Sulcata need help, swollen gland. Kidney stone?

[nuketank]

Hi i have been researching on what is wrong with my sulcata but to no specific information on my problem. I have just noticed that my tortoise has this huge swollen gland near the base of its tail and a bit of feces? seems to be stuck there with more inside. Could this be kidney stone or else? Based on what i have read at this forum I have beem immersing my tortoise in warm water with a little bit of sugar added. Also fed it squashed pumpkin. The tortoise is happily feeding and roaming around as per normal, but with the swelling and pinkish rash this is starting to worry me.

My tortoise enclosure is a nice 2 metres x 2 metres terraced semi outdoor. Been feeding varied diet of collard green, romaine lettuce, hibiscus flower, leaves, cactus opuntia most of the time. Hopefully someone can help me out ASAP. Thanks.

 

[Sky2Mina]

Wow, that would worry me too. Good you got a picture.
I am no expert on Sulcatas (or any tortoise for that matter) but I'd recommend check with a reptile-knowledgeable Vet soon. Until then, I bet some other members can give you a good advice.

Good luck with your little guy! I hope he'll pass the (um, kidney stone?) thing soon.

 

[Kristina]

That appears to be the entire cloaca that is swollen, not a "gland."

It also appears that your tortoise has a stone that it is trying to pass, or in the least very hard urates. If you have an experienced reptile vet available it is time for a visit. If not, you need to get that blockage out. I would try squirting mineral oil around and in the cloaca to lubricate the blockage.

 

[Yvonne G]

Is there an update to this story? I'm curious how the tortoise is now.

 

[kennydj]

it look like a stone! did u check out u enclosure's humidity? maybe too dry?and how often do u give it to take a shower?

 

[Yvonne G]

it look like a stone! did u check out u enclosure's humidity? maybe too dry?and how often do u give it to take a shower?

Hi Kennydj:

Won't you please take a few moments to start a new thread in the "introductions" section and tell us a bit about yourself?

 

[nuketank]

hi all, just to update on the progress of my sulcata with bladder/kidney stone. after trying to remove the stone via daily soak still doesnt work. until now i can wait patiently enough anymore and brought him to a local vet (which doesnt even handle tortoise/reptile). i figure the problem is not very hard just need the special tools they have at vet clinics.

first the vet try to remove manually by simply pulling with pincher to no avail. later he sprayed some pain killer to the cloaca area and try harder to remove and found out that the stone is simply too big to pass the space between the plastron and carapace. the options were to crush/cut either one. i asked him to try and break/squashed the stone and yes, luckily enough it breaks into smaller pieces. this is after local anesthetic to the anus area cause the tortoise struggles a lot. after a few try we got the whole stone out but in pieces. thank you all for the advices. here are the photos of the process.

vet working on the little sulcata:

removing bits of the stone:

the stone in pieces:

the loose cloaca/anus area because of the stone being not there anymore:

here he is dosing off the anesthetic/pain killer but in very good spirit.

thanks all for the recommendations and advices.

 

[Sky2Mina]

Omg, that sounds painful. How is he now? Is there any damage to the affected area? Please update again soon.
The pictures are interesting too.

I wish your torty a speedy recovery.

 

[Jacqui]

I thank you very much for sharing all the pictures. Your tortoise and you have helped educate many folks, who can now passed the information along to others who may in the future post such pictures asking for help. Just am glad this is turning out well. Did any other stones show up in xrays?

 

[nuketank]

I thank you very much for sharing all the pictures. Your tortoise and you have helped educate many folks, who can now passed the information along to others who may in the future post such pictures asking for help. Just am glad this is turning out well. Did any other stones show up in xrays?

Hi jacqui, unfortunately we didnt even had an xray before the removal. I am crossing fingers that its all clear in there. There isnt really any good reptil vet in my area. This happens to be a simple procedure that i didnt even think he could do but tried anyway.

 

[Jacqui]

I like when nonreptile Vets will work with folks and atleast give it their best shot. Hopefully it will cause him to do more learning on the subject.

So did you have any ideas why it might have happened in your case?

 

[CtTortoiseMom]

Wow, this is so interesting. I can tell that you must have fought hard for your tortoise to get a non reptile vet to help you! I hope he has a speedy recovery!!

 

[Momof4]

Wow! Poor little guy! I hope for a speedy recovery!! Thanks for sharing the pictures too!

 

[DesertGrandma]

Thanks for the posting this. Your experience and the photos are very informative. Was it a stone, or was it urates, or are they the same thing when clumped together like that? No wonder the poor little guy was in so much agony, as it looks huge.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Steven:

I'm glad you've had a happy ending. You were lucky your non-tortoise vet was willing to work with you, thank goodness!!

Now you must try even harder that this doesn't happen again. Give the tortoise forced soaks every day. Put him into a tub of water that he can't get out of. Fill it up so that the water comes up to the middle of his shell...where the top meets the bottom, and leave him in there for a half hour. Don't get upset if he scrambles around trying to get out. Some tortoises don't like being captive in water. But its for his own good, so tough it out.

One of the main reason for hard stones like that (it was probably hard urates that clumped together to form one big stone) is that the tortoise wasn't hydrated.

Thank you so much for posting the pictures. We all learn from others' experiences.

 

[nuketank]

Hi all, thanks so much for the encouraging words and yes i am very fortunate that my sulcata has passed his ordeal. My suspect of this happening is probably the tap water from my area that contains too much mineral. The same problem (kidney stone) happened to my 5 years old labrador. Will be using filtered water from now on. As with soaking i do this whenever the sun is up for 10-15 minutes. Will take the advice for longer soaks. I try to keep him wet most of the time from reading the article Tom posted on the forum in hope to smooth out the pyramiding and simply to keep him hydrated. Will post more pics once he is up and running.

 

[nuketank]

[SOLVED]: Sulcata need help, swollen gland. Kidney stone?

here is an update on the little sulcata. soak him this morning but no excrement probably all came out yesterday during the micro-surgery.

here he is re-charged after soaking and tanning in the sun

http://youtu.be/eftTtF2zHT4

thanks all

 

[Laura]

good... and im sure someone will say something.. but those two torts probably should not be together....
different pathogens, can make each other sick..