Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Last January i went to a very bad petshop and i bought a Star tortoise that was being kept in a small plastic cage without anything to eat but wood shavings.I saw him eating and pooping 100% clean wood shavings what means he didnt have any real food left inside his intestines!

I bought him because he was gorgeous ( a very beautiful wc around five years old male) and because he was lethargic. But he still was eating so i decided to give him a chance.

Well, when i brought him home i noticed his plastrom was covered with red spots, what, together with the lethargy, could mean he had saepticemia, probably caused by a wood shavings impactation.I thought he would die soon but i decided to try to give him a chance.I soaked him in a water bowl several times a day, i put him under a lamp to warm him up and i gave him the best veggies and greens i could provide.After several soaks he produced a " gorgeous" poop, half wood shavings (souvenir from the petshop, lol!) and half...very well digested food!I was very happy!

After he pooped the red spots disappeared and he became very active and full of energy.Didnt stop walking around his very large terrarium and producing the largest poops i have already seen!lol!I de-wormed him and everything seemed to be ok until 3 weeks ago when i noticed he was lethargic again.Not only lethargic but he was turning yellow/green, dark orange and was bleeding!Yes, bleeding! The skin between the carapace and the body was bleeding and i could see the blood coming from it by the arms/legs and neck holes! His plastron was covered with large dark yellow spots and his head was light yellow/green!I thought he had saepticemia again plus jaundice and i started to give him antibiotics.As i dont know ANY good reptile vet around, i checked his weight and prepared the dose i thought was apropriated.I prayed God and i gave him the dose! The effect was amazing! The next day he was active again, wandering around his terrarium displaying that odd looking yellow/green head and dark orange limbs as nothing had happened!

I continued to give him the antibiotics by mouth but that job became increasingly difficult when my star started to recover his strenght.On the 4th day he was so strong i needed to fight against him to force him to release his arms to allow me to pour the medicine into his mouth!I dont know if this was the reason but that day he started to bleed again and i decided to stop giving him the medicine!I prayed to God again because i knew it was too early to stop medicating him but i knew i could not fight with him like that anymore!

Well, the medicine dose was enough to cure him because the yellow spots disappeared and he started to recover his own color again. For 2 weeks he seemed to be ok, again! Eating, going to the toilet, bathing inside his large water bowl, gaining weight.I was happy!

2 days ago i noticed he was not walking normally.When i took him on my hands i noticed he had a large amount of flesh going out from his vent! Fresh flesh still humid and he could not pull it inside again! I soaked him in warm water and left him there for one hour.After that i could put the flesh inside again.

Well, yesterday he did that again! Again i was able to put the flesh inside but now i m afraid his hemipenis prolapse will become chronic and there is no good reptile vet around!What should i do? To drown him in the bathroom sink?lol!!

I get the feeling that, one, you are not a 'pet person' and, two, you are not in the US.
I'm sure you can find a person to take and deal with him. I hope you don't take your frustration out on the animal.
How can I make such a statement?... I've been there and do realize it is not right.
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Ed
Tortoise_Keepers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Trying to keep the fun in Chelonian care

When i wrote that message about my STAR i was kind of desperate because i dont know what to do with him.I dont know how to treat a chronic prolapse!I didnt want really to give him way! I live in Malaysia, Southeast Asia, so i knew it was impossible for anybody to take him

I m a person that likes to rescue and to treat sick animals.I have around 30 reptiles at home now and the ONLY one that is always sick is that tortoise! The others recovered very well from the bad treatment they received in the petshops where i found them!Some will soon be re-homed to good houses or to good pet Zoos.

When i said there is no good vets around, im saying the true!Its impossible to find good reptile vets in Kuala Lumpur.The first time i took my Bearded Dragon( a rescue with MBD) to a vet here, he wide opened his eyes and said, very frightened: " What IS that?".

When i wrote that message i should have add a LOL at the end of the sentence.Like that people will notice that i was kind of desperate but that i didnt want to give away my tortoise!

I am also in Malaysia,i do understand when u say no reptile vet around.Everytime one of my reptiles is sick i hav to go onnet to look n read around for remedies and ways to treat them .In my collection quite a few of the torts n turts r rescue from restaurants when i got to them many r in very bad condition.many i nurse bac to health then released thou some die.

Hi
I am more than happy to take him ??Where r u located.I hav a few of his fellow mates .anyway how can u tell tat he is 5 yrs old when u found him???