This is a story about a quarantine period that DIDN'T work (Oh no! Not another story!!)
Last spring I took in a male desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii). He had a small hole drilled through his carapace just above his right back leg, and the foot on that leg had been amputated. It was an old injury and all healed. My GUESS is that someone had tethered him, the tethering material got wrapped around the leg and not noticed for a long time, and the foot died and fell off.
I really liked this tortoise, but it seems no one else wanted a three-footed tortoise. Every time someone came to adopt, they went right past poor old Grampa and never chose him. So a couple months ago I decided to adopt out MY male desert tortoise (He had been a rescue too), and keep Grampa.
Grampa spent all of last summer in a pen by himself. He hibernated in his own box alone, and came out in the spring back into his quarantine pen, all by himself. That is a quarantine period of appx. 13 months.
So last month I found a good home for my male and put Grampa in my pen. The pen has three females in it. Two are rescues and the third is my very first tortoise, Mi-Shell, who I've had for 30 or 35 years. One of the other females has a chronic abcess on her nose that I'm having a heck of a time clearing up, but otherwise is healthy.
The first week with the girls, Grampa spent lots of time chasing them around the pen. Then I noticed last week that he wasn't moving. Just stayed in the same spot all day. I watched him for a couple days and he just sat there with his eyes closed. He would move next to the fence at night and back out to the sun in the a.m.
First of all, I must tell you that I HATE Baytril! It is a VERY invasive treatment for a tortoise. I happened to have some Naxcel on hand. My sister swears by Naxcel, so I thought I'd give it a try. The only symptoms this tortoise had were lethargy, no appetite and closed eyes. I gave him his first injection on Saturday. Another yesterday. And when I brought his third injection out to the pen this a.m. he wasn't in his usual spot. But he was out in the middle of the pen, eyes wide open, and following around behind one of the girls! I'm supposed to continue the Naxcel injections for two weeks. But he's doing so much better after only three injections!
Its obvious to me that one of my girls has URDS (upper respiratory distress syndrome) and is a carrier and passed it along to Grampa. Why the other girls aren't ill is anyone's guess.
This has made a believer out of me. No more Baytril! And as for the quarantine period? I'll still quarantine any new animals that come in, but maybe, if I can afford it, I'll get blood and fecal tests before adding new animals to existing groups.
Yvonne
Last spring I took in a male desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii). He had a small hole drilled through his carapace just above his right back leg, and the foot on that leg had been amputated. It was an old injury and all healed. My GUESS is that someone had tethered him, the tethering material got wrapped around the leg and not noticed for a long time, and the foot died and fell off.
I really liked this tortoise, but it seems no one else wanted a three-footed tortoise. Every time someone came to adopt, they went right past poor old Grampa and never chose him. So a couple months ago I decided to adopt out MY male desert tortoise (He had been a rescue too), and keep Grampa.
Grampa spent all of last summer in a pen by himself. He hibernated in his own box alone, and came out in the spring back into his quarantine pen, all by himself. That is a quarantine period of appx. 13 months.
So last month I found a good home for my male and put Grampa in my pen. The pen has three females in it. Two are rescues and the third is my very first tortoise, Mi-Shell, who I've had for 30 or 35 years. One of the other females has a chronic abcess on her nose that I'm having a heck of a time clearing up, but otherwise is healthy.
The first week with the girls, Grampa spent lots of time chasing them around the pen. Then I noticed last week that he wasn't moving. Just stayed in the same spot all day. I watched him for a couple days and he just sat there with his eyes closed. He would move next to the fence at night and back out to the sun in the a.m.
First of all, I must tell you that I HATE Baytril! It is a VERY invasive treatment for a tortoise. I happened to have some Naxcel on hand. My sister swears by Naxcel, so I thought I'd give it a try. The only symptoms this tortoise had were lethargy, no appetite and closed eyes. I gave him his first injection on Saturday. Another yesterday. And when I brought his third injection out to the pen this a.m. he wasn't in his usual spot. But he was out in the middle of the pen, eyes wide open, and following around behind one of the girls! I'm supposed to continue the Naxcel injections for two weeks. But he's doing so much better after only three injections!
Its obvious to me that one of my girls has URDS (upper respiratory distress syndrome) and is a carrier and passed it along to Grampa. Why the other girls aren't ill is anyone's guess.
This has made a believer out of me. No more Baytril! And as for the quarantine period? I'll still quarantine any new animals that come in, but maybe, if I can afford it, I'll get blood and fecal tests before adding new animals to existing groups.
Yvonne
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