We have an hermans tortoise about 4 years old. I have just come up stairs and he is running about whic is strange. i picked him up and he wee'ed on me and all this white stuff came with it. He is breathing relaly heavily.
Can someone please advise or can i have a telephone number of someone so i can call you now. I need immediate advice.
The first thing tortoises really need to do on emerging from their hibernation is to drink. Not only will they naturally be somewhat dehydrated, but due to the accumulation of toxins during hibernation the kidneys need a throughput of fluid in order to 'flush' these away. The main waste is uric acid. This is a white, crystaline substance which in a dehydrated animal looks a bit like thick emulsion paint or even like powdery chalk.
If, when checking a hibernating tortoise you notice that it has urinated, get it up immediately do not put it back. Recent evidence leads us to believe that should this occur, the animal is in grave danger of death from sudden, acute dehydration. If this action does occur, begin re-hydration immediately, and over-winter for the remaining hibernation period. We are undertaking further research into this phenomena, but early results indicate that the problem is most likely to occur towards the end of the hibernation period, or in spells of unusually mild weather where the temperature rises above 10 °C or 50 °F. Check the tortoise regularly at such times.
From (i think) the same site.
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Many people experience problems in getting tortoises to drink - in fact almost all tortoises will drink provided water is offered in a suitable manner. We recommend placing the entire tortoise in a sink, bath tub, or large container suitable to the size of the tortoise, such as a cat litter pan filled with about l" of very slightly warm water - less in the case of very small tortoises, a little more for giant specimens. Simply offering a small dish of water to the tortoise is not likely to stimulate a good drinking response, but actually placing it in water is usually successful.
The importance of getting the tortoise to drink cannot be overstated. Indeed, this is essential as during hibernation the kidneys in particular accumulate large quantities of dangerous toxins. These must be 'flushed out' as quickly as possible, or the tortoise may begin to suffer from poisoning. It will certainly feel ill and remain disinclined to eat.
Drinking is, at this stage, far more important than feeding. Both dehydration and the presence in the body of toxins dictate that every effort must be made to encourage drinking first, feeding later. The tortoise must also be kept warm as described previously- it is absolutely vital that such temperatures are maintained in order to speed up activation of the tortoise's digestive system. As the tortoise awakes certain biological changes take place; one of the most important of these is the release into the bloodstream of a chemical called glycogen, which has been stored in the liver. This provides extra energy to give the tortoise an initial 'boost'. Feeding must take place before this is exhausted, or the animal will begin to decline. The glycogen level can be artificially boosted by providing water with glucose in solution daily - about 2 teaspoons per 250 ml dilution, at about l0-20 ml per day for an average sized animal. The use of Pedialyte™ is also successful. Do not continue this therapy indefinitely, or dangerously high blood-sugar levels may be attained.
How's he doing?
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My mum has the details of a tortoise hospital in Leeds who are excellent and made our 40 year old tortoise much better last summer. Let me know if you need the info........
He is looking ok this morning(well he is still alive). We were really dreading this morning wondering if he was still with us or not. Hopefully he will be ok.
I will not know for definate until later to see how he is acting.
Is it possible you couold get me the details of the tortoise hospital/vet. it will be handy for the future if we need it. Most vets don't know much about them.Many thanks.
Originally posted by MarkB By the way he isn't hibernating because he is too young and not bid enough for a captive bread tortoise!
We have a herman tortoise, he/she (lets call it a he) is 2 and around 3" long, and has hibernated for the first time this year. There was no stopping him, he just buried himself in the earth at the bottom of his Vivarium and stayed there. The advice we got from a from a tortoise website was to not let him hibernate for more than six weeks due to his size.
We woke him up a few weeks ago and after a long pee, a huge drink and a warm bath he his fine. On sunny days he gets really lively and starts banging on the glass with the top of his shell until we take him out and let have a "run" around :-) . I think he will reach 100mm this year so he will have to go off for his microchip.
His favourite food is apple but we ration it as it is bad for tortises, He prefers dandelion to lettuce. He also eats tomato and we supplement his diet with tortoise food to make sure he gets some calcium (he wont eat crushed eggshells as advised) can't really blame him.
You don't sound like a 'sissy' at all, We'd be worried if you sounded like you didn't care, but you clearly care about him a lot, which is a good thing!
I don't have any pets or children to worry about, but I love my houseplants. Bit worried about my Aloe Vera at the moment, and keep going to check her every couple of hours! I know a plant is not in the same league as an animal, but I'm just trying to point out that it is easy to get attched to things you look after and it's good to worry about them if they are unwell.
Anyway, hope he is on the mend. Remember to keep updating us!
