tortoise legs

[ralph82396]

Hi all,

I have a 15 year old 100 lb male sulcate tortoise, he loves to dig, unfortunately we live in Florida and our dirt isn't very deep he reaches limestone after 6 inches to a foot, my question is are these injuries from digging into the limestone or are they something else, he lives in a a 20/36 enclosure, fence line are reinforced with rebar and limestone rock so he cant dig out. he eats T/A daily as well as veggies and the occasional fruit snack.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hard to say without being able to see in person, but my GUESS is limestone damage.

 

[ralph82396]

Hard to say without being able to see in person, but my GUESS is limestone damage.

can i possibly clean with with iodine or something else?

 

[Maro2Bear]

Give those paws a good spraying down with a garden hose, then take another picture. Those look like old worn down nails from digging and digging against a hard structure. Nothing new to treat with antiseptics.

 

[wellington]

Stop feeding fruit. They are bad for the guy. Only very few tortoises can eat fruit and yours isn't one of them.

 

[Tom]

Hi all,

I have a 15 year old 100 lb male sulcate tortoise, he loves to dig, unfortunately we live in Florida and our dirt isn't very deep he reaches limestone after 6 inches to a foot, my question is are these injuries from digging into the limestone or are they something else, he lives in a a 20/36 enclosure, fence line are reinforced with rebar and limestone rock so he cant dig out. he eats T/A daily as well as veggies and the occasional fruit snack.

Injuries from the limestone would be to the toes and bottom of the feet. Injury that far up the leg is from the see-through fencing. Rubbing on it and/or trying to climb out. They need a visual barrier all around the bottom.

Also, the enclosure is FAR too small. I use a 30x35 foot pen for my small juveniles. A 100 pound adult needs at least 2500 sq. feet (50x50), but ever that is on the small side. My adults lived in a 8,000-10,000 sq. foot enclosure. Small enclosures cause all sorts of problems. Leg damage like this is one of them. Bladder stones and constipation can each be another.

What is T/A? Timothy/Alfalfa? Neither of those are appropriate hays for a sulcata. Both are too stemmy, and alfalfa is too high in protein to be fed daily. Orchard grass hay is best. Teff or Bermuda will also work. I recommend feeding spineless opuntia pads when dry hay is a large part of the diet, which it should be. You can easily grow lots of your own opuntia there in FL. Occasional veggies are good, but I agree with Wellington about no fruit. The sugar messes with the flora and fauna in the GI tract.