Tuesday, March 10, 2009

My tortoises are awake!

It's that time of the year when my tortoises wake up after sleeping for several months. I brought their boxes into the house on Sunday as it's still too cold for them outside. I think Topsy was most wide awake and she is the one who nearly always wakes up with mouth rot. This year was no exception however I decided to see if I could clean up her mouth myself and get her eating before resorting to the vet. She was very good and let me open her mouth and give it a good clean to get all the gunge out and her tongue looked very pink and healthy so I need to monitor daily (we will be taking them for a check up in 10 days but if I feel concerned before then it will be straight to the vet-I'd hate anyone to think I was neglecting their health, but at the same time I don't want to waste money unnecessarily).

I gave them all a bath in warm water and oiled their shells and put them into the large pen that Embee made last year and placed it in the bay window which gets a lot of sunlight in the mornings. You may recall from previous posts about the Trio that they need warmth to make them eat. They are never really interested for a few days, but I did notice a couple of nibbles out of a piece of apple, but didn't see who it was I suspect Tog the smallest one because she had passed fluid which is another good sign. I tried tempting them with dandelions their favourite fodder with no luck.
This morning when I gave Topsy her bath I managed to force feed her about 6 peas, and I know if I can get her to take a few each day this will help keep her going. I am less concerned about the other two and I'm sure they will start eating soon.
Lets hope the weather warms up soon so that they can go outside, but in the mean time this will be their home.

Archives:
2008: Fun Monday-57

Labels: , , , , , ,