Are you leaving basking light on or one of thise ceramic heat and no light bulbs?I had to put a heat lamps on at night for mine. I also use sand and coconut fibers.
Are you leaving basking light on or one of thise ceramic heat and no light bulbs?I had to put a heat lamps on at night for mine. I also use sand and coconut fibers.
He is not really dragging them. He is moving the back legs and bending them. His rear end just isnt raised off the substrate when he tries to walk.If he is like dragging himself (using front legs to walk and refusing to use rear legs) it could be kidney problems. Keep us updated about his progress.
Not picking rear end up. Its as if he hasnt got enough strength in back legs. Has been peeing regularly when soaking. Urates also and not solid but a bit gritty. Has pooped twice in past week.very solid and large but no sign of kidney stones or anything. What would i/vet need to do to confirm or rule out a kidney problem? Thanks for the input.Could be kidney problem. You say he doesn't pick his rear end off the ground right?
Do you have night heat like a ceramic heat emitter? (these just give heat without light as torts need darkness to sleep).
You are right about coiled bulbs being very risky, so you may be better with a mercury vapour bulb (MVB) which gives heat light and uvb in one bulb for day use if it is too cold in your part of the world to put him outside for natural uvb from the sun. Where are you located?
I found that wood bark got stuck in my tort's shell behind a leg. It also can give splinters. Check him closely and maybe switch his substrate to ground coconut shell. That helped mine immensely!Wood bark
Checked his shell just incase. No sign of a problem.Think I may change to coco coir though as he sounds a bit clunky on the woodchip. Im thinking it may be hurting him as his rear plastron is touching it when he walks.What form does it come in? It might be gentler to walk on?I found that wood bark got stuck in my tort's shell behind a leg. It also can give splinters. Check him closely and maybe switch his substrate to ground coconut shell. That helped mine immensely!
No reason in particular only that i am up at 8.30 and its the first thing i do and i go to bed around midnight and turning it off is the last thing i do.He is sleeping through all day whether light is on or off. He only comes to life when i take him out and let him wander outside enclosure and bathe him. The minute he gets back into enclosure he is asleep again. Since he began having problems i have replaced all bulbs anf updated my enclosure. After lots of reading i have a feeling uvb light is the problem as i did not realise the bulbs needed to be replaced or they lost their uvb potential. He has probably been without proper uvb ..through my own fault. With the tube feeding to help bring up his weight, 2 daily soaks, better uva/uvb, good heat temps i am hoping he will improve. Would he have difficulty pooping/peeing if it were a kidney problem? He has been doing both regularly. Vet at the animal hospital didnt mention or suggest anything about bloodwork. Im not sure how regularly he treats torts though or how knowledgeable he is with regards torts but he examined torts mouth, eyes and shell for softening. I have been tube feeding for 1 week and in last 2 days seen a big improvement in appetite/interest in food. More inclined to explore but only outside enclosure as i said which makes me think maybe the wood chip is painful to walk on. I had said that i would give it about 10 days and take him back to vet to see what he thinks of the improvement. I will mention bloodwork and maybe xray then. I want to do eveything i can. Also i want him to check his weight gain. He has gained about 50g.Hi CathyNed, Why do you leave his light bulb from 8:30 am until midnight? In my opinion this is way too long. Tortoises need rest at night in a dark place. Maybe his circadian rhythm is not right and this is why he is being lethargic? 12 hours of light is just enough. I do this with my torts and in the morning they are very vigorous, half and hour of basking and ready to go and destroy the enclosure. Also, a heat mat is not the best choice as this is just not a natural way of heat distribution. Russians need heat coming from above Of course I am not saying this is the cause of weakness in his back legs. Like others have said, it might be kidney problems. Also if there is any blockage in his digestive tract (the coco coir that he consumed for instance and that is causing constipation)the intestines may expand and there may be some pressure on the nerves. Was he injured or anything? If there is a damage in his spine he may have difficulties walking. But first of all I think you should have blood work done to see what's happening with the kidneys.
Tortoises tend to become lethargic in their enclosures when they are too dull. Maybe some new elements would bring the explorer out of him again?
He pees every day several times. Always in or straight after his soak. He did it just there a minute ago in fact. Clear liquid. Sometimes urates aswell but those have been becoming less. I dont think the vet i brought him to last time had much experuence of torts. When i told him all the symptoms he never mentioned blood test or xray or anything which i would have thought would be normal to do if there was a problem. I emailed another vet to see if they deal with tortoises and if they had equip to do xrays /bloodwork they havent gotton back to me. They are about an hour and a half away from me.I recommend getting an X-Ray done to check for kidney stones and a blood test to check his calcium levels. This will help narrow down the problem. I'm glad he has an appetite again. Continue soaking him and keeping him warm.
When was the last time you saw him pee?