Hi There

Meet Pippin my 07 Ibera hatchling:-





As you see he has a number of things that are different about his face:-

1) No visible nares.

2) The mustache type white area above his top lip - this is not residue from supplements.

He is pretty active and eating well but is not gaining any weight. Needless to say he is off to the vet this weekend but I was wondering if any one had seen anything like this before?

he is cute. whats his name? but yes, he does look quite different doesnt he. i have never seen a tortoise without nares before. i wonder if that may have affected the amount he can eat. my bunch snort like pigs when they are eating, lots of air is passed through the nares. maybe its the tortoise equivalent of a cleft palate? i know that they dont have a palate like us, but there must be some explanataion. does he drink and breathe ok? did you hatch him?

__________________
my bright red hair is very SHORT........where did it go!

He's called Pippin. He used to have nares and I think he still does as he sniffs his food. He was pretty ill in November - severe RTI and I'm wondering whether the infection some how damaged the structure of his head and scar tissue may have covered the nares. I did'nt hatch him.

wow, so its not genetic?? its something thats happened over time due to an illness?? i have never heard of that. poor little thing. hope it all goes well at the vets, keep us all posted. you must be very worried,i know i would be pannicing something terrible. fingers crossed that its nothing really bad or contagious. poor little pippin, he is sooooo cute tho!

__________________
my bright red hair is very SHORT........where did it go!

I say I'm concerned rather than petrified. He is still active and eating but the no weight gain which is what is really bothering me. I'm hoping a course of AB's (I suspect the white area is low level infection) & a bit of 'scrapping' to uncover the nares will sort things out.

Hmm...my first thoughts were cleft palate/split beak......but then as I read you reply I had to regroup.

Is the tongue/mouth pink?.....maybe it is fungal rather than bacterial....please let us know how it goes....good luck

god he really is cute isnt he, i keep going back to look at his picture!

hope all goes well at the vets.

__________________
my bright red hair is very SHORT........where did it go!

I think he'll be ok as he can & does eat and is as I write plodding round his pen in the garden but I do think he needs a bit of expert 'sorting out'.

that is a clef palate

__________________
ANDY B 1

Taken the place of Tops in his absence
Ñ Ç

What ive got0.1.0 '07 Amel corn snake2.1.0 Hermanns Tortoises2.3.0 Cats0.2.0 Guinea pigs

if he is on antibiotics, he may have developed a fungal infection like thrush. Time to see 'uncle doctor' again methinks. If he does have a fungal infection in his mouth and gut, that might explain the lack of weight gain.

__________________
My facebook
http://www.new.facebook.com/home.php?ref=logo