Why a tortoise should not roam your house freely

Allegra, our redfoot tortoise, gave us quite a scare a few weeks ago. You may remember that she came to us from a sub-ideal situation. The enclosure she came with was covered in dryer lint, dust, and dog hair, and she was very dry. I let her spend every day that was warmer than 75 degrees outside in a safe enclosure, and I misted her often throughout the day.  Good food and good hydration and warmth seemed to help her, but she spent a lot more time sitting around than I would have expected.

Allegra, alive and well, thankfully

Then, one day in early September, we had 104-degrees F weather (40 degrees C). I made sure she had some shade available, and I set up the hose to constantly mist half of her enclosure. She drank, grazed, and seemed to LOVE it. And all of a sudden, stuff started to come out of her back end.

That's right. I'm going to go there. Someone has to.

Soooooo. Are you curious what started coming out of Allegra's back end yet? No? Sorry, you get to find out anyway: DOG HAIR AND DRYER LINT. 

Now, to give you a visual, this wasn't just a little blob. It was GOBS and GOBS. Over the course of the afternoon, more and more and more just kept coming out. Because I wanted to be able to quantify it (and since I needed to pick it up out of her enclosure anyway so she wouldn't eat it again), I put it into a dixie cup. It FILLED the dixie cup. Keep in mind that Allegra is not quite 6 inches long, which means there really isn't a whole lot of room inside her. And yet, she had a whole dixie cup of dryer lint and dog hair inside her intestines. 

Are you getting a little bit of a gaggy feeling in the back of your throat yet? Sorry. Believe me, it was a lot more gross in real life than it sounds like in words... because I'm leaving out a description the smell that came with it. Just think of how terrible it must have felt for her to have that stuff inside her for weeks (or months) on end.

Much happier now!

Now, I am sure you are wondering why I am such a weirdo in the world I would share this with you.

Well, for one, because I am REALLY relieved that Allegra passed the intestinal blockage. She could have died - and I know that many tortoises do die from ingesting non-edible things. The other reason is that I want to help you prevent the same thing from happening to your tortoise(s).

Still lumpy and bumpy... but much more active!

People often ask me why I don't just let my tortoises roam the house during the cold season when I bring them inside. "Wouldn't they be much more happy? Just think of all the space they would have, and you wouldn't need to bother with all the tortoise tables all over your house!" My answer is always a resounding NO. 

In fact, except for very very rare occasions, I don't let my tortoises roam on the floor, even for a short time. There are several reasons:

1.) I have kids who like to be on the floor. I don't really want my floor to be contaminated with tortoise poop germs. 

2.) I don't want to lose one (or several) of my tortoises. 

3.) I don't want the tortoise to ingest a toy or other item left on the ground.

4.) I don't want the tortoise to get stuck or stepped on or kicked.

5.) The floor is very drafty, even in a well-insulated house. We keep our house heated to 68-70 degrees during the winter, but the floor is realistically probably closer to 50 degrees. If the floor is chilly enough to make me want to wear warm socks, it's definitely not warm enough for a tortoise. Even if I were to provide a heating pad or a basking light, the tortoise(s) would spend more time getting chilly than I want them to.

6.) Even if when I vacuum 2x per week, we end up with little furry dust bunnies and cobwebs and hair tumbleweeds under the dressers and in the corners. I would hate for a tortoise to eat that stuff, or breathe it, and become sick. 

7.) Our dog lives outside, but sometimes in the winter he gets to spend the night indoors if it is especially cold. I would hate for him to somehow get hold of one of my tortoises and chew on it. 

8.) Our home is all on one level, but if we lived in a house with stairs, I would worry that the tortoise(s) would crash to their death. 

There are surely many more reasons why not to let a tortoise (even a large one) roam your house. A tortoise belongs in a safe, enclosed area - a tortoise table, a tortoise garden, a greenhouse. If you have the space, you MIGHT be able to alter a room in such a way that your tortoise can safely live there... but the majority of us don't just have spare rooms, do we?

Now, even if your tortoise is kept in a tortoise table (which Allegra was), please make sure that it does not get covered in dog hair, dryer lint and who knows what else... tortoises are odd little creatures that like to taste test all kinds of things. Sometimes they will decide the oddest things taste good enough to re-visit and take a second (and third and fourth) bite of...

Anyway. I hope this blog post might save a tortoise or several... 

(Aren't you glad I didn't post a picture of that dixie cup, by the way?!)

Video of Jill and Mila having a soak

My two new female Russian tortoises Jill and Mila get to have a nice soak in warm water about 1-2 times per week. This helps keep them hydrated, and it's good for their shells, too. 

I use a kitty litter pan filled with about and inch of lukewarm water. I usually end up having to dump the water out several times in the course of the soak, since tortoises like to do poop while they are in the water... but the total soak time is generally 20-30 minutes.

How to trim a tortoise's beak - with pictures!

Tortoises kept in captivity frequently get overgrown beaks, which then need to be trimmed. Many tortoise keepers pay a vet to do this. However, did you know that trimming a tortoise's beak is actually safe and easy enough that you can do this at home?

NOTE: If you are not sure whether you can do this, please don't risk your tortoise's health. Have an expert show you how. Paying to treat an infected cut is a lot more expensive than paying to have your tort's beak trimmed, and it would be so sad to injure your pet. 

Mo was one of my rescues. His beak was EVEN longer when we  first got him!

You will need a few supplies:

Toenail clippers (XL), stainless cuticle trimmers, a white pencil, a skewer, a nail file.

I bought the stainless steel cuticle trimmers on eBay for $2 - they are by a well-known German brand, and very well made. It took 2 weeks to ship from China. Make sure it has the clipping feature, so you can get good leverage.
I don't often use the skewer - this is only necessary if you need to trim the bottom beak, which is rarely necessary. I used the skewer to gently pry open the tort's beak (holding the skewer perpendicular to the beak, so Mo ended up having the skewer in his mouth in the way a horse has a bit), which was only necessary once when we first got Mo. Normally the bottom beak will keep itself short by rubbing against the inside of the top beak. 

Today I will trim Mo's beak:

Mo's beak is too long. 

I know this is hard to believe, but Mo's beak has gradually been trimmed 2x since we got him. It was so terribly overgrown that we couldn't see his 'chin'. We didn't want to trim it all at once, because it can make a tort pretty sore, and we didn't want it to interfere with his eating. 

1.) You will want to tightly wrap your tortoise into an old rag or piece of cloth you don't mind throwing away when you are done (paper towels will be shredded by their claws). Getting his beak trimmed is stressful for a tort, and he WILL expel every bit of feces he has in his gut. My female also pees... have a back-up cloth ready, and wear some clothes that need to go in the laundry anyway. 

2.) With the white pencil, draw a line marking up to where you want to trim your tort's beak. You'll have to trim it bit by bit, and you don't want to stop before you are done, or go too far. This will also help keeping it even on both sides. 

I drew a white line starting at the corner of his mouth, parallel to the top of Mo's head.

3.) Some people choose to hold onto their tortoise's head while they trim. I find that this only freaks the tortoise out even more (making them really struggle and squirm), and most Russian tortoises can't (or don't) pull their heads all the way into their shell. I personally choose to 'free-hand' it (just holding the legs out of my way). You'll be able to reach the beak carefully, even when the head is almost pulled completely in. Just be careful not to poke the eyes or nares (nose).

If you DO choose to hold the head, however, THIS is how:

Wait for the head to be far out. Then firmly but gently hold on with thumb and pointer
just behind the jaw bone on each side.

If you do choose to hold onto your tortoise's head, make sure his eyes don't start bulging, or his eye lids don't turn purple. This means you are closing off his wind pipe, and he can't breathe. You can use the middle and ring fingers to hold the right front leg out of the way.
Make sure you are holding your tortoise's head on either side, behind the jaw, rather than top and bottom. This way your tort can easily breathe, AND you have a good grip. Again, I choose to free-hand it and don't hold the tort's head...

4.) Gently but firmly hold your tortoise's shell against your chest, with your left hand, hold the tort's front leg(s) out of the way, and as soon as you can reach it, begin clipping on the right side, always with the tips of the cuticle trimmers facing towards the front of the beak.

Start on one side, using the cuticle trimmers.

Clipping a tortoise's beak will feel a lot like clipping a thick-ish human toenail, but a little more brittle. The sides are thinner (and easier to clip), and the front is the toughest. 

5.) Bit by bit, clip away the beak, approaching the line you drew. Mo needed so much of his beak trimmed, that I had to cut parallel to the line several times before I was done.

Almost done - but as you can see, I still need to trim a little more away, up to the line.

6.) the very front of the beak may be thick enough that you have to use the XL conventional toe-nail clippers. Be careful not to get any of the tortoise's skin flaps caught in the corners of the clippers - that's one reason why I prefer using the cuticle trimmers. 

Much better! I just need to file the edge smooth.

7.) Finally, carefully file the edges smooth with a nail file (not the metal kind). 

8.) Throw away the cloth wrap, then rinse off your tortoise in warm water, to get rid of any feces, and to clean away any little shards of beak material that might be stuck in the skin flaps. 

ALL DONE! 

Your tortoise will probably pout for a day or two - having a beak trim is stressful, but NOT trimming an overgrown beak is more harmful in the long run than any stress caused by the trim. 

Some tortoises only get an overgrown beak in the front (especially in young tortoises who aren't fed properly, too soft food, not enough calcium). This was the case with the little Greek tortoise Boo. Here's a before/after pic of his trim:

Boo's beak was VERY overgrown in the front. It still needs to be trimmed a little more.

To maintain your tortoise's short beak, make sure to feed your tortoise on a flat rock, and offer a cuttlefish bone (available in the bird section of most pet stores). Also, as long as your tortoise is healthy, there is no reason to cut up a tortoise's food. Let your tortoise work a little while he eats! 

Feel free to ask questions in the comment section if you have any!

De-worming the torts

When I brought home Mo and Joe, Mo was terribly infested with worms. It was so bad that I could see large numbers of them wiggling in his droppings.

After talking to the vet and my wonderful reptile rescue friend Mary Esther (I will introduce her to you in a later post!) we decided to treat all of my torts for worms. Joe was living with Mo, so he probably had some. Although I quarantine my rescues from Timmy and Roz, most tortoises do carry a small number of parasites in their gut, so it certainly couldn't hurt to just treat them all, since I had to purchase the medicine in a bigger dosage anyway.

We chose to treat with fenbendazole (the active ingredient in Panacur and Safeguard), which is safe for tortoises (and some other reptiles) in the proper dosage. The dosage is calculated by weight. I am not going to post the dosage here, because it is important that you work with your vet and/or someone experienced in treating tortoises for parasites... an overdose can kill a tort. Plus, make sure that after the treatment (which is usually 2 doses 2 weeks apart), you have a fecal sample examined by a vet to make sure you killed the worms.

The "horse" paste version is best for herbivores such as tortoises. Ask your vet about proper dosage.

I used a small syringe to measure the proper dose of the 10% fenbendazole paste, and rolled it up in a lettuce leaf cigar style. I prepared each of the 4 doses first and put each on a piece of paper labelled with the tort's name (since each tort is a different size, they each need a different dose). Then one by one I had them eat the medicine-cigar out of my hand, to make sure they got the full dose.

Mo and Joe were easy to dose. They are both so friendly and laid back, and like to eat out of my hand. Roz is GREEDY, and while he'll come right to me to eat out of my hand, he's also accidentally bitten me a few times. I held his 'cigar' at the veeeery end, and as usual, he went to town and gobbled it up. Timmy wanted nothing of hers (she doesn't like to eat out of anybody's hand), and Roz kept trying to nab some, so I finally took Roz out of the enclosure and let him run around the floor for a little while. After 2 tries, Timmy finally took her dose. Boo is so new, I haven't dosed him - he still hides whenever anyone comes near, and is also a bit of a picky eater. I'll probably just collect a fecal sample to see if it's even necessary to treat him when I have fecals run for the other torts.

Mo digging

While treating with fenbendazole, it is SUPER important to keep your tortoises well hydrated, both by soaking them every 1-2 days, and by providing a water dish (which you should have in their enclosure anyway). The protein from the dead worms will stress the tortoises' filter organs, so the extra water will help them process the waste. I gave my torts a little more of the "wet" lettuces (like romaine) than usual, to ensure they got some extra water.

Don't be surprised if your tortoises act kind of nauseated for a few days. As long as the dosage was correct, and they are getting enough water, they will be ok. After about 2 days, Mo began pooping out big clumps of dead worms (sorry, TMI). This was good, because it meant the meds were working!

I gave the torts a second dose of fenbendazole 2 weeks later, to be sure that any newly hatched worms were killed, too. This time around, Mo's droppings looked much better, with only the occasional worm.

Now that treatment is complete, I will wait a couple of weeks, and have the vet run a fecal sample for each tort. You may also want to feed some probiotics. I purchase TNT supplement from Carolina Pet supplies, and these include probiotics if you choose that option, which I did. This will help your newly wormless tort to grow healthy digestive flora in his gut.

While (very) small numbers of worms are 'normal' in wild-caught specimen, large numbers of worms can draw nutrients away from the tort, causing vitamin deficiencies. After treating Mo, I noticed a steep increase in activity and alertness. He acts so much more like a tortoise now, and seems healthier overall.

Mo chowing down on some arugula. 

DISCLAIMER: I am in no way affiliated with or being compensated by Panacur or Safeguard. I only mention them because this is the brand of medicine we successfully used. Please talk to your vet before using any medication on your pet, to insure proper dosage. 

Rescuing and Rehabilitating Norbert (aka Stumpy)

Telling Norbert's rescue and rehabilitation story makes me sad and happy at the same time. Little Norbert the Russian tortoise (Testudo horsfieldii) came to us early this Summer. He was a terribly malnourished, weak, skinny, mangled little tort, and over the course of several months, I nursed him back to health. Sometimes it was touch-and-go (we didn't name him for the first month, because we were afraid he'd die!), but he survived, and is thriving now!

I took this pic after I gave him his first bath. He was too weak to open his eyes.

Before telling Norbert's story, I would like to thank a few people. It was SO nice to know that there were folks far and near cheering little Norbert on as he got better! I couldn't have done this by myself!

- First, I'd like to thank Mary Esther from the International Reptile Rescue in Canby, OR. Her advice, hands-on expertise, and encouragement helped me immeasurably throughout Norbert's rehabilitation. Mary Esther has a huge heart for reptiles, and has some pretty amazing (and some tragic) rescue stories to tell from her 30+ years of experience. I am honored to know her, and to count her among my friends.

- Second, I'd like to thank Joe H. and Robbie (and all others who chimed in) from the Turtle and Tortoise Forum for their advice, empathy, and encouragement. You guys have no idea how much you helped!

- Last, but certainly not least, I want to thank my wonderful husband for encouraging, supporting, and comforting me throughout all the ups and downs of this journey!

Now, Norbert (aka Stumpy)'s story:

A friend of an acquaintance was looking for someone to take in the tortoise that their 16-year-old son had gotten bored of. It sounded fun, so I said "yes" - having NO idea what I was getting myself into.
The little tort was brought to me in a cardboard box filled with straw. He was small, VERY skinny, and so crusted over in dirt that I couldn't tell what color his shell was. He also had a horrible, decaying smell about him. I was too shocked to say anything (anyone who knows me can attest that this does not often happen) to the boy's Dad. I was also too shocked to take a picture of the little tort while he was still covered in dirt.

Left: Timmy's healthy leg. Right: Norbert's skinny leg

As it turned out (once I found my voice again, and was able to ask), the tortoise had spent 2 years living in a barn stall, without heat or lighting. The boy whose tortoise this was had lost interest, and didn't feed or water it for 6 months! I could tell by the look in the Dad's eyes that he was ashamed, and he said that he had no idea that it had gotten this bad until he picked the tortoise up to bring him to me.

As soon as we were home, I ran a warm soaking bath for the little tort. He was so weak that he couldn't lift his head, so I placed a small flat rock into the bath so he wouldn't drown. After a few minutes of relaxing in the warm water, he began to drink. And drink. And drink. As he warmed up, his smell became worse. I kid you not, he smelled like dead animal. I gently scrubbed away the dirt on his shell with a toothbrush. His shell was a sickly pale green color, and had what looked like bite marks from a dog in 4 or 5 places. Surprisingly, the shell felt good and hard, and his plastron was in perfect condition. His skin was pasty and almost transparent. He was so thin I could see his bones, and his face was sunken. His beak was overgrown, and his eyes were swollen shut. Amazingly, his nose was dry, and he wasn't wheezing.

Freshly bathed, and warmed up a little

I changed the dirty water, and placed the little tort into clean warm water to soak a little longer. I let him soak for another 20 or so minutes, staying close by to make sure his head didn't slip into the water. All of a sudden, ONE OF HIS TOES came off and floated away! I lifted him out and gently placed him on a towel to examine him. Sure enough, one toe on one of his front feet had withered and fallen off, thankfully without leaving an open wound. After further examination, I discovered the source of the horrible smell: 3 of the toes on his other foot were half-severed and the flesh was festering and smelled horrible. I wrapped the little tort into the towel and carefully soaked the hurt leg in some salt water to disinfect it. Then I smeared some neosporin on it (I had to work with what I had on hand for now, since I had not been expecting such a sick tort!).

Here you can see the 3 dead, rotting toes (the top one is still healthy)

Next I weighed and measured the little tort. He was 5.5 inches (14cm) long (shell length) and weighed only 275g! My little Roz is that size, and he weighs more than 500g! (The sick tort had a Jackson's ratio of 0.10 - a tort with a ratio under 0.16 is undernourished!)

I pilfered a heat lamp from my two healthy tortoises, and gently placed the little tort on some newspaper inside a 10 gallon aquarium - not an ideal enclosure for a tortoise, but ok as a "hospital" tank. I put in a large handful of dandelion leaves in front of the poor tort, not sure if he'd have the strength to eat. I made a little hide house out of a shoe box. Slowly, VERY slowly the tortoise opened his mouth and chomped on a leaf. His beak was so overgrown that he had a bit of trouble taking a good bite, but he managed to wolf down one leaf. Then he rested, and a few minutes later, ate another. I let him eat for about an hour (since he was eating so slowly), then removed the rest of the leaves, since I didn't want him to make himself sick by over-eating.

Still too weak to lift his head or open his eyes... but OH did those dandelions taste GOOD!

The next morning I met with Mary Esther from the International Reptile Rescue (IRR). She examined the little tort, and decided to hold off on trimming its beak. The most important thing right now was to make sure he was eating, and she didn't want him to be sore from a trim. She advised me to continue daily soaks to help re-hydrate the tort, and to aid his filter organs in expelling the toxins that built up over the months of not eating or drinking. She looked at his mangled toes, and decided it would be best to continue disinfecting them, and to let nature take its course, rather than amputating. She said they would most likely fall off on their own, and the stump would heal, as long as the infection was kept at bay. She also lent me some extra supplies to ensure the tort stayed warm. She also recommended that I paint some diluted betadine all over his shell, because the tort had some shell rot, and also had some weird cracks where the scutes were coming apart a bit (most likely from dehydration and malnutrition, possibly from being bitten by a dog).

Here are the cracks he had between his scutes

For the first few days, the little tort was so weak he didn't move from the spot, and didn't pull his legs into his shell. He just sprawled in his warm tank, napped, ate, slept, and of course soaked in the warm baths I gave him. Every time he was in the water, he drank like a camel. About 5 days after getting him, he started expelling enormous amounts of urates. This was good - it meant that his kidneys were functioning. He still barely moved, but he ate, and his eyes began to open. He began to become responsive to his surroundings - he seemed to enjoy having his head stroked, and he would turn his head to watch me walk by his tank. He eagerly ate leaves out of my hands, too. About 10 days later, he started sleeping with his legs pulled into his shell - he was strong enough to start protecting himself!

Eating again - several days later. His shell is still painted with betadine

His foot wound stopped stinking after a few days of soaking and antibiotic ointment. After a few weeks, the little tort started cautiously moving around his tank, still too weak to lift his shell off the ground. His little legs and neck were still scrawny, but I could no longer see every bone. Very slowly I had begun introducing some UVB by taking him outside into the garden for 10 minutes at a time. He hadn't been in contact with UV light for nearly 2 years, so we didn't want to stress his system, or cause too fast growth, which would cause a whole new host of problems. Bit by bit I increased the time I let him outside, and I discovered that he was absolutely WILD about eating clover flowers. He could strip a whole patch of clover flowers in the course of about 15 minutes. I began to shine a UVB bulb on his tank for a few hours every day, and his coloring started to improve. His shell started turning to a very pretty golden hue, and his pale little legs began to turn brown.

...starting to explore just a little while sun bathing

One night he started pacing in his little tank - I could hear him digging and clonking, and was SO happy that he was beginning to act like a tortoise: he was rearranging his furniture. All this commotion also caused him to lose his 3 withered toes, leaving behind a handsome little pink stump with 1 toe left. There was no more infection, and he walked on it without any sign of discomfort. That morning we named him Stumpy. We finally were fairly sure that he would pull through. He was still very skinny, but he was slowly and steadily packing on weight, and he was acting more and more like a normal tortoise.

The brand new stump - no more rotting toes! New pink skin!

Now that little Stumpy was less scrawny, we were fairly sure that he was a male. Because of this, I knew I wouldn't be able to keep him, since I already have a male and a female Russian tortoise. I did not feel comfortable just letting "somebody" (e.g. from Craigslist) have him, so I was delighted when my friend "dibbsed" Stumpy for her sister Rachel. He still needed to stay with us for a little while, but it was such a relief to know he would have a family that was knowledgeable and would spoil him rotten once he was ready.

(yum! Clover flowers!) You're looking so good, little guy!

At this point Stumpy still had his overgrown beak, and rather than have it trimmed, I decided to try a little trick I had heard about: I picked an unripe apple, and offered it to him hole, with just a small chunk cut out so he could smell it. About 2 hours later, the apple had a few tiny bits pried out of it, and Stumpy had gotten the overhanging beak piece stuck in the apple and had shed it.

Shedding the overgrown beak piece left those 3 funny little tips. 

The final couple of months were pretty smooth sailing: Stumpy kept on gaining weight, he became more and more curious, and stronger, and more active. He was a spunky little fella!

Stumpy exploring the little path that goes through our rock garden. I had just hosed him down. Doesn't his shell color look amazing?!

Finally the day came for my friend's sister to pick him up. She had built him a nice big tortoise table that had everything he needed. With a heavy but happy heart, I sent him on his way, and so, 'Stumpy' became 'Norbert.'

That's right. I tied a big bow around Norbert when Rachel came to get him!

Now he happily lives with Rachel, where he dines like a little prince, gets cuddled and stroked, bathed and kissed. He went from almost dying of hunger to being one of the happiest, luckiest, most loved little torts in the country! That's what I call a happy ending...

Life is good when you have a full belly and a warm home!

Weigh-in

It is generally not a bad idea to weigh and measure your tortoise(s) on a somewhat regular basis to make sure they are growing and gaining weight. Young tortoises should display steady slow growth. Older tortoises won't show much change, but at the very least they should not be losing weight.

I weigh Timmy and Roz about every 6 months as long as they are eating normally. I weigh rescue torts when I first get them, and then every few weeks after that, to make sure they are thriving. Keep in mind that weight may differ a little depending on whether they just ate or defecated... I usually weigh my torts after a bath, before their meal.

I use a metric kitchen scale. It doesn't have to be a metric scale - although both medical dosage calculations and growth charts are metric, so depending on what your purpose of weighing your torts may be, you might have to do a little conversion math. It's a good idea to take note of the weight every time somehow.

Roz gets weighed upside-down... he's half monkey, and wriggles out otherwise.

The most recent weigh-in was on November 3:
Timmy: 855g (7.3 inches shell length) ~remember, Timmy is female
Roz: 505g (5.5 inches shell length)
Joe: 500g (6 inches shell length)
Mo: 580g (6 inches shell length)
Boo: 475g (5.5 inches shell length) ~ I just got Boo, he's a little on the light side, but still ok.

Roz has definitely packed on some weight since I last weighed him - he was 475g at the beginning of the year. Mo is an old old man, so it isn't surprising that he is so heavy - he is one dense tortoise!

If you are unsure if your tortoise is a good weight, HERE is a good calculator using Jackson's Ratio. All my tortoises are within the healthy range.

In comparison, Norbert (aka Stumpy) weighed only 275g when I first rescued him, and he is the same size as Roz! I'm working on writing his rescue story down right now...