Hi all,
Long time lurker here.
My little guy Tello is sick. We've had him for around 4 years, I don't know much about his history as we adopted him but I believe he is around 6/7 years old. Horsefield by the way.
He is very quiet in the winter so I didn't think much of the fact that he left some food for a couple of days last week, although I always wake him and shove him under his lamp each day, some days he resents it - some days he wakes up and has a rummage around. He has a large shallow 'watering hole' which he takes himself off to soak into and when he doesn't soak himself, i bathe him for around 15-20 mins.
However, Friday last week I noticed he had left 3 days worth of food which I kept having to remove and replace so I woke him and gave him an extra long soak. He immediately wasn't his usual self, he is usually so lively and he just looked sad and pathetic, no energy and letting me move his limbs around freely also reluctant to open eyes (eyes also looked slightly sunken). I immediately knew he wasn't right so off to vets we went v quickly.
Vet checked him over (good vet) and advised he was dehydrated so prescribed extra long soaks (30 mins plus) at least twice a day with reptoboost, extra heat and a course of antibiotics to be injected once every 72 hours.
He's had his second shot today, and I am really worried. He has been eating but only if I hand feed him but I've noticed he hasn't pooped. He seems to struggle to open his eyes although I wouldn't say they were puffy - his inner lid seems to be a little sore (I have rinsed with salt warm water best I could).
He has 50/50 playsand/top soil table, heat currently around 32 under his lamp and room warm as ive left heating on for him. I've sectioned off an area as his table is massive to ensure he keeps his temp up and lamp has been on 24/7 while he's been ill.
I'm so worried that I've let him down and I'm really concerned he's got gut impaction or something. I've kept rabbits all my life and oddly tortoises are quite similar (which is why rabbits need excellent exotic vets to be treated correctly when they're sick too) and am just thinking the worse here. It's day 4 of me noticing he's not well but I feel terrible I didn't notice sooner.
Any ideas what his prognosis could be and when I should return to the vets? I understand abx take longer to metabolise with torts but was hoping to see some improvement in him by now
