A little help needed in Keeping a Leo rescue

[Dawn Fletcher]

Hi there everyone, I keep and breed hermanns my self, But on Sundaay we rescued a Leo and she is now living at a friends house. As she has been desperate to get a tortoise for quite some time. The poor thing came in a fish tank and was bedded on just hay.......she is not badly pyramided but she was bigger then I expected for just 2 years of age.
Any way she is now out of the hay bedding and on to a sand soil mix. I have readigrass for my guinea pigs and wondered wether Delihla might eat this?
And if she would, would she prefer it wet or dry?
She has got a new uv light as she has had a crappy 5% tube for at least 12 months........so now she has what looks like an energy saving uv lamp until her combined uv and heat lamp arrives.
Her poo was like slop.........probably due to her Potatoe,cabbage,pepper,lettuce,tomato,pellet diet she has been on.
Thankfully she has eaten........dandelion,grass,plantain and sow thistle since arriving yesterday.
My main concern now is how long will it probably take for her bowels to return to normal ?
And should I wait to worm her or do that now?

Thanks in advance

Dawn

[egyptiandan64]

Yup you can use the redigrass with her Dawn. If she's eating grass, she'll probably eat that too. I'd wait to worm until you get her diet straightened out and her poo looks normal.

Danny

[16 shells]

Mine had loose stools when i got him, got him on mainly fibre, grass, plantains. And about a 10 days after excepting the diet all was well. Good luck with her.
Paul

[Dawn Fletcher]

mmm......thats what I was thinking! No point worming her if she doesn't need it. Will keep a close eye on her poo's and wait for things to hopefully improve.
She has a lovely tempramate, I expected her to be really shy like other Leos I have met,but she was pretty active and nosey.

Thanks for the advice

Dawn

[Evie]

The poo should soon bulk up once the tortoise is eating fibrous things - I would get your vet to do a feacal check just to be on the safe side - I agree with you I wouldn't worm as a precaution wait and see if it is needed.

I am glad she is in a home where she wil receive the right care now.

Can we see some pics please Dawn ?

[Laraine]

If her poo is runny and smelly, it could be a good time for a vet to spot any additional parasites in the runny stools. I would get her checked now, worming and or any other treatment could start when the poops are more solid. They will soon harden up on readigrass. If she is a little reluctant to eat the readigrass, a couple of slices of cucumber very finely chopped and mixed well in may encourage her to eat it.

[yuna1971]

It is storys like this that really make me sad...and people like all of you on here that make me feel so happy. If all of you werent about, some of these morons who dont do right by the tortoises would just destroy them. I am so glad you are all so knowledged and care so much. I know this isnt my story, and I feel lucky that Lily is in my life but I want to say - to everyone, even those not on this post - that you are wonderful and thank you truly so much for what you do, you are all heroes to me. xxxxxxx

Lily sends her love too...xx

[Nikki76]

Hello Dawn -
If temps are low outside/very damp and you cannot allow access to graze on grass, Readigrass is a good feed. To aid feed, try juicing some cucumber, and spraying juice over the dried Readigrass. The scent of the cucumber should draw interest, even if they are not used to it, and hopefully they will feed.

[EJ]

The hay would be the better substrate for the leopard. If you dumped all the food except the pellets you would be doing good although all those foods should not cause runny stools. How big is the tortoise and is it wild caught?

More important than worms is protozoa... they will do the greater damage.

Originally Posted by Dawn Fletcher

Hi there everyone, I keep and breed hermanns my self, But on Sundaay we rescued a Leo and she is now living at a friends house. As she has been desperate to get a tortoise for quite some time. The poor thing came in a fish tank and was bedded on just hay.......she is not badly pyramided but she was bigger then I expected for just 2 years of age.
Any way she is now out of the hay bedding and on to a sand soil mix. I have readigrass for my guinea pigs and wondered wether Delihla might eat this?
And if she would, would she prefer it wet or dry?
She has got a new uv light as she has had a crappy 5% tube for at least 12 months........so now she has what looks like an energy saving uv lamp until her combined uv and heat lamp arrives.
Her poo was like slop.........probably due to her Potatoe,cabbage,pepper,lettuce,tomato,pellet diet she has been on.
Thankfully she has eaten........dandelion,grass,plantain and sow thistle since arriving yesterday.
My main concern now is how long will it probably take for her bowels to return to normal ?
And should I wait to worm her or do that now?

Thanks in advance

Dawn