Goodbye Valentine: Tale of a Leopard Tortoise that never grew, passed on, & the necropsy results.
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- Опубликовано: 18 фев 2020
- This is a sad day here at the ranch; after toughing it out for over three years, the little Leopard Tortoise that we called Valentine has passed away. She was a very slow grower that I had written about a few times and sought advice on the possible cause. After her death, I performed a necropsy and discovered, without a doubt, the root cause of her dysfunction.
Despite my normally stoic personality, this was a difficult video to make. Carrying her along for more than three years was nothing short of amazing now knowing what was wrong with her. Having this answer offers some peace of mind but raises more questions, especially with respect to a similarly afflicted clutch mate, Eclipse.
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I am so sorry to hear this, my condolences go out to everyone at the ranch. It’s obvious you did evreything you could, keep up the good work.
Thank You Luke. This is an unpleasant reality when keeping any kind of pet, especially reptiles that lay numerous good eggs and the occasional "bad" egg.
Great videos
Thank you!
Jason, I enjoy all of your videos and have been following you for a long time. This particular video is very special. I myself have an Egyptian tortoise who is 13 months old, but at 24 grams, still looks like a hatchling. Like Valentine , my little Clover eats heartily , pees, poops, and wanders around. The only obvious manifestation of trouble is that he simply will not grow. The vet is not optimistic. At the vets suggestion, I supplement Clover’s meals with Critical Care.
I try to relax and enjoy him. At this point, I doubt that I can impact the outcome, whatever it may be. Thank you for sharing. It does help to know that sometimes things are just out of our human control.
Shirley, Thank you for sticking around even in my absences from posting new videos. Yes you are correct, things are sometimes out of our control especially when it comes to nature. Also, critical care is a powerhouse of a food! I love using the stuff for sick animals, new acquisitions, and hatchlings. It is a great product.
Ugh,, ...my heart. 💔
Im sorry for your loss, but thank you so much for sharing this.
Thank you for your condolences and viewership, I appreciate them both.
Need update on eclipse tortoise!
Goodbye Buttercup.... RIP 3-3-2021.
So sorry for your loss... As a healthcare professional i also always want to know “why” and the “details” i feel only then can we learn and become better educated and better stewarts of these amazing animals.
Thank you, As hard as it was I did not want to pass up a chance to find out what may have been ailing her this whole time. Luckily it was pretty obvious and didn't require me to take tissue samples and make slides to look for less obvious abnormalities. My good microscope was damaged when I moved so I probably would have had to buy a new one to get that up close and personal.
What was the temperature for the enclosure as well as the humidity?
This I have found occurs in lower temps and lower humidity without daily soakings during the first crucial weeks. Organs underdevelop in this conditions often, kidneys and intestinals seem to go most often or just seize to grow.
Sorry for your loss, I appreciated the effort of the necropsy- its helpful to determine if its bad genetics or just a bad start.
Jason, thank you for sharing this experience with us. I’m wondering if his congenital small intestine issue is perhaps one of the a potential causes of the infamous hatchling failure syndrome- there’s no doubt that your excellent husbandry skills gave Valentine the best and longest life she could possibly have.
Thank you. My personal opinion, Hatchling Failure syndrome can most often be linked to improper or misguided husbandry. But there is no denying that nature designed tortoises to have numerous eggs for a reason. Some may never be fertile, some may be eaten, some may hatch then be eaten, some may hatch but carry a severe defect and die early, and the select few, the magical 5%'sh make it to adulthood in the wild and pass on their own genes. So, as in this case, failure to thrive, can for sure be out of our hands.
We have one that is the same all of the tortoise we have are 110g to 120g but only one is at 40g don't grow
Leo, what species of tortoise? But also, my advice, keep an eye on it, keep taking care of it, enjoy the time you share with it, and if it makes it to maturity, maintain it as a pet, not a breeder so as to not pass on whatever illness may be under the surface.
thats why i dont buy any hatchlings anymore
It might be a blood infection called septicemia. Or Hatchling Failure you can't do nothing about it.