Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,
Im Steph from the UK. I posted here some time ago about my little Russian Scrabble who is around 2 years old. 2 months ago he started to walk around with his eyes shut and stopped eating although he seemed active in every other way - getting up to bask... pooping etc..
After some days of worrying I took him to a vet who admitted him into a vetinary hospital for 2 and a half weeks. In that time he treated him with eye drops/ ointment..... and tested his blood etc for viral infections. Apart from being a little run down and treating him with some antibiotics...there has been no change in him whatsoever.
Sadly I have him home again and whilst I cant get him to eat... am just waiting for the time that he will die perhaps from starvation. It pulls on my heart strings and I really dont know what to do with him. I really dont want to lose the little 'un. My vet said that whilst he was active etc then he shouldnt be "put down", so I am searching relentlessly in the hope someone has come across this problem and may know what causes it/ how to sort it out.

All hlep would be much appreciated... Stephanie.

Hi Stephanie
Are his eyes open now? Did the vet give him a Vitamin A injection? It sounds like he has a Vitamin A deficency. You should be able to get Vionate, Abidec or Ace-High in the UK. All good vitamin supplements. How are you keeping him?

Hi there,
No his eyes are still shut over, though you can see his eye movement almost behind the lids.... plus he sometimes paws them as though wanting to see. it is all very sad and frustrating as no one seems to know the answer.
The vet was giving him daily injections which I presume where antibiotics/ vitamins... for the two and half weeks and to a great cost....but this has had little effect.
Obviously since not being able to see his appetite has grown less and less... to almost nothing now...though he appears strong still and keen to get about.

he is kept indoors as cold here... in a large enclosure with very fine wood chipping... a hot spot and uv and adequate water for bathing. We have tried to up humidity/ bathe him for longer... but to no avail...????

Steph.

Can you get an antibiotic eye ointment? Here in the States we have Vetropolycin. If you can get that or something similar that should help keep the lids moist and should help with any infection he might have. Did the vet ever get his eyes to open?

You said the vet gave the little tortoise injections that you *assumed* were antibiotics/vitamins. If your vet is going to try to do something, you should know what it is for, what benefits it might have, what problems it might cause, and almost most importantly, the name of the treatment. Without knowing all this, you shouldn't let the vet do anything. Plenty of vets have shown their inexperience with reptiles by doing things such as treating parasite problems with ivermectin (a potentially lethal drug....almost always lethal to turtles and tortoises).

You are doing the right thing coming here and asking though. There are some people here that really know about these reptiles. I'm just giving some guidelines on how to deal with vets. Reptiles vets still aren't what they should be.

Also, try to stay away from substrates like woodchips. Have you considered that there might be wood particles stuck behind the poor tort's eyelids? That would certainly make him scratch at his eyes and start losing his appetite. It's not always the most complicated problem that causes illness in reptiles. Most vets immediately start to put reptiles on antibiotics or other drugs before really doing a thorough enough analysis. On that side of the line, most problems in reptiles are also caused by stress, which is something most vets don't take in to consideration.

Anyways, I personally use dirt for all my reptiles except my leopard gecko, who gets shelfliner only because he's a vorocious eater. The dirt allows the reptiles to dig and also find humid areas in which to hide in the enclosure, as they would do in the wild. My leopard gecko gets humid hiding spots to cover this necessity. Reptiles do need to stay hydrated, and most desert reptiles do this by finding humid areas to take shelter. Keep this in mind with your reptiles. They cannot thrive in completely dry conditions.

Can you find out what type of injections specifically the vet was giving?

Did the vet ever consider putting in a feeding tube?

Was he checked for parasites at all before he stopped eating?