Problems with life in a Viv, no hibernation and wrong diet!

[laine21]

We are fostering a little Horsfield. Her owner followed the petshop advice. She has lived for the last three years in a viv, less than three foot long. She has never hibernated and has survived on Tortoise pellet food, supermarket bagged salad and fruit, as instructed by the shop. Her owner was given no advice about daily vitamins, she was told once a week. She thought she was doing all the right things, because thats what she was told to do by the 'experts' at her local shop.
This little Russian princess weighs 226g and her plastron measures exactly 10cm. She has never been wormed.......she will have the pleasure of panacur in the morning!
She doesn't know how to dig down in soil, having lived on a sawdust style substrate all this time. She can't walk properly because of her shell. Her claws and beak are in need of trimming, but I will leave that for a few days until she feels a little more settled in her new surroundings.
This very shy little lady is being rehomed thanks to Tamie at the xxxxxxxxxxxxxx,

[Tamie Milne]

Thanks for posting these pictures, proving exactly what goes wrong when pet shop advise is followed.

You know how very grateful I am for you collecting her so quickly and getting her out of that environment. However, could you humour me and post a picture of the enclosure you made for her yesterday please?!

Tamie

[Toni115]

Oh my goodness! Thats very sad

Good for you for taking her in and getting her out of that awful situation

[helen1]

Hello

That is awful, what exactly caused the shell to frill like that and thicken at the back? I have a ten yr old with similiar story but he has a shelf all around.

Glad you are going to care for the little guy-poor owners they must feel like .....

[laine21]

No problem,
This very quick temprary enclosure took about an hour to make, its made of breeze block, lined with wood and log roll, and filled with bags and bags of premium quality top soil to give a depth of upto 7 inches. I dug up some edible plants from my borders, and placed in a section of turf. Along with a water dish and a new huge piece of cuttlefish, unfortunately the little Russian princess doesnt know what to do with it yet. She has yet to learn how to dig down and burrow. We dismantled the guinea pig run to make some sections to go over the enclosure to give her protection and make it dog proof. We told the guinea pig it's raining and he can't go out for a few days...he will get lots of cucumber as compensation!
The internal measurments of the enclosure are 6 foot by just on 3 foot.

[kaz9t9]

that is absolutly shocking! makes me so angry that people take on these beautiful creatures and never bother to question advice they are given. i do not except ignorance as an excuse, and i find cases like this absolutly heartbreaking. good on you for taking this little fella on laraine

[Tamie Milne]

Rehoming is really rewarding and then all of a sudden pictures arrive like this and you feel sick to the stomach at the condition of the poor thing. I completely agree that ignorance is no excuse and this tortoise's condition, caused by incorrect diet & husbandry, was completely preventable.

Fortunately TT members like Laraine step in and offer her a temp home and the new life begins.

Laraine - FANTASTIC ENCLOSURE - well done on creating something so spectacular so quickly.

Thank you!!!!!!

Tamie

[linda]

oh dear what a sad story and such a sad little tort

hopefully things will start to improve now he has been rescued

it is very upsetting that this torts problems could have been prevented

[TortMad]

How upsetting

Well done laraine for fostering here and teaching her how to be a tortoise. Good luck.

[joathome]

OH MY GOD poor little thing, she looks a lovely little girl, some people or should i say pet shop owners