What can I expect?

[tortania]

Sixteen months ago I helped a friend get two Hermann's hatchlings. Yesterday she called me and asked me if I wanted them, because she didn't have the time to care for them anymore. I was shocked when I got them home! They are at least 18 months old and only weigh 34 grams apiece! One of them has a severe eye infection (I'm taking him to the vet tomorrow).

My question is, what can I expect for these little guys as far as quality of life goes. I've gotten them to eat, in fact they eat pretty good! Is their size a little too small for their age?

sorry this one is so blurry

same baby from the top

the healthier of the two looking for more endive!

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[egyptiandan]

Hi,
They should do fine with the right diet and some TLC.
It depends on how long the eye infection has been going on as to how affected the eye is. Time will tell on that. A tortoise with one eye though will do perfectly fine through out it's life. Tortoises can adapt to most any traumatic condition.

Danny

 

[JustAnja]

Thats such a shame, Im so glad they are in good hands now.

 

[tortania]

Thats such a shame, Im so glad they are in good hands now.

Thanks, guys. I found out she had them on a diet of iceburg, romaine lettuce, and tomatoes only. Could this account for their low weights? I've put them on curly endive, raddichio, butternut sqash, carrots, and escarole. After I soaked them (they looked really dry) and got them warmed up they started eating pretty good. I am concerned about the other little guys eye, and the other one was closed. I don't know if I should have but I've been using turtle eye drops (vitamin A), two drops per eye once a day for the past few days, and the swelling has gone down on that one eye, and the other has opened. I am taking him to the vet tomorrow, though. I'll keep ya posted!

 

[TestudoGeek]

they're surelly underweight. my hermann's is 7 months old and weights almost double that at 58gr. And he's a Western Hermann's... those look like eastern to me.
it kills me to see torts fall due to bad husbandry... I'm really glad she gave them to you. keep us posted on how they progress.

 

[barbie69]

They are very cute, I am glad they found a good home now. If they are eating I think once the one sees a vet for his eye they will probably thrive under the right conditions. They are really very beautifully colored.

 

[tortania]

I'm hoping the roads hold up until I get back from the vet...I thought they might be Eastern, but wasn't sure. Here is a pic of their undersides..sorry it's so yellow. I think it might be because of the UVB lighting (they were under it for the picture).

They are quite personable little guys. They didn't mind me handling them at all (trying to do that as little as possible). I'll post again when I get back from the vet. Thanks for your support everyone!

 

[jlyoncc1]

Glad you have them! I am sure they will thrive with you. Good Luck!

 

[Crazy1]

they are so lucky they found their way to you now I am sure they will do well. Good luck at the vet.

 

[Yvonne G]

I'm sure your vet will give you a little tube of antibiotic eye ointment. Be sure to use it like you are told to. It is truly a miracle drug! I use the antibiotic eye ointment three times a day and within just a few days the eye problem has resolved. Your little guy's eye looks pretty bad, so it might take longer than a few days; but don't lose hope. That stuff really works!! Also, if after they swelling has gone down and you think the eye might be blind, they sometimes fool you and start to see out of it eventually some day! Might even take a year, but they are very resilient.

Yvonne

 

[tortania]

Well I get to the vet and he didn't even come in today! We are getting snow that started out as rain first, so the roads are getting slick. I was told to check back tomorrow. Guess I better call first to make sure he is there.

In the meantime I stopped by a local pet store to get some water treatment for my torts drinking water, and spotted a Russian tortoise in a 10 gallon set up (he is 5" SCL) and they were feeding him mushed up colored tortoise balls (I think ReptiCal?). So of course I had to rescue him. I will get pics when he settles in

 

[Crazy1]

I'm so sorry you made that trip for nothing. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

 

[tortania]

I'm so sorry you made that trip for nothing. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Well I called first today...vet wasn't in again today. However, he will be in tomorrow, and I've made a 4pm appointment with him. I'll keep you posted

 

[cvalda]

did you post the new russian? can't wait to see him!

 

[tortania]

Just posted a couple

 

[Ozric]

http://i250.photobucket.com/albums/gg265/Ozric_01/Torts Jan08/T3Septimus002.jpg


Hi your torts look like they are Easterns to me going by both the plastron and carapace pictures. They might not be underweight at all. Can you measure the straight line carapce length by placing each tort against the wall with the head in and make amark on the floor where the back end is. This is your SLC. Then weight with accurate scales and check against the Jackson Ratio. Then you will know if they are underweight.

My littlest tort (see pic above if it works) is 3.5 years old and weighs 36g. But this is a really small one, though he 's quite healthy and active. Some are just smaller than others.

Ozric







[[IMG

 

[tortania]

Thanks, Ozric. I weigh my torts with a postal scale I bought last year for that reason. I just reweighed both of them, and the sick one actually gained a gram in the past week (35 gm)! However the healthier one last a gram (33gm...I hope that doesn't mean he is getting sick).

They both measured 2 3/8 inches (60.69mm) SCL. I looked on the Jackson ration chart and it doesn't go that low. The vet should be able to tell me if they are underweight or not.

By the way, your Hermann's is a real cutie!

 

[Redfoot NERD]

Hi Ozric,

Hermann's are cute as hatchlings for sure.

And I'm not singling your's out. Your's is probably not small based on the appearance of the carapace - probable overfeeding(?) - evidenced by the space between the scutes.. as opposed to the "stacking" of the scutes commonly associated with "pyramiding"! I've seen this in a few of mine in the past also.. [ space between ]!

According to a brief article on page 28 in the Sept. '06 Reptiles magazine quoting Jon Coote [ too many credentials to list ] when he talks about pyramiding- " Recent research has shown that this is caused by tortoises not having access to a microclimate of high humidity to moisten the carapace during periods of growth".

And then he goes on to say.. " Getting tortoise keepers to respond positively to this new husbandry knowledge and putting it into practice has proved difficult ".

Amen Jon!

When we see ANY tortoise with ANY space between or the stacking of carapace scutes.. it is directly associated with diet/overfeeding and/or lack of humidity in their hide area. Regardless of the species.

Everybody.. learn from this! Your tortoise depends on it.

Terry

 

[tortania]

Thanks for the info Terry . From our discussions, I knew that humidity loving species required a higher humidity in their hides to prevent pyramiding. I wondered if the same were true for species who don't require high humidity to remain healthy. Boy, learn something new everyday! I've been keeping the Hermann's humdity level in their hide area around 51%. I was going to ask the vet if I needed to lower it some, but like I said they were very dry appearing when I got them, and I felt like they needed the extra "boost". They have both been soaking themselves regularly...in fact it's the first thing they do upon waking every morning.

I noticed the swelling around the one's eye is completely gone...I think it may have bursted last night (it looked like he had a pinched off bubble hanging from the corner of his eye last night, and I could see the closed lid, though very pink.) Today his eye is somewhat open, and to me the eye itself looks okay. I am still keeping his appointment though, as I'm sure he will require an antibiotic eye ointment.

 

[tortania]

Well I we just got back from the vet, and all is not bad. The little guy has a severe eye infection, for which he gave me Teramycin ointment for, and he also prescribed Calglucon syrup to put on his and his vivarium mate's food twice a week until gone. His weight is normal for his age I found out (whew). He told me to bring him back in two weeks, and that he would have him back to normal in no time! All in all he said for what he has been through, he isn't in that bad of shape .