I recently rescued a 1-3 year old Russian Tortoise. I have never owned a tortoise before, but I did thorough research before hand. I've noticed he doesn't move a lot, and when he does he never walks, instead he drags himself around by scooting his front legs- but he isn't using them properly. He is able to use his back legs. He also won't drink unless I soak him- it may have to do with his limited mobility but I just don't know. Can anyone help?
Rescue Tortoise With Possible Health Issues?
- Thread starter alex999
- Start date
Can you video the tortoise with your phone and upload it to YouTube. Post the link here and we can see what’s going on
sounds like it could be metabolic bone disease but he is awfully young. Do you know if proper UV lighting was provided by the previous owner?
do you notice one front leg is worse off than the other? injury is possible too
do you notice one front leg is worse off than the other? injury is possible too
No, I don't. He also hasn't defecated since we got him.
I think both of those are probably pretty likely. I have been helping him eat and such, if he did have metabolic bone disease would I just continue doing so or is there some way I could help? And if he is constipated or has a bladder stone what are some ways to help with that?
Also I've found that the back of his shell is very sensitive- if I brush against it of touch it his legs kind of flail. could that have anything to do with it?
If he has MBD that’s calcium deficiency and the shell is likely very thin too. It sounds like this tortoise needs to see a specialist vet.
Okay thank you. We have a calcium supplement for tortoises, just the powder to add to food, can I give him that once a week until we get to a vet?
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2013
- Messages
- 3,398
You should give him calcium daily. Tortoises need lots of it. They also need phosphorous to build bone which isn't in most calcium preparations, so you probably need to give him a reptile vitamin as well to provide the other elements not found in calcium powders. Here are two excellent ones:
Ultrafine Rep-Cal with Vitamin D3 for the calcium and Herptivite Reptile Vitamins for the vitamins, phosphorous, and other trace minerals.
I put both of the above supplements on my tortoises' food every day. Just sprinkle them on and then mix them into the food before you feed it to the tortoise so it gets on all the bits of food. That way, the tortoise is getting both supplements when it eats.
To process dietary calcium, a tortoise needs vitamin D which it makes for itself on exposure to UVB.
This tortoise needs a good UVB lamp on for 12-14 hours a day (a fluorescent tube not a compact bulb).
Sprinkle a tiny pinch of calcium powder on food very sparsely. Normally I would say 2-3 days a week is plenty as too much can do harm and cause bladder stones. It needs to be sparse because torts are notorious for refusing to eat food with calcium powder sprinkled on it.
Buy a cuttlebone from the bird aisle of the pet store. The tortoise may choose to chomp on that too and that will also supply calcium.
This tortoise needs a good UVB lamp on for 12-14 hours a day (a fluorescent tube not a compact bulb).
Sprinkle a tiny pinch of calcium powder on food very sparsely. Normally I would say 2-3 days a week is plenty as too much can do harm and cause bladder stones. It needs to be sparse because torts are notorious for refusing to eat food with calcium powder sprinkled on it.
Buy a cuttlebone from the bird aisle of the pet store. The tortoise may choose to chomp on that too and that will also supply calcium.
Last edited:
Okay thank you so much, we have the Calcium with D3, I will get vitamins soon.
Okay thanks!
Alex:
I'm going out on a limb here, and, since you're in Idaho, where captive bred russians are scarce, and not from the UK, where captive bred is more common, I'm going to assume your rescued Russian is NOT a baby like you've been told. MBD is more likely to occur in an older tortoise.
You say he can move his back legs but he doesn't use them to walk. And his shell seems sensitive to the touch. MBD is painful.
Since this tortoise is pretty far gone it would be a good idea to find a tortoise qualified vet and go get the tortoise a calcium injection.
In the meantime, get the GOOD UVB light ASAP.
I'm going out on a limb here, and, since you're in Idaho, where captive bred russians are scarce, and not from the UK, where captive bred is more common, I'm going to assume your rescued Russian is NOT a baby like you've been told. MBD is more likely to occur in an older tortoise.
You say he can move his back legs but he doesn't use them to walk. And his shell seems sensitive to the touch. MBD is painful.
Since this tortoise is pretty far gone it would be a good idea to find a tortoise qualified vet and go get the tortoise a calcium injection.
In the meantime, get the GOOD UVB light ASAP.
He does use his back legs to scoot around, sorry if I made that unclear.
We have a zoo-med UVA/UVB along with his heat lamp, and I will let my parents know and I'll get him to a vet asap!
The good news is that he isn’t pyramidded. Russians don’t grow
particularly smooth. It’s a shame about the marker pen, but ther’s nothing you can do that won’t put this tortoise in more pain.
This isn’t a baby either. Most Russians in the US are wild caught imports and they’re sub-adult. I am afraid pets stores tell buyers what they want to hear rather than the truth
particularly smooth. It’s a shame about the marker pen, but ther’s nothing you can do that won’t put this tortoise in more pain.
This isn’t a baby either. Most Russians in the US are wild caught imports and they’re sub-adult. I am afraid pets stores tell buyers what they want to hear rather than the truth
make sure you get a vet that is experienced with reptiles, the last thing you need right now is a vet that doesn't know the difference between reptiles and mammals (which happens and is usually shown through the administration of vitamin shots but are only used in severe cases for reptiles)
you can usually talk to them before your visit to determine if they have experience or not by asking questions
you can usually talk to them before your visit to determine if they have experience or not by asking questions
Last edited:
thank you all so much, I'm going to do my best to get him some help. It's so sad to me that he has to go through this
Best of luck.
Do you have any close up pix of your tort’s head/face & eyes that you can post? The one pix makes your tort’s eyes look like they are possibly very swollen. (It might just be a bad angle).
Good spot @Maro2Bear
The eyes are very swollen. This is most likely caused by a compact UVB bulb. If you have one it needs to be replaced with a fluorescent tube UVB asap.
The eyes are very swollen. This is most likely caused by a compact UVB bulb. If you have one it needs to be replaced with a fluorescent tube UVB asap.
I know you have been provided lots of nutritional & lighting help. Just curious how often you have been soaking?
