Tort was "free to great home" SHOULD’VE been "TERRIBLE OWNERS. NEEDS RESCUING" PICS

[loogielv]

Someone was offering a Russian Tortoise (Horsfield Tortoise) for free to a good home. Let me start at the beginning.

The Advert:
Below is an exact copy of the advert of this Russian Tortoise.

Russian Tortoise Good health

Hi there i am re homing my russian tortoise. i will be very sad to
have to see him go the truth of the matter is I just had to move into
a smaller home and have dogs and birds that will be much more
traumatized if rehomed so I have chosen for the turtle to go. He is
now kept indoors I kept him in a cool environment one summer and the
heat was still to much for him. Right now I feed him organic leafy
matter (from costco) never iceberg lettuce and hardly ever romaine it
is just not as nutritional enough. I also feed him frozen mixed
veggies (run under water to take the chill off) No fruit except maybe
a bite once a month it is not good for them! He will come with his
home which is a glass terrarium that is approx 2.5X2.5 and about 8-9
inches deep. I change his substrate about once per month and he does
NOT STINK. He is a nice pet and will walk around outside on the floor
etc. The weather just has to be right because he does not like cold or
hot. I would like for him to go to a home with tortoise experience. I
am in NO HURRY his well being is of most concern. If you would like to
give my tortoise a new home please send your info and a little bit
about yourself, what his new environment will be and how you will care
for him. Again his well being is most important in my decision of
letting him go to a new home.

<snip>

***Below is some IMPORTANT Information to know before you email me****

Russian Tortoises are grazers and enjoy broad leaf plants. The best
diet is a variety of weeds (leaves and flowers). Dandelion is a
favorite. For detailed diet information:The Russian Tortoise
Water:

The person then went on to copy most of the diet and housing information from russiantortoise.org. Seems pretty good right? Seems like only the well being of the tortoise is concern #1 yes? Seems like this person has done some research and truly cared whether they were giving the tortoise the best possible life huh?
I responded to the advert and after some email "interviews" was selected to receive this tortoise. 2 days later, I met the "caregivers".

The Pickup:
I could've punched the people in the temple with a screw driver I was so mad when I seen him. It was truly pitiful. I knew he was in an undersized tank from the original advert. I also knew the tank was glass, which as we know is a no-no, but still, it's not unheard of in the casual pet keeper world.
What I didn't know was that he only had about a half inch of dirty, dingy, dusty, crumbled bark as substrate. It was so shallow that when he walked, his feet were basically resting on the glass. He had one Tupperware bin for water, and one old lid for a food dish.





Can you spot the tort?

Hard to see him with all that camouflage isn't it? He was so caked in dirt and "bark mud" that it took me a second to find him. I shouldn't be so harsh on the owners though. He wasn't totally covered in dirt. He was also covered in his own feces a lot. Simply awful.





His poop was easily a half inch thick on the bottom of his shell. I couldn't even listen to his breathing without gagging from the smell.

He had rubbed his nails on his front feet down to nubs trying to get a grip on the glass.

(blurry, but there's better ones later)

He had developed a real talent for getting grip by scooting backwards across the tank instead of walking like an actual tortoise.
I'm so mad as I type this, I can't even see straight. Don't misunderstand, I'm not mad because I got swindled into taking a poorly kept tort, I'm mad because these people pretended to care about this animal. I would've respected them more if they said "we're dirtbags and have been neglecting this creature for months. Please help him" NO such luck. If the previous owners are reading this, I hope you come back as a turtle in the worst pet store in the world. You should honestly be ashamed of yourself.

Moving on.

The transition:

I quickly gave him a bath in a 5 gal bucket. I normally would've let him use the bath, but I knew I'd have to change the water a few times during this bath.



Notice how his butt is up against the side of the bucket? That's because when I put him in, he used his talent and scooted backwards. He was very active, but extremely grumpy and skittish. I don't blame him one bit.

A pretty bad shot of his back feet. He didn't rub the nails down on those, it appears as though he rubbed his toes completely off. Except one long one.

Better pics later.

I took the bath time to dump his crap bark out and filled his tank with 60% topsoil and 40% play sand. I'm going to continue using this tank for the winter, and then it's an outside pen in the nice Las Vegas weather until it gets too hot.

I also covered the sides of the glass with felt to block the view out. He quickly decided he didn't like it.

I ended up hot gluing the felt up. He agreed that it's tolerable.

[loogielv]

The Health:
You can see some serious stuff happening on his shell. I really want some insight on the condition of his shell if anyone can offer it.
A shot showing his rubbed down front nails. Also you can see some of the chipping on the shell.




Here you can see his one toe. It looks like theres 2 in this pic, but the upper toe is really just the top of his foot. There's only 1 to be seen on each back foot


More of the same.



A shot showing some of the chipping on his shell and his one toe is really visible on the bottom foot.



I put a little cardboard box in the corner as a home for him, but he decided the best view is from the roof.

The red is just the color of the box.

The white spots are obviously a concern. but from close inspection, I really get the feeling it's from an old incidident with a dog, or some old flaking. I'm quite sure there was no UVB for this guy and that probably has something to do with it too.
I think I'll let the pictures do the talking for me.

[loogielv]

The back feet


His new setup



"Get the hell out of my way house. I'm taking a nap right there, and you're in my damn way!"






Tons more pics, but mostly of the same thing if anyone is interested at Russian Tort pictures by loogielv - Photobucket

The vet is on the schedule this week, but please offer any advice. I purchased some Vita shell and he's received two treatments already.

Also, he hasn't eaten in the 3 days I've had him. He sleeps A TON (from about 2pm until about 8am the next morning) but he is extremely active when he's awake. Crashing and banging all over the place. Takes his own baths, and apparently relocates his living quarters

I sure do like this guy (or girl I guess. hrmm) and I only want the best for him!

edit: and by "best for him" I honestly mean it. Not like the previous people who only wanted to pretend to want the best for him. Or least they wanted someone else to provide the best for him. Stupid losers.

[XoxOriptideOxoX]

o my, the tank looks kida small 4 him? or is that because its just in part of the shot?

[thickgiraffe]

the best way to get back on top of him again is make sure his heating and uv is spot on and that he gets on to eating again. using lighting usually stimulates them to start again as they start thinking it is spring and usually would be sleeping during the winter months and hence not eating. but i would say the vet is the best bet for this little one in the state he is in. well done taking him on and i hope it goes well.

[Tamie]

OMG! Firstly, well done for getting that poor tortoise out of that.

I know you have got a vet booked but in the interim I would start scrubbing his shell with diluted betadine, even hibiscrub. I will ask Andy H to take a look at this post and see if he can offer any other suggestions.

Well done on rescuing this poor tortoise.

Tamie

[shell2909]

what about the other animals they had? did you see what condition they were in?
well done for taking him in.

[loogielv]

Originally Posted by Tamie

OMG! Firstly, well done for getting that poor tortoise out of that.

I know you have got a vet booked but in the interim I would start scrubbing his shell with diluted betadine, even hibiscrub. I will ask Andy H to take a look at this post and see if he can offer any other suggestions.

Well done on rescuing this poor tortoise.

Tamie

Originally Posted by shell2909

what about the other animals they had? did you see what condition they were in?
well done for taking him in.

thanks for the props everyone. I can only say, I had no idea the tort was in this condition when I responded. If I hadn't have been lucky enough to be picked, who knows who they would've given it to, or even worse, if they would've kept it.

So does anyone believe from the pics that it is shell rot? How serious does it look?
I have an 8 month pregnant wife, and due to some things in that area, I have some important matters to attend to. I'm afraid it could be a week and a half before I get him to the vet. I'm going to take him to a local pet store who is owned by a man with more knowledge on any animal, then anyone i have ever met. Hopefully he can point me in a safe direction for the time being.

Please offer any advice at all.


edit: no other animals were seen. They had alot of money judging from the house though...

[Tortoise Trust]

Hi,

Yes, well done for getting this poor animal out of there.

The white on the shell is dead, old necrotic bone. I'd also be 99.9% sure this tortoise has been chewed on by a dog at some point. This old bone will eventually separate leaving new, healthy tissue underneath. I would have a careful probe and remove any that is flaking or loose. It will not hurt to give an all over wash with chlorhexidine based hand cleaner (avoid the eyes). That said, these injuries look fairly old and there is no obvious sign of anything still active. You'll get a better idea after a thorough clean-up.

Basically, lots of soaks and try to maintain hydration. Keep under close observation and see how it goes over the next week or so. Good husbandry should do the trick from now on.

Andy Highfield
www.tortoisetrust.org
www.ttinstitute.co.uk

[lil_jo84]

That's just terrible. Like you said the fact that he was in such poor conditions was bad enough they also lied about it so you didn't know what to expect or you could have been ready for the poor guy. Glad to see he is finally getting a bit of TLC tho