Urgent Care :: Eye Problems

[shellieInIreland]

Hi, I'm new to this site, all the posts are very helpful, but i've one question, my Turtle called Michael his eyes are stuck together. i am takin him to d vet 2mrw but im worried as me other one died a year ago an im very attached to these 2, anyone no whats up?

[megcornell]

I moved your question as it branches off from the original topic it was in.

As for the eyes, several things can cause irritation from vitamin deficiencies, to UVB light that is too strong, to RI.

A word of caution about seeing the vet tomorrow. Shy away from vit A shots, most times they do more harm than good. A vitamin A deficiency can easily be corrected dietarily, and shots often lead to deadly overdoses so it's better to be safe than sorry and just feed rich foods like carrots.

Good luck at the vets.

[shellieInIreland]

THANKS!!!! by any chance would u mind lookin up my other post, im probably after putting that in the wrong place 2 but ive only put two, and a reply to someone. There is a few things i know alot about but now ive read this site i realized how little pet shops in ireland know about turtles.

My turtles are on tubbed food, i think its known as commercial maybe? dried stuff, and i was told to not feed them pellets so i havent. they stopped eating prawns wont touch lettuce and im at my wits end with the filter im always cleaning it so i thought id visit this site and i think ill be buying big branded stuff.

[shellieInIreland]

I took Michael to the vet, and He will be fine, i just have to give him greens and carrots, i explained they wont touch them but she said eventually they probably will. is tha true?

i also got given a list of stuff to get which i went to the city for and actually found the pellets i couldnt locate anywhere called Reptomin, i gave them one each, Bonnie nearly took the hand off me but Michael wont touch it, though usually he'll eat in private, is that normal?

eye drops... twice a day for Michael and then once a week as a preventative.

michael Didnt get an injection she tried antibiotics but he wouldnt i think a small bit went in tho.

on the list was Tubifex worms, Frozen turtlefood its like crayfish and prawns in a cube, and a Turtle bone for calcium, got directions off the petshop how to introduce it...

while Michael is a little under the weather i will be soaking their commercial food in cod liver oil, pellets morning and night and tubifex worms once a week. the frozen stuff is apparently to be used all the time instead of commercial food, or once a month. and greens are a must which i know.

IF ANYTHING HERE SOUNDS WRONG WILL YOU LET ME KNOW IT SOUNDS LIKE ALOT OF FOOD FOR TWO TURTLES.

P.S BONNIE IS 1 1/2 YEARS OLD AND MICHAEL IS 6 MONTHS

[SpotsMama]

Hi Shellie,

Sounds like your vet is giving you good advice. The only thing I wouldn't do is feed tubifex worms. They are on the list of things that are not good for turtles. If you've already fed them some, don't worry about it but try to feed them other things in the future. Here's a link with everything you ever wanted to know about turtle nuitrition. Read through it and then if you have specific questions come back and we'll be glad to help:

http://www.redearslider.com/index_nutrition.html

It's very good that you were able to find Reptomin, by the way. It's a well respected brand but isn't available in some parts of the world. It can be your turtle's staple with veggies - especially green leafy things - and other treats for variety.

The amount to feed your turtles depends on their size. If a turtle is less than 4" long, the rule of thumb is that, every day, you can feed him/her the amount of pellets that would fit in his/her head (head not including neck) if it were hollow. When they get to be over 4" long, the amount can be cut back to a hollow-head-full every other day. On the days your turtles have high protein foods like the frozen seafood in a cube or shrimp or tuna, you can skip the pellets altogether.

Any uneaten pellets or other rich foods left over after a meal (not usually a problem!) should be netted out and thrown away to avoid fowling the water. Or else you can feed them the rich foods in a separate container.

They can have green leafy things like red and green leaf lettuce every day. If they aren't eating it now, just keep offering and one day they'll figure out it's good. Leave the veggies in the tank throughout the day for them to graze on when the mood stricks. Carrots, berries, tomato, sweet potato and the like can be offered a couple of times a week.

When you have time we'd LOVE to see pictures of the little guys!

[shellieInIreland]

spotsmama, thanks for that, i'm gonna read that now!!!i actually will upload a good picture ya i use plastic sieves to scoop out food and then dont they be poking around looking for it. Michael is alot better now i thought it would take days but hes baskin away an swimmin, what a weight of my mind!! wish id discovered this site before i have got more advice in 2 days than the 1 an a half years i have em.