Hello everyone, long time no see. I have noticed as of late that my Reese (2 year old sulcata) tends to walk with mostly his front legs all the while dragging his hind legs. Can anything be done to correct this? Right now he has a bedding of a mixture of topsoil, play sand, and coconut fiber. I was thinking that increasing the sand content of the bedding might help.
Reeses tends to drag his feet.
- Thread starter Kurosawa
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It isn't an issue with bedding. Dragging the back legs is a warning sign of MBD, or metabolic bone disease. What kind of lighting do you have for your tortoise? What supplements do you use, what is your feeding routine like, and what is your hydration routine like?
This can also be a sign of bladder stones. You should take your tortoise for XRays to rule that out as well.
This can also be a sign of bladder stones. You should take your tortoise for XRays to rule that out as well.
Kristina said:
When he was indoors, he had a I installed a slimline light fixture with a 7% UVB lamp and his food is dusted with Repto Cal and he also has a cuttle bone in his pen. What are my options and available treatments?
Thanks for all the help.
All the calcium in the world will not do any good without D3 to carry it.
First things first, I would invest in a good MVB bulb. I have always felt that the "tube" type florescent are a rip off. They just flat out do not put out enough UV light. I have rescued many reptiles that have been kept under them and STILL developed MBD.
Second, start using a calcium supplement that contains D3. I recommend Repashy SuperCal HyD. You can buy it at LLLReptile and various other places online.
Third, an Xray to rule out the possibility that a large stone is causing him to lose mobility. If it is a stone, it will require surgery (at any rate a stone large enough to cause mobility issues will require surgery to remove.)
Are you currently keeping him outdoors? What is he eating, and how often does he have access to water?
First things first, I would invest in a good MVB bulb. I have always felt that the "tube" type florescent are a rip off. They just flat out do not put out enough UV light. I have rescued many reptiles that have been kept under them and STILL developed MBD.
Second, start using a calcium supplement that contains D3. I recommend Repashy SuperCal HyD. You can buy it at LLLReptile and various other places online.
Third, an Xray to rule out the possibility that a large stone is causing him to lose mobility. If it is a stone, it will require surgery (at any rate a stone large enough to cause mobility issues will require surgery to remove.)
Are you currently keeping him outdoors? What is he eating, and how often does he have access to water?
M
Maggie Cummings
Guest
His diet is not good enough and he's not getting enough hydration. He needs to be soaked every other day, does he have water in his pen? He needs a better diet. Orchard grass is fine but he also needs dandelions and thistle and other weeds that I can't name. But he needs a varied diet that I am sure Kristine can tell you about.
Housed on your balcony? Where do you live? What are his outdoor weather provisions? Heat/heated housing? Do you have anything planted in the small pen? What size of small pen?
I would also give mix greens or spring mix, turnip greens, mustard greens, and any other kind of greens you can find, just not iceburg lettuce or much romain.
Between the orchard grass and romaine, in all honesty, he is getting almost no nutrition 
He does need a much more varied diet. Dark, leafy greens, certain veggies and edible weeds should be the bulk of his diet.
What are the temperatures like where he is being kept? Does he get any direct sunlight? Does he have a water dish in his pen that he can easily get his whole body in and out of?
He does need a much more varied diet. Dark, leafy greens, certain veggies and edible weeds should be the bulk of his diet. What are the temperatures like where he is being kept? Does he get any direct sunlight? Does he have a water dish in his pen that he can easily get his whole body in and out of?
Thanks for all the info guys. Ill be installing a watering area in the pen this coming week and will also be purchasing kale collard and mustard greens this weekend for his diet. I live in southern california. his pen is 40x40x1.5 ft. Temperatures vary between 60 and 85 during the winter time. He also has 2 heat lamps (red glass) from Zoo Med. On one side of the pen there is a tortoise shelf he can hide in.
Given the proposed changes in his diet and habitat what are his chances of recovery?
Given the proposed changes in his diet and habitat what are his chances of recovery?
How does he get exposure to the sun? When you say a shelf? Is it enclosed to retain the heat? Do you have a source of UVA and UVB for him?
The pen is an open top so he gets direct sun exposure. There are 2 heating lamps faced towards one corner. Up until before i placed him in the pen, He used to have a slim light fixture described above. Though I am considering placing a MVB bulb in there as well.
what kind of substrate? some dont allow for good traction and they grow wrong..
Laura said:
mixture of topsoil, play sand, and coconut fiber
Read more: http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread-Reeses-tends-to-drag-his-feet#ixzz1hO2nBikB
A watering area does not have to be elaborate. Anything will work - a flower pot saucer, a frisbee, a paint roller pan, etc.
Based on your information, I would say that this is mostly diet/UV related. Because the diet wasn't varied enough, coupled with the low amount of UV that the tube fixture put out, he has developed MBD.
As long as you start providing a better diet, providing water daily and get a calcium supplement that contains D3 (such as the Repashy that I mentioned earlier) he has a good chance of recovering. But you have to do these things very quickly.
Based on your information, I would say that this is mostly diet/UV related. Because the diet wasn't varied enough, coupled with the low amount of UV that the tube fixture put out, he has developed MBD.
As long as you start providing a better diet, providing water daily and get a calcium supplement that contains D3 (such as the Repashy that I mentioned earlier) he has a good chance of recovering. But you have to do these things very quickly.
I sure hope he recovers. If you don't mind, keep us updated on his progress please. Are you plan'n on a vet visit? I didn't read all the posts cause I am lazy I guess. Wishing you both the best of luck!!
Kurosawa said:
How is he doing? Did u take him to the vet? Hope everything is ok!
Kurosawa said:
how much is he getting to eat? is he overfed? I have been to a few meetings/conferences this year that are attempting to help people determine/catch/prevent weight related issues with giant torts. you can tell easily by looking at the hind feet. when the tort stands, the feed should be directly under the tortoise, bearing all of the weight like a lamp post. looking at the flat bottom of the foot, the toes should mimic our own hand, with the first and last toes being shorter than the middle ones. if the pinky toes (or nails) are longer, this indicates that the tortoise only walks on the inside of the foot. If this happens you will usually see wearing and smoothing of this area of the foot, and it is a diet related problem attributing to an over-weight tortoise and leading to more issues, such as dragging the hind feet/lower plastron dragging the ground and joint issues. it is an easy, yet long term fix-lessen the diet, add more fiber rich foods, variety, no fruit, limit carrots & other sweet produce. the diet that i am transitioning to at the zoo for our baby giants include, (the adults get a similar diet that is also in transition):
2 fast days, only receiving what they browse on hab & coastal/timothy hay
3 diet days including (chopped greens such as collards/romaine, celery, sweet potato, and squash) mixed with chopped hay and wild herbivore pellets, and powdered supplements
2 days browse and hay only (cactus, hibiscus, mulberry)
the babies are soaked a min of 1x a week, no more than 3x, with access to shallow water 24/7 and 2 basking spots in doors, and an outside yard
mid-spring, i plan to alter the produce to reflect what is in season and re-seed the habs, currently they have winter rye growing for foraging.
I am working on getting the presentation photos (or taking my own) to back up this claim about the feet, when i do i will post them.
Look at this female in the picture. When she stands, her led is dierctly underneath her with the foot bearing all of the weight evenly. When i bend her leg and look at the underside of her foot, (which she allows me to do willingly
so proud of that behavior) her nails and toes are proportional to the load they are to bear, indicating that she has been and is at a healthy weight, and not putting too much pressure on one side of the foot. I have seen torts though with MBD, or severe weight issues that the entire inside of the foot is so worn down that the scales themselves are hard to distinguish individually. It can be corrected, but with most tort things, it takes a while. Good luck.
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