What should I do?

[HipsterTorts]

So for those of you who haven't heard my golden Greek, Willow's, story here's the quick summary. The first two weeks she wouldn't eat or open her eyes, she was even scratching at her eyes a lot. After a vet visit it was suggested that I separate her from my other tort. Once separated she was active and would eat, she's become a pig. So that's the story, now here's where I'm in need of help.
When I got Willow she was only 22grams, during the two weeks she didn't eat she went down to 21grams. Since separating her she's only gained 3grams, it's been a month and a half since I've separated them so I'm starting to get worried. I feed her spring mix and Mazuri on a regular basis. And randomly during the week she'll get different weeds and flowers. Am I doing something wrong? Are there things I can feed her that will help her put on a little bit of weight?
My other question has to do with eye sight. She will be a good couple of inches away from her food and start biting at it. When she's close to it she'll bite at it and miss or bite next to it instead of directly at it. (Even though she has a hard time seeing it she manages to eat most of what I give her) Sometimes she walks into things, but most of the time she's really good at navigating through her enclosure. Could she be blind? Also, could this be why she's always scratching her eyes?

Thanks!

 

[ascott]

Sarah it sounds as though she is just going to need some patience and a bit more time to catch up, so to speak....if she fell behind, she may have missed some development time....so if she is now gaining, even though slow and becoming steady...then keep at it....just watch for sudden changes and if all continues well, I would say give her a chance to get stronger....IMHO

The eye sight? well, I adopted two little Redfoot tortoise, there is a smaller one (also believed by myself to have been bullied) that has poor eye sight and/or poor muscle tone so she does the air biting thing but she can not get the food down all on her own...she aims for it then her head veres upward or a bit to the side....I believe that she missed out on hatchling development and now she will simply have to catch up the best she can....when she first got here she did not move around much...now she is trucking along, albeit a bit rickety of a gait but still trucking along "for her" ....I am giving her a little bit of time to let her eye issue clear itself (as it is seeming to clear up and she has it open 90% of the time when she is up and awake....if I am not satisfied with it in about a week or so I will get some med to treat the eye...

If your little one is getting better, go with it....

 

[HipsterTorts]

Sarah it sounds as though she is just going to need some patience and a bit more time to catch up, so to speak....if she fell behind, she may have missed some development time....so if she is now gaining, even though slow and becoming steady...then keep at it....just watch for sudden changes and if all continues well, I would say give her a chance to get stronger....IMHO

The eye sight? well, I adopted two little Redfoot tortoise, there is a smaller one (also believed by myself to have been bullied) that has poor eye sight and/or poor muscle tone so she does the air biting thing but she can not get the food down all on her own...she aims for it then her head veres upward or a bit to the side....I believe that she missed out on hatchling development and now she will simply have to catch up the best she can....when she first got here she did not move around much...now she is trucking along, albeit a bit rickety of a gait but still trucking along "for her" ....I am giving her a little bit of time to let her eye issue clear itself (as it is seeming to clear up and she has it open 90% of the time when she is up and awake....if I am not satisfied with it in about a week or so I will get some med to treat the eye...

If your little one is getting better, go with it....

Thank you Angela I'll continue to watch her. My problem is I'm always comparing her to Indie Indie has been growing like crazy lately so when I see how good she's doing it makes me worry about Willow.
The eye sight issue is worrying me though because I think it's getting worse. She doesn't even aim in the right direction most of the time. Also, I think it's gotten worse over the last few days. I usually don't have to hand feed her because even though she does miss it she eventually gets it and eats a ton. But the past two days I've hand fed her since it seemed a bit more difficult.
She actually did a course of eye drops that the vet gave me. He had seen dirt around her eyes and assumed that was the issue. So he gave me the eye drops and advised me to keep the dirt moist all the time so that it wouldn't get stuck around her eyes. I did the eye drops for the full 2 weeks and there was no change.

 

[ascott]

it is I believe a natural thing to have to like critters and compare one to the other....however, I believe that your little one just needs some extra attention and patience As she gets stronger she will have you noticing her own individual awesomeness and you will be like...Huh?

If you have done the eye treatments (what type of med was prescribed?...antibiotic ointment or simply tear replacement drops?) Is she hydrated well? I know that these ones can be prone to RI if they are kept to moist, but do you have a little humidity along with heat and are you doing daily soaks? I would wonder if hydration may be playing a role in her eyes??? are they simply tearing, or are they closed tight? or what are they doing?

 

[HipsterTorts]

it is I believe a natural thing to have to like critters and compare one to the other....however, I believe that your little one just needs some extra attention and patience As she gets stronger she will have you noticing her own individual awesomeness and you will be like...Huh?

If you have done the eye treatments (what type of med was prescribed?...antibiotic ointment or simply tear replacement drops?) Is she hydrated well? I know that these ones can be prone to RI if they are kept to moist, but do you have a little humidity along with heat and are you doing daily soaks? I would wonder if hydration may be playing a role in her eyes??? are they simply tearing, or are they closed tight? or what are they doing?

I'm not exactly sure, I'll find it so I can tell you exactly what it was. I do know for sure that it was a drop.
I do daily soaks and she gets misted three time a day. Also, the first thing she does when she wakes up in the morning is spend a good 15 minutes in her water. So in a way she gets two soaks a day.
The weird part is when you look at her eyes it looks like there's nothing wrong. She doesn't have any problems opening them. Although I do think they look a little small lol

 

[ascott]

hmmm...if you say looking at her eyes you can not ell anything is wrong? if may then not be her eyesight alone? perhaps she just needs to get stronger/muscle tone and control.....perhaps she does have eyesight issues due to her lack of thrive from the start? I say just keep an eye on her and let her do her own jig IMHO

If she needs a helping hand to chow down....any help you get her will likely assist her in developing a bit easier :}

 

[HipsterTorts]

hmmm...if you say looking at her eyes you can not ell anything is wrong? if may then not be her eyesight alone? perhaps she just needs to get stronger/muscle tone and control.....perhaps she does have eyesight issues due to her lack of thrive from the start? I say just keep an eye on her and let her do her own jig IMHO

If she needs a helping hand to chow down....any help you get her will likely assist her in developing a bit easier :}

I'm praying that she just need time to develop!

I need to find my camera but when I do I'm going to take a picture of her eyes and post it. Maybe I'm not seeing something...

 

[Laura]

are you using one of those coil bulbs? they cause eye issues...serious ones.

 

[HipsterTorts]

are you using one of those coil bulbs? they cause eye issues...serious ones.

No I use a Power Sun.

 

[lynnedit]

Since you soak her daily, perhaps adding the carrot or sweet potato baby food every other day, and/or bird vitamins?
Certainly couldn't hurt.