Tortoises Recover from Illness, Injury
Posted at 9:56 am May 18, 2009 by Paula Kahn
This little tortoise got a piece of hay stuck in his throat.
We are very pleased to report that two tortoises that have spent more than their fair share of time in the San Diego Zoo’s Desert Tortoise Conservation Center (DTCC) infirmary are now doing well and are ready to go outside into natural enclosures!
The first one is a little guy. Research Associate Kirsten Dutcher noticed he was extending his neck and opening his mouth quite frequently for no apparent reason. When she brought him into the infirmary, we discovered that he had a piece of hay stuck in his throat (we use hay for bedding and some tortoises will eat it from time to time, which is perfectly normal). Tortoises cannot cough or vomit, so once they start eating something, even if they realize that they shouldn’t eat it, they have no choice. This is one of many reasons that makes balloons and plastic bags deadly to animals in the desert.
It took three of us gently holding this little tortoise (he is no bigger than the palm of a hand) to open his mouth and retrieve the hay with forceps. You will note in the picture (at left) his significant underbite, which helped us to open his mouth. To our surprise, the piece of hay was almost the full length of his body!
We were able to open his mouth to remove the piece of hay lodged in his throat with the help of his significant, but endearing, underbite.
Over the next few days, his condition deteriorated, and we assumed the hay must have punctured his intestines on the way down. Under the direction of our veterinarian, Nadine Lamberski, Research Associate Rachel Foster gave the little guy antibiotics every day and nursed him back to health. Just when we thought he would never recover, he suddenly started eating again! We couldn’t be happier that he has been eating like a rock star for a week, and he can now go outside with all of the other healthy tortoises.
This female tortoise came to the DTCC with open wounds on all of her limbs. Today her wounds have healed (see the bare spot inside her front leg).
A second tortoise on the mend is a very special female. We don’t know her origin, but she came to us with open wounds on all of her limbs. Rachel has been treating her for weeks, and she has been the perfect patient, very alert and attentive, and always curious about the goings-on in the infirmary. The edges of her shell are jagged, so every time she tried to climb up the edges of her bin, she reopened her wounds. Rachel moved her into a large bin where she would be less likely to try to climb out. This little change in her care has made a world of difference, because after only one week of being in her new bin, her wounds have healed. You can see the bare patch on her front leg in the picture where she used to have a large open sore. She has now been placed outside into a large enclosure with a burrow and natural food sources.
That’s what we call a great day at the DTCC!
Paula Kahn is a conservation program manager for the San Diego Zoo’s Institute for Conservation Research. Read her previous blog, Desert Tortoise Team .
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May 18th, 2009 at 10:46 am
So glad the little tortoises are OK.
May 18th, 2009 at 11:57 am
What an endearing blog. Thank you so much for sharing it with us.
May 18th, 2009 at 1:48 pm
Great update, Paula! Wondering if you can sand/file down the tortoise’s shell so she won’t scratch and scrape herself. Or does that hurt them? Keep up the good work and stay cool!
May 19th, 2009 at 4:34 am
I enjoyed reading two tortoise success stories and I learned some interesting things. (I had no idea that tortoises are unable to regurgitate or cough.)
That’s a great picture of the small tortoise! His underbite is, as you said, quite endearing. I wonder if his underbite prevented him from being able to bite off small pieces of hay as he was eating? It’s good to know that he rallied back and is thriving now, thanks to your expert care and nurturing. There are too many instances in the news about neglected and abused animals, so I’m all the more appreciative for what you do and for the fact that you share special stories with us.
I look forward to more tortoise tales!
May 22nd, 2009 at 1:29 pm
I love this blog!!
Our family has also rescued a desert tortoise. We have had him almost two years now. He is (approx.) four years of age and has a voracious appetite. We have recently tripled the size of his enclosure as he is growing so nicely! His habitat is on our screened-in sun porch as his “doctor” still feels he is too small for a permanent out door habitat (too many hawks and raccoons in our neck of the Southern California boonies). We all have “turns” taking “Michelangelo” for his daily “walk about”. He spends this time under our watchful eye grazing on safe plants and grass and soaking up the sun. He is a joy and the newest addition to our family zoo!
May 26th, 2009 at 10:03 am
Great job and congratulations on the successful recovery of both desert tortoises. We have a local couple here in VA that have been a refuge for two desert tortoises for many years. A local vet has gone to great distances to try and breed the two and done everything possible to incubate their eggs in the hope that they will produce live offspring. So far all efforts have been unsuccessful, but they keep trying. It is interesting to know that they hibernate in winter in their very safe enclosure. They have huge appetites, especially the male and enjoy salad and other greens.
May 26th, 2009 at 7:35 pm
Margaret,
Please let your friends know that raising baby desert tortoises, especially in the southeast U.S., may not be a good idea. First and foremost, desert tortoises are a threatened species that by law are not allowed to be transported across state lines or held in captivity outside of Nevada, Arizona, Utah, and California. Secondly, backyard breeding of desert tortoises is usually not successful, even within their natural range, because their light, heat, and nutrient requirements can be hard to meet. We receive hundreds of very sick baby desert tortoises here at the DTCC every year due to these requirements not being met, and more often than not, we are unable to save them. If incubating the eggs is not working, I would bet that the eggs are not viable because the environmental conditions for desert tortoises are not being met: the temperature and humidity in Virginia are not right for desert tortoises, their eggs, or their babies. If your friends live in Virginia, they might be better off raising gopher tortoises, since they are native to the southeast, but again, the temperatures in Virginia may be too cold during winter to allow for proper egg formation in the spring (egg formation begins in the fall and is suspended in winter).
If your friends would like to send us their desert tortoises so we can care for them here at the DTCC, get them back into great desert shape, and have them reproduce here in the Mojave Desert to help us recover the species, please have them contact their local U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. They can make all the arrangements with our local FWS here in Las Vegas to transport them here to us (we recently did this with a desert tortoise that was living in Oregon). I could even blog about their adventure and their progress!
May 26th, 2009 at 7:46 pm
Zoodog,
That’s a great idea! We do file the edge of some tortoise’s shells if the jagged edges pose a risk for injury. The shell is well vascularized, though, meaning it has lots of blood vessels in it, so if we file, it must be done carefully and as superficially as possible. With this tortoise, the jagged parts of the shell were not superficial enough for filing, but now that she is out in a natural enclosure, she is doing great and not re-opening her wounds.
Interestingly, we sometimes need to file not just tortoise’s shells but their nails as well, since tortoises in captivity often do not get to use their nails like they would in the wild. In fact, we had to use a dremel on one tortoise’s nails because they were growing around and into his foot! So those of you who legally have pet desert tortoises, make sure you check their nails and trim them when necessary! And if you have a pet desert tortoise that was not obtained legally, please remember that you can always contact your local U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service office to surrender your tortoise, no questions asked, and they will bring it to us here at the DTCC.
May 28th, 2009 at 6:31 am
These tortoises are part of the Zoo’s best-in-the-nation reptile collection and exhibits. Reptile-lovers should love this Zoo! As should lovers of many other animals, including birds, primates, bears, etc. It’s just a great zoo! Truly one of the world’s very best!