About 3 weeks ago I noticed that one of my Sulcata was making a noise which at first I thought was just passing gas. Then I picked her up to take her outside and the sound was coming from her mouth when she pushed. When I turned her upside down, I noticed what I thought was a prolapse(sp?) so off to the vet we went. After spending the night at the vets, they called me and said she had a golf ball sized stone.
Working with the vet for the past 2 weeks we have been able to get the stone to start dissolving which the vet can physically remove some of it. Yesterday I dropped her off at the vet and he was able to remove 22 grams of it which is about half the stone. When we first started, the stone was so hard he could not even scrape any off of it. Here's what we have been doing to accomplish this.
1. At least 1 hour of soaking per day in warm water.
2. Force feed a mixture of spinach and squash and mineral oil per day
3. Daily dose of 1 gram of Bene-Bac Plus which I believe he said was a probiotic
4. 1/2 tablet of Tramadol twice a day which is a pain medication
5. 1 .16 ml injection of Amikain daily which is an antibiotic
The vet is hoping that in the next 2 weeks he will be able to remove the rest of the stone or maybe even her passing it.
Here's a pic of what he removed yesterday along side of a ping-pong ball for reference. He also said he will email me a digital pic of the x-ray he took when I first took her in and I'll post it here when I get it.
BTW, the vet also had me change the diet of all my torts, both Sulcata and Redfoot. He said that I should stop feeding them or feed them very little of greens with high oxalates which can cause stones. Some of the greens I was feeding them were dandelions and collard greens. Of coarse the Sulcatas get more grass and cactus pads than greens but even then these greens can cause stones especially if the tortoise does not soak or drink enough water.
Working with the vet for the past 2 weeks we have been able to get the stone to start dissolving which the vet can physically remove some of it. Yesterday I dropped her off at the vet and he was able to remove 22 grams of it which is about half the stone. When we first started, the stone was so hard he could not even scrape any off of it. Here's what we have been doing to accomplish this.
1. At least 1 hour of soaking per day in warm water.
2. Force feed a mixture of spinach and squash and mineral oil per day
3. Daily dose of 1 gram of Bene-Bac Plus which I believe he said was a probiotic
4. 1/2 tablet of Tramadol twice a day which is a pain medication
5. 1 .16 ml injection of Amikain daily which is an antibiotic
The vet is hoping that in the next 2 weeks he will be able to remove the rest of the stone or maybe even her passing it.
Here's a pic of what he removed yesterday along side of a ping-pong ball for reference. He also said he will email me a digital pic of the x-ray he took when I first took her in and I'll post it here when I get it.
BTW, the vet also had me change the diet of all my torts, both Sulcata and Redfoot. He said that I should stop feeding them or feed them very little of greens with high oxalates which can cause stones. Some of the greens I was feeding them were dandelions and collard greens. Of coarse the Sulcatas get more grass and cactus pads than greens but even then these greens can cause stones especially if the tortoise does not soak or drink enough water.
