it right, we're in Vologda, Russia

Gotcha. Very cool. Welcome!

 

[cherre]

Made an x-ray...her bowels are rotting :/

 

[Yvonne G]

Made an x-ray...her bowels are rotting :/

WHAT?????

 

[cherre]

WHAT?????

It seems our temps are broken and she only has ~85F in her basking spot and 75F or less elsewhere..
So she ate something, tried to hibernate due to low temps, and wasn't able to process the food..
I knew I'm dumb, but not to that extent...

 

[Maro2Bear]

Yikes...that doesnt sound good at all. Did the vet recommend (or do) anything for your tort?

But, since you now know the problem, there’s time to fix.

Good luck.

 

[cherre]

Did the vet recommend (or do) anything for your tort?

Yeah, here's what he did/we will do:

Baytril 0.25 ml - every other day
Ringers solution + glucose + vit C - every other day
Calcium borogluconate - every other day
60 min warm baths every day

We're waiting for blood tests to come back as well, but there's not much hope the antibiotics will help according to the vet..
So if she doesn't get better within next couple of weeks best choice is to put her down I'm afraid..

 

[Gillian M]

A very warm welcome to the forum, @cherre .

 

[Maro2Bear]

Yeah, here's what he did/we will do:

Baytril 0.25 ml - every other day
Ringers solution + glucose + vit C - every other day
Calcium borogluconate - every other day
60 min warm baths every day

We're waiting for blood tests to come back as well, but there's not much hope the antibiotics will help according to the vet..
So if she doesn't get better within next couple of weeks best choice is to put her down I'm afraid..

Well, lets HOPE that the treatments, coupled with daily baths and proper temps brings her back up to speed.
Good luck.

 

[Diamond]

Sorry to hear this. Hoping your tort gets better with the treatment. Don't beat yourself up. Keep us posted.

 

[LaLaP]

Oh I'm so sorry this is happening to you and your tortoise. I'm glad you were able to figure out what is going wrong for her. I hope there is time to save her. The best of luck to you guys. Keep us posted.

 

[cherre]

She seems bit more responsive after few injections, but we still need to be ready for bad outcome

 

[cherre]

..
She died