I took in a 3-4 year old red-footed tortoise as of last night and I'm hoping for some good advice on giving her the best recovery and care possible.
We named her Tortuga.
She's obviously been poorly cared for, as both of her back legs have atrophied to stumps. Also, her head coloring is very dull and ashy, not the vibrant red of a healthy tort. She is currently in a 30-40 gallon aquarium with coconut bark substrate and a 6-8 inch 'half-log' dome. She has a 10 inch rock type water dish, and a 3-4 inch rock dish, presumably for food, but it was covered under inches of substrate, so who knows their original intent. She also came with a full bottle of Zoo-Med Forest Tortoise food, Fluker's Calcium & D3 powder, and an Exo-Terra Repti-Glo 10.0 UVB compact fluorescent bulb. Sadly, along with cage full of poo
We live in the Pacific NW, and we are not able to put her in a tortoise table right away, so we need to make her enclosure as good as possible in the meantime. Hopefully by summer we can expand to a table.
My biggest concerns at this point are diet, environment, and health.
First of all, the people we rescued her from said that she lost her legs because they fed her too many tomatoes and she became diabetic. Supposedly they got this information from a vet, but we both got the feeling that they might be making it up.
Do tortoises actually become diabetic??
If Tortuga is diabetic, I would expect there to be a specialized diet for her, but they didn't indicate that there was, so...?
I also heard that gout can occur in tortoises...could this be the culprit?
OR realistically, could this loss of limb actually be the combined result of too-low temperatures and improper diet?
As of today, Tortuga uses her rear stumps as if they were still complete legs; they do not appear to be discolored or to give her pain, but it does seem to me as if she struggles a bit to maneuver in and around the rock dishes.
I was thinking of using a small painter's tray to give her a small incline to a shallow water area, which seems like it would be much easier than the bulky rock tub she's got at the moment.
For meals I have given her chopped up celery leaves, Forest Tort pellets moistened and shredded, and calcium/d3 powder. Today I gave her a finely chopped mix of overripe jicama, overripe cucumber, romaine lettuce, forest tort pellets, a tiny bit of yogurt, and the vitamin powder.
She definitely has a great appetite, and I'd really love any suggestions and advice you might have for her!
As for the temperature in her tank, I don't think the light she has puts off any heat at all! She has a heating pad under the tank where her log home is, but I wonder if she should have a heated rock or an additional light that could provide heat?
Thanks to everyone who took the time to read this!
My family (which now includes Tortuga) is very grateful for your advice!
Cheers!
[/size][/font]pixie
We named her Tortuga.
She's obviously been poorly cared for, as both of her back legs have atrophied to stumps. Also, her head coloring is very dull and ashy, not the vibrant red of a healthy tort. She is currently in a 30-40 gallon aquarium with coconut bark substrate and a 6-8 inch 'half-log' dome. She has a 10 inch rock type water dish, and a 3-4 inch rock dish, presumably for food, but it was covered under inches of substrate, so who knows their original intent. She also came with a full bottle of Zoo-Med Forest Tortoise food, Fluker's Calcium & D3 powder, and an Exo-Terra Repti-Glo 10.0 UVB compact fluorescent bulb. Sadly, along with cage full of poo
We live in the Pacific NW, and we are not able to put her in a tortoise table right away, so we need to make her enclosure as good as possible in the meantime. Hopefully by summer we can expand to a table.
My biggest concerns at this point are diet, environment, and health.
First of all, the people we rescued her from said that she lost her legs because they fed her too many tomatoes and she became diabetic. Supposedly they got this information from a vet, but we both got the feeling that they might be making it up.
Do tortoises actually become diabetic??
If Tortuga is diabetic, I would expect there to be a specialized diet for her, but they didn't indicate that there was, so...?
I also heard that gout can occur in tortoises...could this be the culprit?
OR realistically, could this loss of limb actually be the combined result of too-low temperatures and improper diet?
As of today, Tortuga uses her rear stumps as if they were still complete legs; they do not appear to be discolored or to give her pain, but it does seem to me as if she struggles a bit to maneuver in and around the rock dishes.
I was thinking of using a small painter's tray to give her a small incline to a shallow water area, which seems like it would be much easier than the bulky rock tub she's got at the moment.
For meals I have given her chopped up celery leaves, Forest Tort pellets moistened and shredded, and calcium/d3 powder. Today I gave her a finely chopped mix of overripe jicama, overripe cucumber, romaine lettuce, forest tort pellets, a tiny bit of yogurt, and the vitamin powder.
She definitely has a great appetite, and I'd really love any suggestions and advice you might have for her!
As for the temperature in her tank, I don't think the light she has puts off any heat at all! She has a heating pad under the tank where her log home is, but I wonder if she should have a heated rock or an additional light that could provide heat?
Thanks to everyone who took the time to read this!
My family (which now includes Tortuga) is very grateful for your advice!
Cheers!
[/size][/font]pixie