9 replies to this topic

[Becky9096]

Hello, You may have seen my previous post which said I was worried there is something wrong with my tortoise. His eyes seem sunken to me - not as bright and clear as my other torts. This is hard to explain and im not sure whats actually wrong with them - so will attach a photo to see what you think...

You can see the sort of corners of the mucous membranes around the actual black eyeball... in my other tortoise you can only see bright black eyes. 

Sorry it was hard to get a good photo as he was wriggling around so much!

What could be causing this?

 

Attached Files

•  Tortoise1.jpg   48.2KB   2 downloads
•  Tortoise2.jpg   46.52KB   2 downloads
•  Tortoise3.jpg   50.15KB   2 downloads

[wizzasmum]

No, but his beak is misaligned. Is he fed high fibre weeds that are not cut up for him. Does he have regular supplements and an in date uvb source in addition to his basking source?

[Beermat89]

I agree with Sue,eyes look fine.The lower beak shouldnt be like this should be shorter than the top so the bite is like a sissor action,its way too long

[Becky9096]

I know his beak is misaligned, its already been burred back by a vet.

Yes I fed him high fibre weeds like dandelion etc - he has supplement on everything he eats and has several in date UVB lights in the table . Him and his brother have had exactly the same upbringing and his brothers beak is totally fine and he seems much more healthy, i just don't know where im going wrong with this one!

Unfortunately they lived with my mum during there first few years of life and she was mistakenly told by a trusted pet shop owner that tortoise pellets were a good source of a complete nutritional diet - so i think this may have done some lasting damage.

 

No, but his beak is misaligned. Is he fed high fibre weeds that are not cut up for him. Does he have regular supplements and an in date uvb source in addition to his basking source?

 

 

I agree with Sue,eyes look fine.The lower beak shouldnt be like this should be shorter than the top so the bite is like a sissor action,its way too long

[wizzasmum]

The soft diet would certainly contribute to jaw deformity. He's too much depth all over on the bottom jaw, so might be worth going to a vet who is familiar with the physiology of Chelonia, or a respected keeper/breeder/rehabber ;) I've seen some really bad beah trims done by some vets tbh.

[sellwin90]

Hi sue, what do you mean soft diet? Is this in reference to the dandelion or to the pellets?

[wizzasmum]

pellets! They require no chewing or tearing, so muscles get slack. The same goes for fibrous foods though if they are cut up and literally handed to them on a plate. To gain powerful jaw muscles they need to work for their food. There are an increasing number of torts with slack jaws, a bit like dogs with sloppy diets

[sellwin90]

Ah that's ok - wasn't sure then whether you were referring to the dandelion bit.

I presume full leaves will encourage the jaw muscles?

[wizzasmum]

Yes, always feed whole leaves, we can't improve on Mother Nature, so don't chop any food. The harder it is for them to eat, the less problems you will see. Most of the tortoises in vets waiting rooms are those kept indoors and coddled. When you think they have evolved over millions of years, changing things to suit us humans is going to take a toll on their health ;)

[sellwin90]

Beauty. Always feed big plantain and dandelion leaves where he has to rip with his mouth and uses his front legs for help :-)