Problem

[bikerchicspain]

Hi guys, need some input..

I brought a Pardalis Pardalis home from work as she wasn't eating, she is about 10cm long and weighs only 190 grams.

I have been soaking her in baby food, Nothing,
step 2: tube feeding, nothing,
Step 3; antibiotics administered, Nothing

Bloods perfect,
wormed form intestinal worms and the urinary tract worms,
Temps at 30c, humidity perfect,
UVA/B perfect.
X rays perfect.
fecal, perfect.

Any ideas folks?, she is driving me potty because i know she is healthy, but she wont eat....

 

[Hallbomber]

Find what he/she loves. Mine attack Kale, Collard greens. Try all Of the many options. There is also vitamin supplements that are supposed to induce an appetite that you can give orally.

 

[JoesMum]

A healthy tort can hold out for 3 weeks easily without eating. Picky doesn't even start to describe their attitude to food. They're worse than children!

By bringing the tort home, it's now in different surroundings, so it may need a couple of weeks to settle before deciding it's worth eating again.

A hungry tortoise will eat, so don't worry too much. Just keep going with the 20 minute daily soaks to make sure he's hydrated.

 

[bikerchicspain]

Find what he/she loves. Mine attack Kale, Collard greens. Try all Of the many options. There is also vitamin supplements that are supposed to induce an appetite that you can give orally.

Tried Tested and failed miserasably

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A healthy tort can hold out for 3 weeks easily without eating. Picky doesn't even start to describe their attitude to food. They're worse than children!

By bringing the tort home, it's now in different surroundings, so it may need a couple of weeks to settle before deciding it's worth eating again.

A hungry tortoise will eat, so don't worry too much. Just keep going with the 20 minute daily soaks to make sure he's hydrated.

She has been with me for two weeks already, but I will keep trying..

 

[Melly-n-shorty]

what was she being fed before? did the previous owner recently change her diet?

 

[Laura]

probiotics?
has been on antibiotics for anything?
try color?
or try a fake tort figurine.. place it near the food and maybe she will feel competitive.

 

[wellington]

Can you get some cactus, prickly pear fruit or my leopard also loves Christmas cactus sections. The Christmas cactus and prickly pear fruit should not be fed every day, only occasionally. However if she will eat some, then you could introduce other stuff with it. Good luck

 

[Jacob]

Try letting her iN Natural Sunlight If You Can, Try Not tOP bother Her, and Leave a Dish Of Cactus Or Muzuiri Outside!
Goodluck

 

[Yvonne G]

When I come across a tortoise that absolutely will not eat, I give them some iceburg lettuce. That usually gets them started eating. As time goes on, I'll start adding darker greens and if that goes well, I'll wean him off the iceburg.

 

[bikerchicspain]

probiotics?
has been on antibiotics for anything?
try color?
or try a fake tort figurine.. place it near the food and maybe she will feel competitive.

Tried with the figure and tried with probiotics, nothing!

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Thanks guys but I have tried all of the above,
I am at my wits end, she only moves about after her baths...

 

[JoesMum]

Another trick with food is to cut it up really small. Sprinkle with some finely chopped red pepper or strawberry (something bright red that they can't resist) In gulping down the red stuff, the green can't be picked out and gets eaten too. Gradually cut back on the red stuff.

 

[Tom]

You said temps at 30. Which temp? Ambient? I thinks that's a fine ambient, but is there a basking spot around 38?

What about soaks? Are you doing the daily 90-95 degree soak thing?

The most likely culprit from the info that I see here is an intestinal blockage of some sort. Many things will not show up on an x-ray. If you have a feeding syringe, try a whole lotta mineral oil or vaseline. See if that doesn't help work something loose. I've also had good luck with prolonged warm soaks for a case like this. Around an hour. Sometimes they get frantic to get out of the water and all that commotion and exercise helps things get moving in the GI tract. If you have been tube feeding, are you seeing any stools?

Another possibility is some other "bug" that either was not tested for, or just didn't show on your fecal exam, because it was not shedding ova at the time. There are a whole bunch of nasty tortoise bugs out there. Did this tort ever have contact with or inhabit the former enclosure of a Russian, Pancake or Star tortoise?

 

[bikerchicspain]

You said temps at 30. Which temp? Ambient? I thinks that's a fine ambient, but is there a basking spot around 38?

What about soaks? Are you doing the daily 90-95 degree soak thing?

The most likely culprit from the info that I see here is an intestinal blockage of some sort. Many things will not show up on an x-ray. If you have a feeding syringe, try a whole lotta mineral oil or vaseline. See if that doesn't help work something loose. I've also had good luck with prolonged warm soaks for a case like this. Around an hour. Sometimes they get frantic to get out of the water and all that commotion and exercise helps things get moving in the GI tract. If you have been tube feeding, are you seeing any stools?

Another possibility is some other "bug" that either was not tested for, or just didn't show on your fecal exam, because it was not shedding ova at the time. There are a whole bunch of nasty tortoise bugs out there. Did this tort ever have contact with or inhabit the former enclosure of a Russian, Pancake or Star tortoise?

Hi Tom,
About ambient temps that's around 30 and basking is a little more about 32c.
I don't know what food she was eating befor as she was at what you would call a fish farm.Yes she was with a Russian, I think they are all bred together...

She doesn't have a blockage as she is going to the toilet as I am tube feeding, although after a few days I leave her to try and eat on her own, its been four days since i last tubed her, i have also given a catasal injection that stimulates apetite, nothing.
I have tried fibre, flowers, you name it and I've tried it.
So anything that you can think of would be appreciated, I'm not giving up!

 

[Tom]

I don't think 32 is a warm enough basking site. I think it needs to be around 38 for a leopard, but I don't think that is your problem. It is possible that too low of a basking temp over time could cause them to shut down, but more likely in your case is a type of cryptosporidium that was likely picked up from the russian as they are common carriers. You can do a fecal check for crypto, but unless they are shedding ova at that time it will come back negative. There is a gastric lavage technique that can be used to ID this organism, but its not cheap or easy on the tortoise. As far as I can tell there is no treatment. That's what all the books and vets say.

 

[bikerchicspain]

I don't think 32 is a warm enough basking site. I think it needs to be around 38 for a leopard, but I don't think that is your problem. It is possible that too low of a basking temp over time could cause them to shut down, but more likely in your case is a type of cryptosporidium that was likely picked up from the russian as they are common carriers. You can do a fecal check for crypto, but unless they are shedding ova at that time it will come back negative. There is a gastric lavage technique that can be used to ID this organism, but its not cheap or easy on the tortoise. As far as I can tell there is no treatment. That's what all the books and vets say.

Thanks Tom, every little helps!

 

[bikerchicspain]

I have found 3 antibiotics that can help combat crypto, but they do not cover all the cryptosporidiums.
But I have to give it a try....

 

[blastoise91]

Oh gosh. Best if luck to the little one.

 

[Tom]

Crypto is a protozoan, so I don't think antibiotics will help. The docs over here tell me that there is no cure or treatment for crypto in reptiles. Let us all know if you find out something different.

 

[Katherine]

If I remember correctly (will double check when I get home this evening) Cryptosporidium oocytes can be treated with Nitazoxanide (not positive about spelling sorry) with pretty high eradication rates, although I have no idea if this drug is safe for use in tortoises. I have had the glorious pleasure of viewing countless smears and floats of Cryptosporidium from GI tracts of mammals; often an infected animal will have diarrhea which acts as its own gastric lavage and cysts will present on microscopic inspection if caught in the right stage of life cycle. I hope the tortoise starts to perk up soon and would recommend brightly colored foods, I can usually tempt a reluctant tort with a neon hibiscus flower- good luck!

 

[bikerchicspain]

Yes, it is a parasite that over time makes the lining of the stomach and the wall of the intestines swell, hence, worming then treating with antibiotics.

I was told yesterday to send her back to the breeder, which I had little choice, I rang them and Tom you were correct they live with Russians,sulcatas etc etc, when I mentioned the crypto they seemed ( not know what I was on about) but just agreed with me as if they knew it was I'll.

If you get my meaning. Anyway today I told my MD I cannot send her back and could I keep her and just tell them that she died, so he said you ring and tell them, so I took that as a yes....although it is classed as stealing in a way, BUT the breeder will send another one with no charge and to me it's not stealing, more like saving! So does that make me a good person or a bad person,
Not that I give a damn because I don't feel guilty, I have become attached to her and I have already lost my little tinkerbell this year so I am not gonna loose another..

So please guys anything you can think of that could help, just post, spam me anything....

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One of the drugs is Rhodogil and the others are Espiramicina and stomorgyl, so wish me good luck