Hi all,

Hope you can advise me I have an ibera that I have recently taken on. He has been out of hibernation about 3 weeks now and has done his second poop this am. I am a little concerned as it was soft and squashed to his underneath. Having only just taken him on his previous owner said he would only eat curly kale Friday I could not source this so got him spring greens which he ate and today having cleaned him and bathed him let him wonder round the garden he ate alot of dandelion leaves so I will be growing him a selection of weeds. I am just worried that I am on the way to giving him serious gut problems with changing his diet and not quite sure if his poop is supposed to be as squished of if I am to expect a more formed sort of poop. any info would be great many thanks Tracy

Hi Tracy and  to the forum.

Congratulations on your new tortoise.  First of all your tortoise needs a weed diet.  Tortoises do get used to certain foods and become addicted them so you are right to try and get him to eat other food that's great.  You won't give him a problem changing diet, in fact you should see his poop start to become firmer and more fibrous.  It will be supermarket greens most likely to be causing him soft motions and they long term could upset his gut.

Have you managed to source mineral and vitamin supplements for him yet?  If you haven't done so already read our Ibera care sheet on this web site.  Just click on 'The Tortoise' in the green margin to the left of this page and then click on Care sheets and there you will find one for Iberas.

Let us know how he goes on.

Helen 

Hi Helen,
Thank you for getting back to me will order some seeds and start growing weeds asap.

He also has damage to his shell from an old dog bite injury. The top and bottom layer of the shell round his rear is missing exposing the inside of the shell which is white and porous no infection as it is an old injury. will upload some photos tomorrow when I get back to work (Im a student vet nurse so he is at work till his table arrives)to see what you think and if he needs additional treatment.
thanks again

Tracy

Hi Tracy

There are lots of weeds around right now so you could collect them.  If you wash them to get rid of any contaminants what you don't use will store in a plastic bag in the fridge for several days.

The shell damage throws a different light on things.  As he is new to you and as he has shell damage I strongly advise you get him checked over by a reputable exotics vet, even if it is old damage as you will know what you are dealing with then.  Your small animal vet will not be able to help much.  If you let us know the area you are in we can perhaps point you in the right direction or if you are in the UK you can just click on the Vets section on the let hand side of this page and see if you can locate a specialist vet.  It wouldn't hurt to get a faecal check done on him either - just in case he is carrying a parasite/worm load.

I look forward to seeing his pictures.  You will have to downsize them before you can upload them in the members gallery.  There are instructions on the gallery section on what to do.

Helen

Hi,

Have put spikes pics in the gallery under spike and his poorly shell.

He has seen a torty vet before who said not to worry but I will take him to the torty vet in Emsworth as I live near portsmouth and they are my close tort vet.

Let me know what you think of his shell

Thanks again

Tracy and Spike

Hi Tracy

Thanks for showing us Spike's shell damage.  It doesn't look quite as bad as I thought to be honest.  I still do think though when there is anything like this it is always better to take your new tortoise for a full MOT and then you have a good base to work from for the future.  I'm pleased to hear there is a good vet not too far from you so please do let us know what he has to say.

Helen

Hi everyone,

Just to give you an update Spike has been to the vets this morning and they have kept him in to remove the damaged part of his shell and are repairing it with fibre glass. Will pick him up this afternoon and upload some more photos over the weekend.

Tracy and Spike