Sick baby redfoot )=

[Delilah1623]

He is housed alone. Bulbs are a CHE and a reptisun 5.0 18" strip light about 11" away....

Yeah... I realize he is obviously very sick. I just have no idea what.

 

[Randi]

I have racked my brain and looked back at the picture.. your tort seems to have very irritated eyes that are almost swollen shut. That's about the only thing I see wrong. You are doing all that you can and it seems all husbandry is on point. I'm sorry for all you are going through. Hoping that things improve. Wish I could help more

 

[Delilah1623]

I have racked my brain and looked back at the picture.. your tort seems to have very irritated eyes that are almost swollen shut. That's about the only thing I see wrong. You are doing all that you can and it seems all husbandry is on point. I'm sorry for all you are going through. Hoping that things improve. Wish I could help more

The swollen eyes started about a week and a half after he stopped eating so I think it's a symptom rather than the cause of anything. I just have no idea what is wrong. I thought I was doing everything right )=

 

[stojanovski92113]

What kind of substrate are you using?

 

[Delilah1623]

Coconut coir. Switched it all out amd scrubbed the tank last weekend in case there was something in there causing the problem. Did not seem to make a difference.

 

[stojanovski92113]

Coconut coir. Switched it all out amd scrubbed the tank last weekend in case there was something in there causing the problem. Did not seem to make a difference.

Hmmm...man not sure what to say.

 

[crimson_lotus]

I just want to say that you are doing an amazing job trying to make your tortoise better. Everything you're saying you're doing is on point, and you are a wonderful tortoise mom. I'm sorry that I can't provide any helpful assistance as to what's going on with your tortoise but I just wanted you to know that.

 

[jaizei]

He is housed alone. Bulbs are a CHE and a reptisun 5.0 18" strip light about 11" away....

Yeah... I realize he is obviously very sick. I just have no idea what.

It's easy to let the forum play doctor but the longer you wait to go to the vet, the more difficult it could become to 'fix' the problem. I typically try to avoid these threads but my advice would be that if there hasn't been improvement within a week or the animal has gotten worse, it's time for the vet.

 

[Delilah1623]

He was already at the vet. They had given me the eye ointment but had no other suggestions beyond what I was already doing. There is one vet in my town who is supposed to be well educated on tortoises but had surgery and is out until March or April. Her husband is a vet at the same clinic and I was going to take him for a second opinion and they said the vet could talk to his wife about him also but Theodore passed away during the night and was already gone the morning he was supposed to go see the new vet.

Thanks everyone for your help. I wish I had better news to share.

 

[stojanovski92113]

He was already at the vet. They had given me the eye ointment but had no other suggestions beyond what I was already doing. There is one vet in my town who is supposed to be well educated on tortoises but had surgery and is out until March or April. Her husband is a vet at the same clinic and I was going to take him for a second opinion and they said the vet could talk to his wife about him also but Theodore passed away during the night and was already gone the morning he was supposed to go see the new vet.

Thanks everyone for your help. I wish I had better news to share.

Ooohhhh....I'm soooo sorry for your loss you really did try to do everything for him.

 

[Delilah1623]

Thank you. I feel like I failed him. I just have no idea what it was )= pretty heartbroken right now.

 

[stojanovski92113]

No...you didn't fail him!! I know how you are feeling. I lost my baby sulcata & I did everything possible, but sometimes we can't control, nor find out what the cause was. It sounds like he was hindering something. But you really did try!!!

 

[Momof4]

Delilah I'm sending hugs your way!! I'm so sorry.

 

[Heather H]

I'm so sorry you lost your baby. You tried everything. Don't think you failed him because you didn't. Hugs

 

[AmRoKo]

I am sorry to hear that your baby didn't make it.

 

[tortioseirie]

Did you have any update on your baby? I'm having the same troubles

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Your humidity needs a bump up. (The eyes look watery.)
Have you changed anything at all? No matter how small?

 

[Mantissa3]

Thank you. I feel like I failed him. I just have no idea what it was )= pretty heartbroken right now.

Hi Delilah: I want to comment on what you said here about feeling like you failed him - YOU DID NOT FAIL YOUR BABY!!! You are a caring, loving, attentive tortie mommie and my heart is breaking for you right now. I just had a devastating loss as you did, so I wanted you to know that many of us struggle as you did- knowing "the right thing to do" in these horrific situations is impossible.

My husband Cliff and I raised dear little perfect baby Gibby from a little hatchling until he was 3 years old. He just died 2 weeks ago. We chose to go the aggressive vet/medical route with Gibby because a local clinic was supposed to be "excellent at exotic pet medicine". We NEVER got a diagnosis, and the vet just kept giving him chemicals- she gave us 2 medications before she even sent out for a fecal float to determine whether he had parasites or not, and we didn't even know how to get him to open his mouth to give him the oral meds. It was a total case management (or lack of case management) disaster from start to finish!

He died under "vet care" and we still don't know why. 3 weeks prior to his death, Gibson was a healthy, happy, active 3 year old with a lovely, predictable routine, food and bathing preferences, and was sitting on our laps and roaming the yard as he had done for his entire 3 years on earth. Suddenly, he stopped eating, stopped pooping, his urine was dark, and then the "experienced vet" poisoned him to death with too much injected fluids and a strange mix of chemicals, most of which he didn't even get because we couldn't get his mouth open and refused to traumatize him by prying at his face...

I want you to know that you did absolutely EVERYTHING concerned, loving tortoise companion could've done. You have no idea whether he had genetic issues, or whether he had a systemic infection or virus. By the time these red foot babies present with symptoms, the medical issues are so far advanced that you barely have time to diagnose and react. Couple that with the fact that most experienced herp vets still don't get many patients, and it is nearly impossible to get their help in time to save a baby with failing health.

If you want to, and if you think it may help ease your pain due to knowing you are not alone, and that some of us are going through the very same second-guessing and grieving you are experiencing, please read my thread and the responses here: http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread...-good-little-gibby-my-heart-is-broken.119101/

For future reference, please read this- NEVER let a vet inject anything in your tortoises hind legs or under his/her shell in the hind portion of her/his body - this is what ultimately caused Gibson's death: http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread...dration-do-not-do-it-at-this-location.118867/

Finally - here is the account of our mystery health problem that led to us deciding to take aggressive action with veterinary help, which did nothing for our baby except possibly stress him more, and ultimately led to his premature death due to an "experienced exotic vet's" fumbling and extermeley poor case management: http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/green-and-yellow-mucous-please-help-with-experiences.118173/

For whatever it's worth at this point in your grieving process, if I had it to do over again, I would've done what you did - see the vet once, keep the baby home with good temperatures and lots of warm soaks, a bit of mineral oil, and loved on Gibby rather than driving him around to vets and stressing him during his last 2 weeks on Earth. You did the right thing, loving your baby and reaching out here on the Forum...

I'm so very sorry and hope your heart heals soon and that you will remember the good times and cherish your other little one as you did for the one you lost.

hugs, Karen, Cliff, Bump and Pumpkin

 

[Delilah1623]

Not sure what happened with this thread...
Sometimes it shows everything sometimes several pages are missing.

Theodore did pass away back in January.

 

[Delilah1623]

Thank you for your kind words. I do still wonder if it is something I did wrong. It's hard to lose a little one )=