My Star Ringo, the one I adopted in Dec with the eye issue has had a turn around. All was going great until sometime yesterday.
I changed the Star's substrate on Saturday afternoon replacing it with the same brand T-Rex coconut bark that all the Star's have been on for the last few months but that I purchased from a different supplier. I also started sprinkling Zoo-Meds natural grassland tortoise food over their greens that morning. I wanted to get more fiber in them and try the product out. They had more off the soaked food sprinkled on their greens Sunday and Monday.
When my husband got home from work yesterday afternoon both of Ringo's eye lids were swollen. I'm out of town until Wed so for now he has taken him off the substrate and has him back on papertowels in a large box. I told him to also stop feeding the T-Rex food. He's rinsing the eyes and using antibiotic ointment.
Has anyone ever heard of or had any food allergies with their Star's or could the new bags of coconut bark been the problem? The bark seems unlikely to me as he has been on it without incident for 2 months and his bad eye was almost all back to normal with the triple antibiotic ointment treatment while living on it. The other two Star's are fine. FYI - I keep my Star's drier (aprox 20% humidity reading at their substrate level) I kept getting repeated runny noses with Lyra & Orion when the humidity was kept higher in the enclosure.
I'll bring him back to the vet when I get home. For now would like to hear other Star keepers thoughts. Have you had a sensitive Star? Anything in the food that you think might have caused a reaction?
Thanks,
Misty
Zoo Meds Natural Grassland Tortoise Food
Ingredients: Sun-cured Oat Hay, Sun-cured Timothy Hay, Soybean Hulls, Wheat Middlings, Sun-cured Alfalfa Meal, Whole Ground Wheat, Escarole, Endive, Calcium Carbonate, Monocalcium Phosphate, Dicalcium Phosphate, Yeast Culture, Dandelion Greens (Dried), Sodium Bicarbonate, Soy Lecithin, Direct-Fed Microorganisms (Heat Stable Cultures of Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casai, Bifidobacterium bifidum, Enterococcus faecium, Aspergillus oryzae), Yeast Extract, Hydrated Sodium Calcium Aluminosilicate, Garlic Extract, Anise Extract, Cassia Extract (Chinese), Ginger Extract, Horseradish Extract, Juniper Extract, Natural Flavoring, Marigold (Petal Extract), Yucca schidigera (Whole Plant Powder), L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (Source of Stabilized Vitamin C), Zinc Methionine Complex, Selenium Yeast, Vitamin E Supplement, Mixed Tocopherols, Rosemary Extract, Ascorbic Acid, Citric Acid, Lecithin, Silicon Dioxide, Choline Chloride, Vitamin A Supplement (Retinyl Acetate), Vitamin D3 Supplement, Niacin Supplement, d-Calcium Pantothenate (Source of Vitamin B5), Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (Source of Vitamin K Activity), Riboflavin Supplement (Source of Vitamin B2), Thiamine Mononitrate (Source of Vitamin B1), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Source of Vitamin B6), Biotin, Folic Acid, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Zinc Oxide, Manganous Oxide, Ferrous Sulfate, Tribasic Copper Chloride, Calcium Iodate, and Sodium Selenite.
I changed the Star's substrate on Saturday afternoon replacing it with the same brand T-Rex coconut bark that all the Star's have been on for the last few months but that I purchased from a different supplier. I also started sprinkling Zoo-Meds natural grassland tortoise food over their greens that morning. I wanted to get more fiber in them and try the product out. They had more off the soaked food sprinkled on their greens Sunday and Monday.
When my husband got home from work yesterday afternoon both of Ringo's eye lids were swollen. I'm out of town until Wed so for now he has taken him off the substrate and has him back on papertowels in a large box. I told him to also stop feeding the T-Rex food. He's rinsing the eyes and using antibiotic ointment.
Has anyone ever heard of or had any food allergies with their Star's or could the new bags of coconut bark been the problem? The bark seems unlikely to me as he has been on it without incident for 2 months and his bad eye was almost all back to normal with the triple antibiotic ointment treatment while living on it. The other two Star's are fine. FYI - I keep my Star's drier (aprox 20% humidity reading at their substrate level) I kept getting repeated runny noses with Lyra & Orion when the humidity was kept higher in the enclosure.
I'll bring him back to the vet when I get home. For now would like to hear other Star keepers thoughts. Have you had a sensitive Star? Anything in the food that you think might have caused a reaction?
Thanks,
Misty
Zoo Meds Natural Grassland Tortoise Food
Ingredients: Sun-cured Oat Hay, Sun-cured Timothy Hay, Soybean Hulls, Wheat Middlings, Sun-cured Alfalfa Meal, Whole Ground Wheat, Escarole, Endive, Calcium Carbonate, Monocalcium Phosphate, Dicalcium Phosphate, Yeast Culture, Dandelion Greens (Dried), Sodium Bicarbonate, Soy Lecithin, Direct-Fed Microorganisms (Heat Stable Cultures of Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casai, Bifidobacterium bifidum, Enterococcus faecium, Aspergillus oryzae), Yeast Extract, Hydrated Sodium Calcium Aluminosilicate, Garlic Extract, Anise Extract, Cassia Extract (Chinese), Ginger Extract, Horseradish Extract, Juniper Extract, Natural Flavoring, Marigold (Petal Extract), Yucca schidigera (Whole Plant Powder), L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (Source of Stabilized Vitamin C), Zinc Methionine Complex, Selenium Yeast, Vitamin E Supplement, Mixed Tocopherols, Rosemary Extract, Ascorbic Acid, Citric Acid, Lecithin, Silicon Dioxide, Choline Chloride, Vitamin A Supplement (Retinyl Acetate), Vitamin D3 Supplement, Niacin Supplement, d-Calcium Pantothenate (Source of Vitamin B5), Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (Source of Vitamin K Activity), Riboflavin Supplement (Source of Vitamin B2), Thiamine Mononitrate (Source of Vitamin B1), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Source of Vitamin B6), Biotin, Folic Acid, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Zinc Oxide, Manganous Oxide, Ferrous Sulfate, Tribasic Copper Chloride, Calcium Iodate, and Sodium Selenite.