Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have an approximate 6 year old Aldabra tortoise. I recently went out of town for 3 weeks and had someone watch the tortoise for use while away. When I returned I noticed the tortoise has been lethargic anf eyes have been swollen. I noticed the body around the legs appeared swollen as if it put on weight and got fat. My wife took the tortoise to an exotic vet who took blood work and a fecal sample and said everything appeared normal. My wife said the tortoise passed alot of fecal matter while at the doctors office and alot of green fluid Basically he gave us a bill for $200.00 and said nothing was wrong. My tortoise still isn't eating and appears swollen around the eyes. I have been soaking the tortoise frequently. A strange thing i noticed the usual white color around the tortoise eyes appear green. Has anyone ever experienced this with aldrabra tortoises before? If anyone can offer any helpful insight it would be greatly appreciated.

My response is going to assume that you are using a decent herp vet. I'm sure you know the realities of such an assumption.

First, I'm curious, how large is a 6 year old Aldabran? This is still an uncommon pet species (as it should be IMO)and it could have very well a first for your vet, however experienced they may be. Knowing what is normal and what isn't is half the battle. Did you discuss the symptoms? Changes seen by you might not be apparent to someone who's only had the chance to observe the animal once. Call back with the observation of the green eyes? While no red flags may have been seen on examination, did the lab results reveal anything? Perhaps they were normal as well? Normal findings are a good thing!

The green eyes can sort of be related to jaundice in people. Reptiles do not normally convert biliverdin (green) into bilirubin (yellow) like mammals do. The coloration might be from something else entirely (?)

My best suggestion for the time being, is to follow up with your current vet. Problem solving is process and more information helps find a decision. The fact that the animal continues to do poorly is enough to rule out that all is well, or that your absence caused a temporary change in behavior. A repeated blood sample could be golden. In a realm of inadequate normal values to compare to, sometimes seeing how the bloodwork has changed will show trends and allow the vet to key into problem areas.

Good luck, and I hope your tortoise does well

Ian

I changed Vets because the original one said just soak the tortoise and it might get better. Blood work was negative for parasites. Red blood count was low and there was problems with the blood not clotting.
The Vet I changed to was more of an improvement but had little work with tortoises. Use of warmth, frequent soakings, enemas, and Baytril have helped. Still has swelling in the fleshy areas.
To answer your question abouth the length, the carapace length is approximately 17 inches long.

Hi there,

all symptoms look like what we call in german (maybe the same in english) "sepsis" or "poisened
blood" - a serious bakteria infektion.You have to be fast,or your tortoise could die.
Do you see any red spots or parts on the plastron?(wich is difficult with aldabras I know!)But even if not -
change your vet,and find the right antibiotics soon to get your animal healthy.

Hello
Thank you for the return. I did change Vets. The tortoise has improved using warmth, frequent soakings, giving ememas, and some injections of Baytril.
It has started nibbling on some food but it still is lethargic and there is swelling in the body.
I didn't notice any red spots on the plastron. I dont know what could have poisoned my tortoise. Any suggestions of any known broad rememdies for poison such as charcoal?

I think there might be a mistake due to English/German translation. The other poster is correct in that sepsis is commonly called "blood poisoning", and that it describes bacteria in the blood. The problem is not a poison so to speak, but an infection that has spread into the bloodstream, and thus around the entire body.

For interests sake, charcoal is used in poison ingestion because it inactivates and binds many toxins before they can be absorbed into the blood via the digestive tract.

I'm glad your guy is showing some improvement. It sounds like you made a good call in switching vets. Finding a good herp vet is sometimes the most difficult part of herp keeping!

Ian