tortoise advice please

RE: tortoise advice please

Liz w — Sun, 20 Mar 2016 16:37:18 GMT

Thanks, I really appreciate all the advice. I've never dealt with many tortoises so it's not really been a priority for CPD etc, but I've a feeling that may have to change.

RE: tortoise advice please

Mark Naguib — Sat, 19 Mar 2016 15:24:29 GMT

Hi Liz,

As Gillian has said, there isn't a huge amount of info to go on. Ideally, you need to identify the species of tortoise, confirm the sex, if possible, try and find out what had prolapsed and thoroughly review the husbandry.

A number of structures can prolapse; cloacal tissue, clitoral organ, penis, urinary bladder, gut and oviduct. Any disease of these organs can result in prolapse as can anything that causes excessive straining. Common causes include hypocalcaemia, space occupying lesions (e.g. follicular stasis, masses), substrate impactions, foreign bodies, dystocia, urinary calculi, hypersexual behaviour and heavy parasite burdens.

After going through husbandry in detail, I'd obtain a faecal sample for parasitology and take radiographs - ensure you include a horizontal beam lateral to assess space occupying soft tissue masses (e.g. follicles). Bloods are useful to check ionised calcium levels and check for any underlying disease.

Good luck!

Mark

RE: tortoise advice please

Gillian Mostyn — Sat, 19 Mar 2016 14:04:11 GMT

Difficult to give advice with so little to go on really. (It is kind of like a client ringing to ask what do do about their dog's diarrhoea, without any more info!)

Another good source of advice is :

http://www.shelledwarriors.co.uk/forum/

As always, poor husbandry is the root of the majority of reptile problems, so it is worth being very thorough getting a detailed description of housing.

RE: tortoise advice please

Liz w — Sat, 19 Mar 2016 09:50:42 GMT

thanks!

RE: tortoise advice please

ruths — Sat, 19 Mar 2016 09:27:37 GMT

I think these might be helpful

http://www.britishcheloniagroup.org.uk