Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, I have a 6-year-old leopard tortoise. I have been told by two different vets that she skinny. Both vets have done fecals and both samples turned out fine. I offer her an assortment of kale, dandelion greens, cactus pads, and bermuda hay every day. I always offer more than she can eat in a day just to make sure she is getting enough. She is housed indoors most of the time in a 24 square foot pen and she has 2 UVA/UVB basking spots. The vets say it sounds like I am doing everything right, but I still can't manage to get any weight on her. Does anyone have any ideas, remedies, or similar experiences with their torts? Thanks and happy 4th!

Ask the vets to look into ameobisis. I've read that once it gets into the body tissue it's a [bleep] to get rid of. I suspect a couple of my tortoises have it. What I look for is 'hooked forelimbs'... you'll know what I'm talking about if you've seen it.

Flagyl works but over a long period. Mention this to the vet you are using.

Ed

>>Hi, I have a 6-year-old leopard tortoise. I have been told by two different vets that she skinny. Both vets have done fecals and both samples turned out fine. I offer her an assortment of kale, dandelion greens, cactus pads, and bermuda hay every day. I always offer more than she can eat in a day just to make sure she is getting enough. She is housed indoors most of the time in a 24 square foot pen and she has 2 UVA/UVB basking spots. The vets say it sounds like I am doing everything right, but I still can't manage to get any weight on her. Does anyone have any ideas, remedies, or similar experiences with their torts? Thanks and happy 4th!
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Ed @ Tortoise Keepers
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

I've never heard of such a thing. Do you have any photos or know of any websites that have photos of what you are talking about? It sounds interesting. Thanks for the info. I'll bring it up with my vet.

is she skinny meaning light in weight? Try soaking it in water more often...maybe its dehydrated.
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Michael Enriquez

No she's not light in weight. When you look at her head-on she doesn't seem to fill up her shell much as she should. I don't really know how else to explain it.

>>No she's not light in weight. When you look at her head-on she doesn't seem to fill up her shell much as she should. I don't really know how else to explain it.

Our sulcata looked like that when we first adopted her. She'd been thrown away, dumped out in the middle of nowhere then found by a rancher. She was horribly pyramided and so weak that when she walked her head wobbled like a bobble head doll. It was so bad I wondered how she could see clearly when she walked, she looked skinny inside her shell too.
She did need some metronidazole(Flagyl)and she took that. Then we allowed her to graze at will, I think the combination of the meds & the free grazing really turned her around.
After 6 months or so she'd stopped wobbling her head, today 4 years later she's still pyramided but the appearance of the pyramids has diminished. She really fills out her shell now. I think asking about the Flagyl is a really good idea then make sure the tortoise eats plenty of foods that are good for him.

You can see photos of our big girl in my KS album, the pics are mixed up but I dated the ones from when she first got here. I don't know if that'll help you but you can look anyhow.
Destiny

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PHRatz