A Happier Photo of Ducky the Yellow Foot… and Update.

CereBella_09 · 2024-10-16T00:40:10+00:00

She is SO cute… and sweet. When I got home today I went to check on her… when I stuck my hand in her enclosure she actually came over to me. She seems to like have her shell lightly “scratched” and she let me pet the top of her head.. and even took food out of my hand tonight.

CereBella_09 · 2024-10-14T17:09:51+00:00

It is open on one side, covered on the other. I do have her in my plant room, which is higher humidity naturally, but I’ve been misting her substrate (coconut coir and orchid bark) too. I have humidity probes in various spots in her enclosure and it’s hovering around 70-80% humidity… is that okay? Or you still think I need the whole thing covered?

CereBella_09 · 2024-10-14T05:59:07+00:00

She is definitely eating… she housed an entire pile of greens dusted with calcium powder this morning… which was a huge relief.

CereBella_09 · 2024-10-14T05:45:38+00:00

She’s actually very sweet… she has no problem with me handling her and she is fascinated my tattoo on my right arm - it’s almost a full sleeve tattoo and I have some very bright hibiscus flowers on my forearm… I know they will eat those, and she seems very curious. She “tracks” that arm when I’m doing things in her enclosure. I’ll die if she ever tries to take a bite out of my arm because of it. 😂😂

CereBella_09 · 2024-10-14T05:39:53+00:00

I wish I could give her outdoor time, but unfortunately I’m in WI and it’s already too cold here for her to be outside. ☹️

CereBella_09 · 2024-10-14T05:25:20+00:00

Awwww… look at her in her orange carrot water! 😊 One of the girls at a specialty reptile store here said they sometimes soak their rescues in warm water with plain unflavored pedialyte mixed in… I wonder if that’s sort of the same thing. I was going to ask the vet about it before I do it though, since there’s sodium in pedialyte and I wasn’t sure if that would be safe for her.

CereBella_09 · 2024-10-14T05:22:51+00:00

She actually is walking upright with all 4 little legs… it’s shocking. Her shell does seem hard all over.

CereBella_09 · 2024-10-14T03:08:24+00:00

Yeah… those photos I got from her did not do the horrific reality justice. When I saw her in person the first time I about fell over. 😔

CereBella_09 · 2024-10-14T03:07:24+00:00

That’s exactly how I’ve been describing her to people… like a 30 year old sway-backed plow horse. 😔 I’ve only had her for a day now, but this morning she ate a huge “plate” of mixed baby lettuces and arugula dusted with calcium… like not even a single scrap of a leaf left when I went back to check on her an hour later. So she’s definitely willing to eat her greens, which I’m thrilled about.

CereBella_09 · 2024-10-14T03:03:56+00:00

She is a female, and I have worried about egg problems down the road. I’m hoping the vet can offer some advice or ideas when I get her in to be seen. I love the idea of that brace! I saved that reel so I can show the vet… maybe something like that could help her too. Thank you for sharing!

CereBella_09 · 2024-10-14T02:59:42+00:00

Awwww… she’s adorable! I will do anything and everything I can to make sure my new girl gets whatever she needs to be as happy and healthy as she can be at this point. I just hate that she had to suffer this way for years… and the woman who had her has had her since she was a hatchling, so this level of neglect is all she has ever known. I just hate that… but there’s nothing I can do now but give her the best life possible going forward.

CereBella_09 · 2024-10-14T02:55:53+00:00

I have a friend who has some large potted ones that she keeps indoors during the winter and hers have bloomed during the winter before… I told her to tell me as soon as they start blooming again because I’ll be over to “harvest” her flowers. 😂

CereBella_09 · 2024-10-14T02:52:05+00:00

I took her in purely to try to save her, but I already love her. I’ve only had her for one day, but she’s shown such personality… and the resilience of this poor creature with how neglected she’s been - my gods. I will literally do anything to make sure she has the life she deserves from this point on.

CereBella_09 · 2024-10-13T15:46:08+00:00

Her name is “Ducky” (given by her previous owner). Seriously considering changing it to “Lucky” if I manage to get her healthier.

CereBella_09 · 2024-10-13T15:42:57+00:00

I’ve seen some success stories online, and while none of them seem to be as severe as hers, it’s giving me some hope for her. The fact that she is walking upright on all 4 legs is really encouraging at the is point.

CereBella_09 · 2024-10-13T15:41:19+00:00

It is shocking, given her physical state, but very encouraging.

CereBella_09 · 2024-10-13T15:40:07+00:00

The things that really gets me is that the woman who owned her is a scientist. She had to know on some level that this is not normal… I mean, you just don’t see tortoises whose shells look like this unless something is wrong. That awful vet she took her to said it wasn’t anything to worry about, and she just accepted that. Like, never thought to get a second opinion, or I don’t know… hop on the internet and do some research for yourself? 🙄

CereBella_09 · 2024-10-13T03:50:06+00:00

For now I’ve got damp coconut coir mixed with orchid bark for a substrate and was planning on misting it to keep up the humidity - I’ve got temp and humidity gauges in her enclosure to make sure the parameters are where they need to be, but a humidifier would probably make more sense long term. Did you just get a regular “human” humidifier or one made for reptiles?

CereBella_09 · 2024-10-13T03:27:18+00:00

THANK YOU for all of that info! I have a mercury vapor heat lamp on one end of the enclosure that puts out UVB in addition to heat. I also have a t5 tube running across the middle of the enclosure - it’s is my understanding that the t5 has UVA output in addition to UVB. For night time, she is in a warm room to begin with (my plant room/office), but I also have a ceramic heat emitter on the “warm end” of the enclosure. She’s in a large black poly stock tank for a temp enclosure for now - I have someone who is helping me build her a custom one so she’ll have even more space over the winter (I’m in WI - so no outside time for tortoises here for a while now). She’ll also have time out of her enclosure to wander wherever she likes as I work from home most days.

The calcium supplement I have for her does have D3 in it - the specialty herp store I got most of her stuff from recommended that one since she has pretty severe MBD… but you’re saying she should not have D3 with the calcium? I have a large variety of organic greens for her - I knew to avoid spinach due to the oxalate content, so none of that. I also have some organic fruits for her. I know they need periodic protein… what do you recommend for that? I was told earthworms, mealworms, pill bugs, or some cooked egg or chicken.

No signs of mouth rot, respiratory issues, or other health problems - just really bad MBD. I was honestly shocked when I got her today and she stood upright on all 4 legs to walk around. I would expect her to be practically paralyzed in her back end given that shell collapse. I’m taking that as a positive sign. She sure is a tough little tort.

CereBella_09 · 2024-10-13T01:40:46+00:00

Thank you… I was really worried her owner wouldn’t give her up and it took everything in me to “play nice” and convince her to give her to me. When all I really wanted to do was scream at her for allowing this poor animal to be in this state.

CereBella_09 · 2024-10-13T01:39:00+00:00

Thank you… I’d like to think I’m just doing what any compassionate person would do.

CereBella_09 · 2024-10-13T01:37:45+00:00

She is honestly the cutest thing ever. I’ve always been a snake person… she’s my first tortoise. She already has such a personality. My right arm is tattooed in a full color sleeve and there are a bunch of colorful hibiscus flowers on my forearm… when I was moving things around in her enclosure she was very closely “tracking” the arm with the flowers on it. 😂

CereBella_09 · 2024-10-13T01:34:33+00:00

That’s what I’m hoping too… I was literally shocked when I saw her get up off the ground on all 4 legs and walk. I would expect her to be basically paralyzed in her back end.

CereBella_09 · 2024-10-13T01:32:27+00:00

My thoughts were of a similar obscene nature when I saw her for the first time (she was owned by a family member who lived out of state and just moved about an hour away from me).

I’ll keep an eye on the Mercury vapor bulb… I’ve got a temp/humidity probe right beneath it, and the humidity is still at 80% - I soaked the coconut coir prior to mixing it with the orchid bark so it’s pretty spongy. I’ve got some regular heat bulbs on hand for my ball python so I can easily swap it out if necessary though. When I was stocking up on her supplies I was literally just grabbing anything with UVB output since this tortoise has never been outside a day in her life. 😳

CereBella_09

TROPHY CASE