I Survived MBD (metabolic bone disease)

My parents were first-time sulcata tortoise owners when they got me and my bestfriend, Koopa.  So all they fed us were the buffalo grass and non-toxic weeds that we grazed on their yard.  I was just one year old then while my bestfriend was only around four months old. Sometimes, they would treat us to some skinned squash seeds, cubed acorn squash and water spinach (kangkong) but this was very, very, very seldom.  So for a few months, my bestfriend Koopa and I happily contented ourselves with grazing on the yard and at the park, playing and chasing each other under the big blue sky with the bright, warm sunshine on our scutes.  And at night, when our human parents have left us in our room, Koopa and I talked about what our life would be like in the next 100 years and we made plans on how our tortoise shed should be built when we grew larger.  We talked and talked in our dark room every night until we fell asleep.

"At night, when our human parents have left us in our room, Koopa and I talked about what our life would be like in the next 100 years"

One day after a nice lukewarm bath, while my mum was wiping off the water from our body, she noticed how Koopa’s plastron felt soft;  At that time, she thought that it was probably only because Koopa was just a baby – thus the soft plastron.  He was 11 months old then while I was one and a half years old.  That Friday , I noticed that Koopa’s gait had lost its pep and he started eating very little when we grazed outside.  He became lethargic and started to sleep more often even during our playtime.

"He became lethargic and started to sleep more often even during our playtime."

My human spent sleepless nights as she frantically browsed through the web to know the root cause of my buddy’s symptoms.  It turned out that seven days was not enough to turn everything around, as Koopa’s condition swiftly progressed and it was only on Monday when our human was finally able to locate a veterinarian who specialized and had actual experience in treating a geochelone sulcata tortoise.  In a span of seven days from that Friday when my mum first discovered Koopa’s soft plastron , my bestfriend in the world transformed from being a very active, outgoing, voracious eaten and aggressive young sully, who always tried to step over me when we first met even if he were smaller , into a meek and fragile sickly baby sulcata who eventually lost his appetite completely on Monday, no longer moved and hardly opened his eyes anymore on Tuesday morning, was no longer able to wee and poop and caught pneumonia on Tuesday night, lost his eyesight on Wednesday, then finally died early Thursday morning as soon as my mum fell asleep while watching over him.  At first, she couldn’t accept the fact that Koopa was already dead because his eyes, though no longer moving, were still open.  He was declared dead by his vet when they arrived at the clinic for his scheduled follow-up check-up that Thursday morning. In my understanding, Koopa’s death resulted from complications resulting from advanced stage metabolic bone disease (MBD);  his system tried to get much needed calcium to his frail bones so it rapidly depleted his bloodstream and organs of nutrients particularly calcium until each of his vital organs failed one by one. 

"My bestfriend, Koopa's advance stage metabolic bone disease (MBD) led to complications, which rapidly deteriorated his health. At the time this photo was taken, our mum started to supplement our daily meals with more nutritious greens and grated carrot instead of just grass & non-toxic weeds.But it was too late because Koopa had already completely lost his appetite."

"My shelled friend only opened his eyes for the first time that Monday after his veterinarian (in picture) injected him with vitamins A, E and calcium (January 16, 2012)"

My sick bestfriend, unmoving and too weak to open his eyes during his first visit to his veterinarian. That's a healthy adult sulcata in the background, one of the sulcatas in our vet's care.

A baby sulcata tortoise -- younger but bigger than Koopa -- looks on as Koopa sits still with his eyes closed on the palm of my mum's hand.

The day after Koopa died, my mum checked my plastron and discovered that it was soft, too.  By that time, she’d already discovered www.tortoisetrust.org ,  a highly reputable site organized by people who have years of extensive research on tortoise habitat, husbandry, and health.  My mum suspected that I was suffering from the early signs of MBD (metabolic bone disease).  
Although I did not show any signs of being sick at all – I had a strong appetite, I was active, I was still weeing and pooping everyday, which meant that all of my organs were still working – my parents didn’t want to take their chances so they took me to my vet the very next day.   My vet injected me with small shots of vitamins A, E and calcium on my front legs (Note: Please ask your tort’s veterinarian about which part of the front leg can be injected with vitamins).  Then he gave my parents a packet of powdered “calcium + vitamin D3 + minerals” to be sprinkled (just one pinch) on each of my prepared meal of minced acorn squash, carrot, water spinach (kangkong), bok choy (pechay), and jute leaves (saluyot).  From that day onwards, my diet is now comprised of 70% grass & hay, 30% leafy greens & acorn squash (squash is my source of vitamin A to prevent eye infection or blindness) sprinkled with a pinch of my “calcium + vitamin D3 + minerals” powder.  

This picture of me was taken on Dec. 26, 2011. At that time my humans had not attempted to check my plastron yet if it were soft or not. I'm not sure myself if my plastron were soft at the time because I can't reach it with my own arms lol! I weighed less than 200g back then at 18 months old.  As of Oct. 2012 I weigh 1,850g (28 months old) and my plastron & the rest of my shell is rock solid  :)

"From that day onwards, my diet is now comprised of 70% grass & hay, 30% leafy greens & acorn squash (squash is my source of vitamin A to prevent eye infection or blindness) sprinkled with a pinch of my “calcium + vitamin D3 + minerals” powder. "

Here I am eating jute leaves (saluyot)

Symptoms of MBD or Metabolic Bone Disease in sulcata tortoises include swellings, lethargy, general weakness and tremors. The shell may also become soft and pliable. This video of Peachy was taken in Jan. 2012. At first, I thought she was just dreaming or sleep-walking (lol) whenever she did this in her sleep. It turned out that she's actually having tremors -- this is one of the symptoms of her MBD.

Lesson learned:  the combination of eating just grass & non-toxic weeds, while exercising under unfiltered sunshine are not enough to keep a healthy geochelone sulcata tortoise like myself.  The vitamin D3 that I get from sunshine won’t do me much good if none of the food that I’m eating contains a sufficient amount of calcium and other vitamins & minerals.  Now, my diet includes some 30% leafy greens & acorn squash too, not just an all grass diet like before (grass should comprise about 70% of my diet).  For calcium supplementation I would recommend either either Vionate for adults, or Rep-Cal for babies & juveniles that use basking lamps that don't emit UVB,  or Nutrobal for babies & juveniles that use basking lamps that do emit UVB, or Miner-All multi-minerals supplement;  Please ask your vet about it or look it up on Ebay, but please make sure though that what you're buying isn't fake. Please buy a multi-minerals supplement that does not contain Phosphorous because almost all greens already contain an abundant amount of phosphorous while only very small trace amounts of calcium or none can be found in the grasses and greens that I eat.  We are aiming for a Calcium : Phosphorous ratio of 2:1 or 3:1.  Phosphorous inhibits calcium absorption.  I continue to get daily 10-minute soaks under the sun and exercise time to this day.  My bedroom (my humans' TV room by day, my sleeping room by night) now has a basking lamp in one corner that's turned "on" the entire night where I could go and bask anytime I felt a little chilly; otherwise I'd find a dark corner to sleep on.  Today, nine months later, I have gained at least 1,650g at now 1,850g (1.85kg or 65.26 oz. or 4 lbs.) .  Had my bestfriend, Koopa not died, I would’ve suffered the same fate as he did.  This experience has taught my parents how serious metabolic bone disease (MBD) is to sulcata tortoises.  My mum has helped and continues to help a lot of individuals who own sulcata tortoises that are suffering from or may potentially suffer from suspected early stage MBD by sharing what she knows about this fatal disease.   In a way, my bestfriend, Koopa’s passing helped me and many other sulcatas survive MBD.  Rest in peace, my dear friend, Koopa.  You did not die in vain. --  (Dated:  January 29, 2012)  **If you have any questions, just leave a comment below.

"This is me, Peachy at the time.  The combination of eating just grass & non-toxic weeds, while exercising under unfiltered sunshine are not enough to keep a healthy geochelone sulcata tortoise like myself.  The vitamin D3 that I get from sunshine won’t do me much good if none of the food that I’m eating contains a sufficient amount of calcium and other vitamins & minerals."

"Rest in peace, my dearest friend, Koopa.  You did not die in vain." ( Koopa, February 8, 2011 to January 19, 2012)

 This is me now. Dec. 2013. My human sprinkles a pinch of powdered supplement called Pecutrin (Calcium/Multiminerals/Phosphorus/Vitamin A/Vitamin D3/Vitamin E) on my food daily.

You May Also Want To Read Some of My Other Related Blog Posts:
•       My Recommended Nom Nomz List: Grasses, Flowers, Greens & Cold Season/Winter Food
 •      For My Fellow Torts Refusing to Eat - Force Feeding Resource Materials
•       Why Basking in Unfiltered Sunlight is Important For You & Me =)
•       Having A Detox Spa In My Soaking Tub (a topic on the importance of soaking)
•       For My Fellow Torts Refusing to Eat - Force Feeding Resource Materials
•       Work Out Those Muscles & Bones! =)  
•       My Most Recent Photo 2014 - Sleepy Time for Sleepy Tort :)
•       Treating My Eye Inflammation
 
Here are the lyrics to my new favorite song, "I Can See Clearly Now" (Originally written and recorded by Johnny Nash in 1972).  After all the heartbreak and illness (MBD and "runny nose syndrome or RNS") that I went thru, I have finally recovered.  You can get this song from the iTunes Store.  Here it is. Enjoy!

 "I Can See Clearly Now" 

By Johnny Nash (it's available on the iTunes Store)

 

I can see clearly now the rain is gone.
I can see all obstacles in my way.
Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind.
It's gonna be a bright (bright)
bright (bright) sunshiny day.
It's gonna be a bright (bright)
bright (bright) sunshiny day.

Oh, yes I can make it now the pain is gone.
All of the bad feelings have disappeared.
Here is that rainbow I've been praying for.
It's gonna be a bright (bright)
bright (bright) sunshiny day.

(ooh...) Look all around, there's nothing but blue skies.
Look straight ahead, there's nothing but blue skies.

I can see clearly now the rain is gone.
I can see all obstacles in my way.
Here is that rainbow I've been praying for.
It's gonna be a bright (bright)
bright (bright) sunshiny day.
It's gonna be a bright (bright)
bright (bright) sunshiny day.
It's going to be a bright (bright)
bright (bright) sunshiny day.
Yeah, hey, it's gonna be a bright (bright) bright (bright)
sunshiny day.