Recovering Russian with MBD? Long post! I'm a newbie!! Lots of pictures and questions.

Roo Bot

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After obsessively trolling the tortoise forum, (thankful my girl is getting better,) I'm wondering if she's might have MBD. Also, does she appear to be a she? I thought she was female, but the vet told me she was male.

I'm wondering if her shell is slightly misshapen. She has curled nails on her back feet and her hind legs seem weak-ish. Her shell doesn't drag when she walks, but it doesn't seem really high above the ground either. I don't know how a 'normal' tortoise should walk.

I feed her about half spring mix (she's a whore for radicchio!), and half assorted weeds that I forage. The greens are roughly chopped and mixed so she can't pick out the radicchio. When she's allowed supervised grazing time, she eats grass. I soak her every day, usually for about 20 minutes.

When it is warm enough outside (or at least not raining), she spends 1-4 hours outside with access to sun and shade. (I jury rigged a ceramic heat emitter to the large storage bin she goes outside in, so she's heated when it isn't very warm outside.) (She's getting over a respiratory illness, so I'm still keeping her pretty warm.) I'm guessing she has access to sun about 15 hours a week?

The basking spot in her enclosure is as close to 95 as I can maintain. (I'm sure it fluctuates some with room temperature.) The cool end of her cage is usually above 70. She seems to like to be in 85 degree spots. Indoors, I don't have full spectrum lighting. (I wasn't planning on getting a tortoise. She was found by a coworker in a rural yard on a cold rainy day barely moving. It is on my purchasing list as soon as I can afford it.) (Outdoor pen that isn't a rubbermaid is also high on the list as well as indoor enclosure upgrade. She lives in a broken bathtub because I'm classy.) I use coconut coir as a substrate, mist 2-3 times a day and have two slate tiles under the heat lamp.

My questions:
Does it seem like she might have MBD?

Approximately how much should I feed her daily? She didn't eat for at least a few weeks and seems ravenous.

She finished antibiotics about 2 weeks ago. I'm unsure when I should allow for night time temperature drop.

Should I be supplementing calcium? If so, how often?

If I should be supplementing calcium, would http://www.fmbrown.com/products/pet-birds/brown-sr-cuttlebone-calcium-powder-orange.html this product be ok to use? I already have it for my finches. I'll copy and paste the guaranteed analysis and ingredients below. (I'm totally happy to purchase a better supplement.)

Crude Protein (min) 9.75%
Crude Fat (min) 0.01%
Crude Fiber (max) 4.0%
Moisture (max) 8.0%
Calcium (min) 35.0%
Calcium (max) 40.0%
Vitamin A (min) 8,500 IU/100g
Vitamin D3 (min) 1,000 IU/100g
Beta Carotene (min) 8,500 IU/kg

Ingredients:
Calcium Carbonate (from Ground Cuttlebone), Dried Peach Powder, Dried Apple Powder, Dried Raisin Powder, Dried Apricot Powder, Dried Cherry Powder, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Carotene, Vitamin A Supplement, Red #3 and Yellow #5.

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THANK YOU!!! for all your support and advice. Beaulah would say thank you too, if she could. Also, if you made it through the above novel, thank you for your time! My apologies if I should have separated all these questions out into different posts/categories.
 

dmmj

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She (looks female to me) prob had some MBD, i the pasr, based on the back slope of the shell. Based on you diet and such, I seriously doubt she still has it, or is stilll suffering. MBD takes time to develop, and time to fix. That finch has me concerned because of all the fruit powder it has, to be honest I would just use some cuttle bone lightly sprinkled 2 to 3 times a week. Her nails actually look good to me, I might get her beak trimmed though. As for the night temps, if she is done with her antibiotics, and whatever she had is cleared up, then night time temp drop should be fine. Re: feeding, I feed my russians a nice big pile once a day, and then they can graze if they so desire. Whew, big rsponse there, I hope I covered your questions, if not feel free to ask more, oh and.....

Salutations to the tortoise forum, and to russians.
 

Roo Bot

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I've only had her about a month, but want to provide her the best care I can. I wasn't sure about the finch powder because of the fruit- I'm glad I asked. : )

I trimmed her beak and nails shortly after I found her. I think her beak has maybe grown since then! I didn't get a good picture of the wonky back nails... The outer two curl up. She was really fast trying to escape when I photographed her this morning. (It makes me sooooo happy to see her active!)

I can't think of many things more enjoyable to watch than a tortoise eating. She is adorable when she eats. I will never get tired of it. Friends and family will eventually stop clicking the tortoise feast videos.

Thanks again for all the help!

:<3::<3: Tortoise forum and :<3::<3::<3:Miss Beaulah!
 

dmmj

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I've had tortoises for 31 years now, and I never get tired of watching them eat, they do it with such gusto. If the nails look like they are bothering her/ or keeping her from walking well, then go ahead and trim.
 
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Yvonne G

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Don't worry about what happened in the past, just go forward with Beulah. She'll be just fine. If she's outside part of the time, I'd try to find a calcium powder without D3 and just sprinkle a pinch of it over her food a couple times a week. If you can find someone with an opuntia cactus plant, cactus is high in calcium, as are collards, okra and kale.
 

kimber_lee_314

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Yes, she has had MBD at some time, but you can't undo it so as Yvonne suggested, just do the best you can with her now that she's in good hands. I feed my Russians every other day but they always have access to weeds and grasses. (They tend to over eat and get too chubby.) Russians can handle very cold weather, so as long as she's healthy, eating, and active, I wouldn't worry about the night temps too much. I do supplement with calcium once a week and TNT once a week, but I also keep cuttlebones in their pen at all times for them to munch on whenever they want. Hope that was helpful!
 

Roo Bot

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I know I can't undo what is already done, but wanted to act appropriately to stop the progression. Until I get an outdoor pen that isn't a rubbermaid or trays of weeds, she isn't allowed to graze much. I think I'm paranoid that she is still hiding some illness, so might be overly careful as far as temperatures go. I might also be paranoid because reptiles have slower metabolisms, so I assume they take longer to recover. I have a cuttle bone in her enclosure, but she's ignored it so far. She's been more and more active every day this week and I'm happy for that!

I'll invest in some calcium, tnt and maybe the tortoise hay at tortoise supply. I bought some seeds for mesclun, forget me nots, nasturtium and radicchio even though it is kind of late to plant to sprinkle in places I can harvest from later. (The greens will be great in the fall.)

I appreciate all the suggestions and help!
 

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