Swollen Sulcata ???

[Andy_Panda]

Hello All...

I’m a little worried about Hagrid, it seems that his butt is swollen, the two swollen parts (were the spurs are) are firm and I do not know, is this is normal? (never poked there before) his tail looks swollen as well

His diet is mostly Orchard Grass, Spring mix, and Grassland tortoise food. Every once in a while, we will give him some Mazuri. He has been eating regularly and pooping every day (little to no urates)

He gets soaked every day and his enclosure is 68-72 % humidity all the time.

Here are some pics (he has a dirty butt)

any suggestions? pin worms? kidney stone ? or am i being to dramatic thanks in advance
-Andy

 

[egyptiandan]

Much to dramatic Andy Her butt and thighs look just fine to me.

Danny

 

[Tom]

It does look a little swollen. Almost reminds me of the photos of obese tortoises, but not nearly as bad. The whitishness in the first photo concerns me. It looks like the folds that are normally there are distended a little. Can you get another photo in better lighting, like sunshine? Probably nothing wrong, but I do see a very little something too.

Question: Do you feed a lot of carrots or something similar? Or is Mazuri relatively high in vitamin A?

I have a friend that had a Jacksons chameleon with chronic edema. It looked like MBD at first, with the swollen limbs, but he lived outside, on a tree in the sun, and had a good varied diet, so we eliminated that. The bloodwork showed elevated Vitamin A. My friend used carrots as a source of moisture and food for his feeder insects. As soon as he switched to other stuff for his feeders, the edema went away, and never returned.

Might have nothing to do with your baby, just an idea.

 

[Andy_Panda]

well update on Hagrid... thighs are now swollen so we went ahead and got him an appointment for monday at 1040 am hope all goes well thanks for the info roachman.. since we noticed the swelling we stopped feeding everything but a little lettuce and grass only. he has a water dish in his enclosure and we still soak him once a day hope all goes well we will keep everyone updated

 

[Andy_Panda]

RE: Swollen Sulcata ??? UPDATED 02-22-2010

well we took Hagrid to the vet today (took him to Dr. Niklos Weber of Whispering Pines in Magalia Ca).....

The Vet said that he has Trichomonas/Hexamonas and slight Pinworms... so he perscribed us a 5 day supply of Panacur and Metronidazole

We need to go see the vet on this comming up monday will update again and hope all goes well

-Andy

 

[Sudhira]

Oh I hope Hagrid gets well really soon!

 

[DoctorCosmonaut]

I hope Hagrid starts to feel better Poor guy!

What is Trichomonas/Hexamonas?

 

[evabug1]

I'm glad you followed your instincts and took Hagrid to the Vet. How are you administering the Panacur? Just curious as I had to take my hatchling to the vet for the Panacur treatment to be administered. I would also like to know what Trichomonas/Hexamonas is and how Hagrid contracted it.

 

[Tom]

Please keep us posted on this one. I have not heard of this one and it seems strange to me that a flagellate or protozoal parasite would cause that sort of generalized swelling. I don't know everything, but I'd sure like to learn a few things from this one. Did the vet offer any explanation on where your captive bred, solitary tortoise contracted something so out of the ordinary? I did a quick google search and Trichomonas vaginalis is listed as a human protozoan STD. Must be a different species for animals, but I couldn't find it.

 

[Andy_Panda]

Thanks for your concerns..

I hope Hagrid starts to feel better Poor guy!

What is Trichomonas/Hexamonas?

A common parasite is the flagellate protozoan Trichomonas . Trichomonas are easy to eliminate. Metronidazol (Flagyl-Searle Labs) can be safely administered orally at a dosage of 50 mg/kg (2.2 lbs.) to eliminate them. A fresh stool sample should be taken to a vet for analysis for new snakes or ones you suspect have internal parasites. Caution: Milk snakes can react negatively to higher doses of Metronidazol than can be tolerated by other snake and reptile species.

I'm glad you followed your instincts and took Hagrid to the Vet. How are you administering the Panacur? Just curious as I had to take my hatchling to the vet for the Panacur treatment to be administered. I would also like to know what Trichomonas/Hexamonas is and how Hagrid contracted it.

well we mix it with a "pumpkin meat ball " which is just cooked pumpkin / canned pumpkin with the medicine sprinkled on then rolled in a ball set some on a spring mix leaf

Please keep us posted on this one. I have not heard of this one and it seems strange to me that a flagellate or protozoal parasite would cause that sort of generalized swelling. I don't know everything, but I'd sure like to learn a few things from this one. Did the vet offer any explanation on where your captive bred, solitary tortoise contracted something so out of the ordinary? I did a quick google search and Trichomonas vaginalis is listed as a human protozoan STD. Must be a different species for animals, but I couldn't find it.

he was not sure i asked if it was from the water he said possibly .... we have took him outside a couple times 3 times to be exact in the past month when it was sunny

 

[Stephanie Logan]

Good luck on the treatment. I hope the swelling goes down quickly so that she is more comfortable.

Let us know how Hagrid is doing.

 

[Andy_Panda]

Good luck on the treatment. I hope the swelling goes down quickly so that she is more comfortable.

Let us know how Hagrid is doing.

UPDATE ON HAGRID!!
well we went to the vet to day and his parasite is gone and very very minor pinworms ... the swelling is down a bit ... the vet said that he is a little "overweight" lol so i guess we have been feeding him too much ... so hagrid is very well

 

[dmmj]

Don't we all have dirty butts?

 

[TortieLuver]

Wow! good observation then. From the pics, it looked a little swollen but the second pic looked normal. Did he say how he/she got pinworms?

Oh I hope Hagrid gets well really soon!

 

[Andy_Panda]

Wow! good observation then. From the pics, it looked a little swollen but the second pic looked normal. Did he say how he/she got pinworms?


The vet stated that it was possibly from the water or in food there eggs are microscopic so it could have been from just about anything outside or in his consumption of food/drink in the house.

 

[Scooter]

Glad to hear Hagrid is doing better!