[turkish_666]

afternoon guys, right im not a tortoise person doubt i ever will be but the problem is ive been dumped (not for the first time) with a rather old horsefield called harry ive got him for a few weeks until his owners come back from their cruise anyway this lil chap had a leg amputated back in november he wasnt hibernated and hasnt eaten without being tubed since the op the owners arent overly interested whether he lives another few years or not so any tricks or tips with the feeding thing hes only ever been fed iceberg and tomatoes which if im right is 99% water? any suggestions

 

[tortlady]

gosh i dont know much about horsfelds but im sure the other guys who d will say that the diet is not great.....its good of you ot be trying to improve things for him tho

 

[turkish_666]

unfortunately i tend to attract problem pets lol

 

[Hell67]

if the owners are not that interested in him then why dont they give him to someone who would love and look after him,maybe with the right care he would eat again,have you tryed him on weeds it can sometimes take them awhile to start eating them.

 

[Tina]

Oh, what a shame.

Try him with any plants on this list:

Untitled Document

They particularly love dandelion and vetch if you can get some.

Does he have access to water, a basking spot and uvb? A bath a couple of times a week would probably be appreciated too (lukewarm water up to the bottom of his plastron).

Good luck with him. Poor old Harry.

 

[Andy n Claire]

i will have him : victory:

 

[sheldon&shelly]

to be honest i would refuse to gie him back to them i would either keep him myself and give him the love & care he deserves, or rehome him with someone who will

 

[Andy n Claire]

DIET - A high fiber, low protein and calcium rich diet will ensure good digestive tract function and smooth growth.
as you say he is quite old im guessing from his diet he is not in good shape
The best diet by far is a selection of leafy material. Dandelions leaves and flowers, plantain, chickweed, flat lettuces, cabbage and others are all good examples. Please note that flat lettuce and cabbage should only be given in limited amounts and variety seems to give the best results. All food should be lightly dusted with a calcium and vitamin powder, of which there are a number specifically designed for herbivorous reptiles.

Horesfields are relatively problem free provided they are kept and fed as described- obiousley this is not the case, i would recomend bathe him in luke warm hand water like you would bath a baby in for 10-15 minutes he may not like this is he hasnt been bathed before pick some dandelion and washing it off, when he has had his bath offer him the food and see if he will take it, if not just keep spraying the dandelion to prevent if from drying out and persist,
other thing i could suggest is,this may sound crule, dont feed him for a day and then offer him the weeds he wont start him self dont worry,
the only think i am worried about is the tube feeding if i read it right you said he has only been tube fed since the op?
is this because he wont eat or because of otehr problems?

i would try that with the weeds tho first,

u have pm

 

[Andy n Claire]

to be honest i would refuse to gie him back to them i would either keep him myself and give him the love & care he deserves, or rehome him with someone who will

i think its awfull how people can own such a pet and totaly neglect it ,
i am a horsfield keeper they are my favourate tort i dont know y im just attracted to them,

any one on here ne one with common sence infact knows this is no diet for a tort to live off i would love to see pics of him and his shell to see what condition he is in poor guy

 

[turkish_666]

evening sorry been busy set up wise hes in a open fronted viv at mine with heat and a spot and hes about 30+35 years i think and has never had a bulb until he came to mine, his shells slightly flakey and not what it should be but its a bit late to change that drastically, they'll be picking him up in a few weeks as they usually do, he lost the leg when the previous winter during hibernation straw got wrapped around the leg and cut blood flow off totally killing it but the half arsed vet wanted to see if it recovered so 9 months after the initial damage it was removed.
on the feeding issue he gets tube fed because hes never eaten any other way plus he was on critical care formula after the op so ill try some of the suggested plants and weeds and hope for the best

 

[tortlady]

gosh the poor thing! i think he is lucky to be staying with you for a few weeks!!!

with regard to feeding you may find that after some time under his bulb the increased heat and uv might stimulate him eating, id try hand feeding him after he has had a nice bath, my tort has been ill recently and nothing but cut up cucumber would tempt her to eat ( not the best but good to rehydrate) now she is wolfing everything down as noemal but when she was ill she wouldnt touch anything but cucumber - if it tempts the appitite then it may be worth a shot.

i think he is lucky to have you

 

[Vicky12]

Blimey poor little tort.

I hope you managed to get him to eat, do keep us updated with his progress.

If as you say his owners dont care for him, why dont you suggest to them that you rehome him for them. You never know they might say yes.

Andy & Claire have already offered him a home, the really love their horsfields.

Good luck with him, hope he eats something for you.

 

[Andy n Claire]

evening sorry been busy set up wise hes in a open fronted viv at mine with heat and a spot and hes about 30+35 years i think and has never had a bulb until he came to mine, his shells slightly flakey and not what it should be but its a bit late to change that drastically, they'll be picking him up in a few weeks as they usually do, he lost the leg when the previous winter during hibernation straw got wrapped around the leg and cut blood flow off totally killing it but the half arsed vet wanted to see if it recovered so 9 months after the initial damage it was removed.
on the feeding issue he gets tube fed because hes never eaten any other way plus he was on critical care formula after the op so ill try some of the suggested plants and weeds and hope for the best

best of luck let us know how he does with it,
is he still being fed the critical care formular? and y? so long after the op have they not tried weaning him back to weeed or lettuce and tomato in this case,oh the poor guy,let us know how u get on

 

[fantapants]

its sad but not exactly a rare story. the owners, while they may seem neglectful to us, must care for the tort on some level as they have invested in vets, gone through the hassle of tube feeding him and hibernating him. if its a tube feeding in a true long term sense does the tortoise have a tube fitted for days at a time, on a permenent or semi permananet basis?? or is he fed with a syringe that is put into his mouth?

if he is fed with a method similar to above, then i really wouldnt try to feed him anything unless it was under vet supervision. if its a syringe and a long rigid tube that you have to place into his mouth and into his stomach for every feed, i would still err very much on the side of caution. Its unethical for a vet to keep up this treatment long term without some medical reason. BUT if the little fella is having his food delivered via syringe into his mouth then i see no harm in trying to encourage him to eat normal foods.

try to increase his temps so they are always in his optimal range (google) and that will speed up his metabolism and hopefully his appetite will kick in. try him with any of the safe foods, but salad is pretty much a sure thing with any tortoise. mst would sell there soul for some lollo rosso or cucmber.

 

[turkish_666]

hes eating not exactly wolfing it down but its food none the less he's only eating romaine lettuce cucumber and dandelions i dont think hes a horsefields though but then agian i really havent got a clue tbh and neither have his owners :cussing:

 

[vikki3683]

Any chance you can post some pics please?

 

[turkish_666]

yeah gimme ten he looks more like a hermans i never really thought about it till last night

 

[turkish_666]

photo time

 

[sheldon&shelly]

Oh Wow Hes A Very Very Good Looking Tort And Shell Looks Ok Considering Hes 30+ Years

 

[turkish_666]

no ones really sure how old he is tbh his owner got his when he was in his late 20's and hes 60 now and harry the tort wasnt a few years old anyway so its a big mystery