90 year old tortoise

Use this forum to discuss general questions about any aspects of tortoise care.
Post Reply
DeeHFlack
Posts: 6
Joined: 20 Dec 2017, 23:24

90 year old tortoise

Post by DeeHFlack » 14 Jul 2018, 15:38

Hi, (hello Nina!)
I have been gifted a 90 year old spur thigh female, named Henley. She has had a pretty tough life it seems, including a dog attack (very mangled shell), the removal of an eye after maggots were found after a garden hibernation and a fruit-filled diet. When she came to me( initially for a holiday) she hadn't eaten for weeks and only banana since last hibernation. Obviously she is thriving on her weed, suculent and flower filled diet now and is so much more alert and energetic! However, her shell (although improved)is still very dry and rough to the touch and I wondered whether there is anything I can do to treat or 'feed' it, aside from a better diet, nutrobol and bathing.Any ideas gratefully received! She is a delightful old girl and we all adore her already. She has to be hand fed(due to one eye and no peripheral vision, which is time consuming but lovely!
Dee

User avatar
lin
Posts: 1034
Joined: 16 Mar 2017, 11:27

Re: 90 year old tortoise

Post by lin » 14 Jul 2018, 16:14

Hiya Dee.
Nina will be here in a bit but I just wanted to say well done you for taking on this eldrlt tortoise and well done to her for finding you. A match made in heaven if tou ask me and what a poor lovey to have been through all that.
Sounds like your doing all you can and the bathing on a daily basis will do her the world of good. You might find the roughness is due to age and is pretty natural because they dont have the scrub they have in the wild to keep them smooth.

Lin

User avatar
Nina
Posts: 2003
Joined: 16 Mar 2017, 11:22

Re: 90 year old tortoise

Post by Nina » 14 Jul 2018, 17:09

Hi Dee and great to hear from you! Wow, what a responsibility to take on -- but I can't think of a better home for Henley to go to! It certainly does sound as if she has had a terrible life but is obviously one of life's survivors.

Re the hand feeding, if you put the food directly in front of her, she might, after a while, well learn to smell it and eat on her own (I remember hearing about a blind tortoise that was able to eat -- although there were probably as many misses as hits). But I'm sure you love hand feeding her anyway -- that is always as satisfying for the keeper as it is for the tortoise.

I definitely wouldn't put anything on her shell -- as Lin says, she is just old and any ointment of any kind will just clog the pores and interfere with temperature regulation. It would be lovely to see a photo of this venerable old lady!

How are the other tortoises? Has Bessie had any more problems with eggs?

Nina x

DeeHFlack
Posts: 6
Joined: 20 Dec 2017, 23:24

Re: 90 year old tortoise

Post by DeeHFlack » 15 Jul 2018, 10:11

Hi Lin and Nina,
Thanks for your responses! It is as I thought-feed well, bathe and leave shell alone.
She is doing brilliantly-marching around, dragging her leg (I think this is a palsy linked with eye removal as same side)and yes, she does feed herself but it is hard to watch her chomping into mid air when we can help!
I will try and get a few pictures of her. I am kicking myself for not wighing her when I first had her but the improvement is so vast I don't need to weigh her to know that! My husband loves her, calls her 'Old Girl' and was so pleased when the owner gave her to us as she had already been on holiday with us for over 6 weeks by that point. I know she was well loved by the owner so she is very happy that she is being loved and cared for.
Bessie has laid the eggs that she had been holding onto for so long, which was a great relief, and a lesson learned, as the vets were very keen to have her in and cut through her plastron, remove eggs and sterilize her to prevent it happening again. This felt so wrong on so many levels, that I could not bring myself to do it and I persevered with giving her the right conditions to lay. She has gone on to lay more eggs , which were not fertile and is the picture of health, bless her.
So-5 hermans, a tunisian spur thigh and a spur thigh...(plus 3 crested geckos and eggs in the incubator, 2 guinea pigs, 2 whippets and many tropical fish and pond fish)...life is never dull!!!!
Thanks again for your support.
Term finshes in a week so I will call you Nina!
Dee x

User avatar
Nina
Posts: 2003
Joined: 16 Mar 2017, 11:22

Re: 90 year old tortoise

Post by Nina » 15 Jul 2018, 13:30

I'll bet she is thanking her lucky stars that she has found a home with you!
And what a brave -- and correct -- decision you made with Bessie -- that was great that you persevered!
My Doris, bless her, lays eggs regularly every year now. Once I realised that the substrate needed to be as deep as a tortoise is tall if it is standing on its hind legs, I got a washing up bowl with a ramp up to it and filled it with substrate and she now lays like clockwork with no problems. Here is a photo of the proud Mum with her eggs from a couple of years ago (she is clueless though, as she doesn't realise they aren't fertile). I just love the way they dig the nest so carefully and then fill it in so that you would never know there is anything buried there -- and all done by instinct.
Nina
[attachment=2]IMG_1324 (Copy).JPG[/attachment]

and here is one of her laying -- she really carefully separates the eggs in the nest and puts earth between them so that they don't touch
[attachment=1]m_DSC01001.jpg[/attachment]

and here is one titled 'OUCH'
Attachments
IMG_1203 (Copy).JPG
m_DSC01001.jpg
IMG_1324 (Copy).JPG

User avatar
Nina
Posts: 2003
Joined: 16 Mar 2017, 11:22

Re: 90 year old tortoise

Post by Nina » 15 Jul 2018, 13:35

Sorry, photos out of order, but you get the idea!

Nina

DeeHFlack
Posts: 6
Joined: 20 Dec 2017, 23:24

Re: 90 year old tortoise

Post by DeeHFlack » 15 Jul 2018, 15:19

Hi,
Great photos! Yes, Bessie was very careful and the eggs were huge, but nothing came of them and the first lot were of course very calcified.
I will have a look for pics. I'm so hot I can't really function!!
Dee

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 37 guests