trying to save friend's tortoise (updated 8/14)

[johnsonnboswell]

Need help with torts eyes

Ask away.

You might try a moistened q tip to help gently unseal the eyes. I wouldn't use oil because it could be another irritant. Just water or eyewash.

I have to ask you this: apart from the eyes , does this tortoise seem healthy to you? If not, see a vet ASAP. If so, treat it as an irritation problem.

 

[Rramagge]

Need help with torts eyes

No that's y I have practically begged them to let me look after him while they on holiday.
He was a mess everything wrong if u look at one of my older posts I explain everything that was wrong.
He is hydrated now. He has been opening his bowels a few times but its rock hard.
B4 he couldn't hold his head up or anything which he can now. The vet said there loads of things wrong but he said he didn't think he had eyes but I found a pic of when I looked after him last time nd he had them open nd looked ok. Vet also said he thinks he's calcium deficient but he not eating so having to force feed this liquid food.
He is now swallowing it which he hardly did b4 it would just dribble out

 

[johnsonnboswell]

Need help with torts eyes

Yikes. Good for you for taking care of him.

Got a good UVB light?

You're keeping that RT, right? Good care can go a long way even after serous neglect, so don't give up.

 

[Rramagge]

Need help with torts eyes

I have a Powersun 100w which is mvb bulb

Unfortunately we r unsure as to what's going to happen they r back from holiday in a week and think they will want him back if they do I will give them STRICT instructions as to what to do.

Thanx I'm trying my best don't want the little guy to go

This was him when he first came a week and a half ago

Few days after


This was him a few days ago
he had just had a soak but the swelling is down a little I think.



Poor guy

 

[lynnedit]

RE: Need help with torts eyes

Good grief, can't they look at him and realize he is in a bad way?
I sure hope they consider giving him to you, poor thing. If not, visit him weekly!

Must be a combination of poor substrate (dry), dehydration and nutritional deficiencies.
If he is eating, make sure you add a supplement, calcium with D3 at this point, 3-4x per week. You can also add a squirt of bird vitamins to the baby food soaks.
By the way, Nutrabol ("A high potency calcium balancer and multivitamin supplement") is an excellent supplement to use, we just don't see that brand in the US.

Get Saline rinse for eyes and squirt that over his eyes whenever you can, at least twice per day.
Ask the vet for some antibiotic eye ointment and smear that on gently twice per day.

With adequate lighting, nutrition, hydration and eye care, you will have covered all of your bases.

Finally, if you can get him outside in the sun (under strict observation) for even 1/2 hour per day, that can help with healing.

 

[Rramagge]

Need help with torts eyes

I know apparently his dad had spoken to someone on the phone as to how to look after him. He didn't even have lights on him.
I have occasionally had him outside in the enclosure that he is in so he doesn't get stressed with the change and being picked up more than he needs.
He can't eat himself at mo we having to force feed him a liquid food that vet gave me.
It's also quite hard coz I'm actually ill I have been ill for 5 years and am bedbound. I'm 17, my parents r helping me out soo much with the torts.
I find out what needs being done then they do it they r learning quickly lol if they don't do something right they soon hear it just want the best for the torts

I will try get saline for eyes and the antibiotic stuff. Will it b expensive? At the mo I paying for everything for my tort and this one nd I know vets aren't to cheap.

 

[lynnedit]

RE: Need help with torts eyes

Saline eye wash is inexpensive in the US. The antibiotic ointment is hard to say: I am sure it doesn't cost the vet much, but sometimes there are mark ups. Perhaps let the vet know that you are helping a rescue, he might give it to you at cost?

Wow, you have a lot on your own plate, and here you are helping a little tortoise too.

 

[Rramagge]

Need help with torts eyes

Yeah I will email the vet.
Thanx
Lol I know it's a good distraction from pain nd stuff. I will b happy if we can just get his eyes open for a start coz then hopefully he will eat coz he would c the food and walk a bit more
Thanx 4 your help

 

[lynnedit]

RE: Need help with torts eyes

You're welcome! Please keep us posted.

 

[Kate2013]

Need help with torts eyes

Thank you for taking care of this poor tortoise!! Hope you are feeling better yourself, too! Hugs

 

[johnsonnboswell]

Need help with torts eyes

The owners of that tortoise have neglected it terribly. I don't know who the proper authorities to report animal abuse are in your area - but you should find out. Not that them confiscating the tortoise would save its life, but it might be a useful thing to know. In a kind and gentle way, not confrontational, you should refuse to give it back because letting them kill it is not a good option. You may need your parents in on this. And a host of care sheets ready. Perhaps pointing out what the tortoise needs in the way of equipment & vet care & nutrition may convince them that they don't want the responsibility of the animal, or its death.

 

[GBtortoises]

RE: Need help with torts eyes

Swollen, puffy eyes are usually a symptom of vitamin A deficiency not just dry conditions. While too dry of an environmental may be aggravating the situation, it is doubtful that it's the cause. Eyes that are fused close, slightly swollen or sunken from dry environmental conditions can be "cured" with a few applications of some type of moistener and increasing the overall humidity (amibient and substrate) along with regular access to drinking water. Severely swollen, puffy eyes are very likely the result of severe vitamin deficiency, especially vitamin A, due to insufficient lighting (lack of UV) and poor diet.

 

[Rramagge]

Need help with torts eyes

What would u suggest to put on the eyes then?

 

[Teodora'sDAD]

RE: Need help with torts eyes

I really like Terramycin Opthalmic Ointment, but it's hard to find:




My second choice is easier to find and ALMOST as good:

Love this brand! works great on my horses too! lol

 

[lynnedit]

Need help with torts eyes

You can't treat vitamin deficiency with a topical eye treatment.
That is where the feedings and soaks come in. There is some thought the tortoise absorbs nutrients through the cloaca, and also certainly if he drinks.
That is the reason for adding bird vits and baby food like carrot or sweet potato which are higher in vitamin A.
The vet has you tube feeding, right, because he is not eating?
So your current care addresses the likely Vit A deficiency.

Meanwhile, might as well do everything you can, saline rinse, antibiotic ointment, etc., as poor conditions like dryness probably contributed to his symptoms too.

 

[Rramagge]

Need help with torts eyes

No the vet has got us force feeding with syringe opening his mouth then putting tiny bit in at a time nd he swallows it.
He said if that didn't work he would do tube but we would have to give rex to him.

---

We have something called critical care the powder that u mix with water

 

[lynnedit]

RE: Need help with torts eyes

Well, either way, what you are giving him likely has vitamins and nutrients to help with a vitamin A deficiency.
If you can get enough in, and the syringe feedings are not too difficult, then tube feeding won't be necessary.
And the soaks will help, even if he isn't drinking a lot.

Has he urinated?

 

[Rramagge]

Need help with torts eyes

He has once or twice and opened bowels about 4 times now but each time it's rock hard

---

We r only able to get 5ml 3times a day of the feed down him at the mo but even with what we are doing he is better than when he first came

 

[lynnedit]

RE: Need help with torts eyes

He is a lot better off with you. That's 15cc per day, it is something. See what the vet says about the volume, too.
Keep up the soaks, perhaps twice per day. At least once with the strained carrots or sweet potato.

And I agree with johnsonnboswell that his care was definitely neglect/abuse. Also not sure what you do about it, besides explain how ill he is, and what you have been doing about it.

 

[Rramagge]

Need help with torts eyes

Mum said when she fed him just now he was much feistier nd trying to pull at the syringe which he not been doing b4