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Tortoise Health

Thanks for your help, i am worried about the whitness of the shell too. Compared to other pictures the pyrimiding looks aculy not that bad. Hopfully i wont need to see a vet but i will if i have too. :(
 
In the meantime, you could look at the recommended diets and make any needed changes.

Also if there is any heat factors involved, changing things up, doing what you can to make the environment more closely match what's needed.

A pic of your set up, temps and humidity if you posted that, we could compare it with what's recommended. That's what I do when I need help. :)
 
I probobly will be able to post some exact observations about my enclosher later tonight(we have to go to my sisters for thanksgiving dinner/lunch). But i have a 50 wt uvb light(day only) and a 75-100wt(have to check) red light that goes 24 hours a day. I have a screen top so it is about 60-70% humidity.i keep it low to mid 80s during the day and above 75 at night. the diet is mostly romaine,kale, escorole and T-rex turtle pellots.Petco had always used turtle pellots and suggested i kept using those. i feed in as much variety of vegatibles that i can but he mostly eats just the leafs. He is not a fan of new things. Everynow and then i give him freeze dried meal worms and dog food. i really want to start adding some supliments to his food but i really dont know anything about them. I would like to change him to tortoise pellots and some calcium supluments.he is in a 55 gallon aquarium so its about 5.5 feet by 1 foot, by 2 feet high.Hopfully by January i will have him in a 6 foot by 3 foot by 2 foot animal plastics enclosher. :) Thats what i can remember off the top of my head, i can list the remaining things when i get back to my house late tonight. thanks for everyones help. :thumbsup:
 
I reread my books for specific feeding information...yesh..taking care of Samwise is more difficult that I imagined. I need to get these food lists memorized! :)

I had been giving Samwise Banana and Mango because it wasn't on the forbidden foods list, but just found out that Banana is not encouraged because of the high levels of oxalic acid *this is implicated in the formulation of kidney stones as is Mango. So I am gonna have to feed these two perhaps once a MONTH..because he certainly likes them or cut them out entirely!...boyoboy..these books certainly give out conflicting information! :(
 
Hello

Hello!

Excellent Deb! I am so glad you are doing research. You are right, unfortunately there are not too many interested in making things better for turtles.
The foods that I would steer away from most of the time would be foods that are high in phosphorus bananas, meats like fish, eggs. The foods high in oxalates I would avoid are raspberries, rhubarb, strawberries.
Mango & Papaya are pretty decent fruits, too.
I am not saying you can never feed any oxalates, just be sparing with them.
Foods that are high in phosphorus & oxalates both, will disrupt the calcium uptake & absorption leaving them vulnerable to metabolic bone disease.
Too much protein can cause kidney stones, as well as interefere in the balance of calcium & other nutrients & put too much stress on the renal system.
A large component of health is fluids daily. That helps keep the GI tract healthy & hydrated so the body can flush everything through correctly.
If you have a dehydrated animal then I would not give much if any protein until the hydration levels are normalized.
The setup looks pretty good Deb. How are the temps today?

Tracie
 
Hello

Hello Deb,

I did forget to say that I wouldn't feed Mango or Papaya more than a few times per month. As long as he is hydrated, there should be no problems.
As far a canned dogfood, etc, I would steer away from that. The commercial pellets are usually pretty good if they are made with timothy hays & grasses, etc that are formulated for turtles.
Sometimes if the mother is not in optimal health when laying eggs, the hatchlings could come out with pre-existing problems with calcium & or other shell problems, too.

Tracie
 
Ok, I have no problem cutting out anything that is not good for him. I orginally thought that banana was not good for him and even stated this in the reptile forum. Then I later came across information that included a list of toxic foods and banana wasn't on THAT list so I thought I might be wrong. I really haven't been feeding it a lot (not making excuses) just mixed in with the food and sprinkled with the vitamins and mashed together. Since I hadn't been getting runny stools and his eyes remained bright and clear..well we can see how wrong I was...appearances can be deceiving. :(



I thought that the dirt might be irritating his eyes so I switched substrate. He's on aspen substrate now.

Samwise11222007011.jpg


Samwise11222007013.jpg


Going for a dip in the pool again!

Samwise11222007018.jpg


It was warm today (I live in Baltimore) so he got a chance to go outside in his heated playpen and soak in some rays (the heated play pen is a large plastic tub with a small UTH on the bottom of one end so if he needs more heat) In this pic, I let him out to roam the yard for a bit.

Samwise11222007004.jpg


Samwise11222007001.jpg


As of now, in the tank the temps are..under the bridge 87
over the bridge 93 (turned off the light now)
water is 79
His personal temp is 83

It would probably be easier for the whole world if a simple recipe was made and measurements given..take the feeding controls out of our hands. ;)
 
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Hello

Hello Deb,

He looks great, & happy wandering around outside. :D I think you are doing fine. There are so many caresheets out there that contradict each other it is crazy.
Technically, since bananas are high in phosphorus, you can balance them out by sprinkling some calcium on them to help out.
Thanks for posting the other pics. I think he is going to be fine, & is in good hands with you.

Tracie
 
:) Hi, could you please tell me if anything is wrong with my tortoises shell. i have posted some pictures on pages 3 and 4 and will post more pics or details if you need. Thanks
 
Hello

Hello,

Do you mean the excess white on the top of the shell? Is the shell hard or soft?
Are you providing good quality UVB & calcium supplementation? What type of UVB are you using?


Tracie
 
HI,

i am talking about the axcess white. i dont currently use any calcium supliment, but i would like too i am just not sure how much, wen, or what kind. I am currently using a zoo med 50 wt heat light, i was told that was good uvb output by the petstore. I think his shell is pretty hard but i have nothing to compare it too.Thanks for all you hellp
 
Hello

Hello,

The best calcium supplement that you can use is Repcal calcium, & for an adult you should use that 3 times weekly.
The Zoomed basking light is most likely not a UVB light. So you are going to have to get a UVB light. The best sources would be a T-rex active UV heat or a Megaray, both of which are mercury vapor bulbs. They are high output UVB so, only use them if you have an enclosure that is at least a 40 gallon, ok?
Otherwise, use a reptisun 10 flourescent tube bulb, or a reptiglo 8 flourescent tube bulb, along with your basking light.
If you do get a Mercury vapor bulb, you most likely will not need to use much, if any other supplemental heating along with that light.

Tracie
 
Thanks for the info. i currently have a 55 gallon so i am getting a t-rex bulb to provide heat and uvb. but i do feel a little bit better because i found out from some long time cherry head keepers that the white marbling on the shell is common amoung there species. But i still cant beleive the stupid petstore actualy told me a zoo med had good uvb output, I do not trust them at all now. Thanks everyone with all the good info.
 
baybay said:
Thanks for the info. i currently have a 55 gallon so i am getting a t-rex bulb to provide heat and uvb. but i do feel a little bit better because i found out from some long time cherry head keepers that the white marbling on the shell is common amoung there species. But i still cant beleive the stupid petstore actualy told me a zoo med had good uvb output, I do not trust them at all now. Thanks everyone with all the good info.
Click to expand...


That "marbling" is normal? If it is, I am going to get me one!! It's very unusual *I like unusual*.
 
Hello

Hello,

Wow that is interesting, marbling is normal? I have not seen that before.
Well, the Zoomed has a Mercury Vapor Bulb is that what you have, or do you just have a regular basking bulb? IF you have the Mercury vapor bulb, it is ok, but not great. The UVB is not very high for a mercury vapor bulb & has early burn out. If you want good UVB output, I would go with the T-Rex active UV heat or the Megaray both have great output. The Megaray lasts longer though than the T-rex does.


Tracie
 
I have the reptile surgery book, it's chock full of goodies about illnesses and diseases...if I find time (having a bit of a rat situation) I will look though it and see if it mentions marbling.
 
Ya i know i guess it was a pro i never new about :) . i was so suprised wen i found i out i almost didnt belive it, but many people have said it is common. well i will see ya all later i am going to take mate to the vet.
 
Let us know what the vet says. I am more inclined to listen to professionals than other people. In the meantime, I'll be looking for a girl for myself. (no I am not wanting to breed).
 
OK when i went to the vet the first thing i asked about was this weird shell marbeling. she said it was normal for this breed and that he had a very nice shell compared to last time( i saw her a year ago shortly after i got him from petco) I was very suprised at her reactions, but i geuss they were good :D
 
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