Urgent Care :: what a different site told me about my turtles

[bubblestheturtle]

i e-mailed a diff. site about my turtles and i am not happy with the response. it doent sound like anything you guys told me here. they added their comments in brackets < > inside my text. notice the comment it said about the water temp. dosent sound right?

Turtles Not Acting Normal
I recently purchased two hatchling female RES.
<At a hatchling size they are really impossible to test.> Both were quite active upon arrival, however, one seems to be more lethargic lately. (It recently had problem with eating rocks, but I nipped that habit in the bud by removing all of the gravel from the tank.) The turtle basks on the floating dock for very long periods of time with its eyes shut. It eyes appear to be larger than normal, so I bought zoo med eye drops and applied two drops to each eye. When I went back to check on the turtle, I put it in the water to see how it swam. It swam normally but just slower. Then it climbed back onto the dock and closed its eyes, and kept opening its mouth. The water heater is set to 80 degrees and the water is very clean. I feed it reptomin once daily. It has a heat lamp, uva/uvb lamp and filter and the water seems to be very clean. I think that this "illness" may be due to its extended time in a small container filled with an inch of water that became cold in between water changes to the tank.
<You have few things that could be going on here. First check the temperature of the basking site. It should be 85 to 90 F. Second, puffy swollen eyes are caused by a vitamin A deficency. ZooMed Eye Drops have vitamin A. Other brands of eye drops have antibiotics but no vitamin A. ZooMed Aquatic Turtle Hatchling Food is set up so these deficencies don't happen. Hatchling turtles hve different food requirements than adult turtles. I would lower the water temp to upper 60's to the lower 70's. This big different temperature gradient helps control parasites as the basking turtles dive into the colder water.-Chuck>

is this good advice?? are the adult reptomin sticks really not goot for my hatchling????

[xsavingsaturdayx]

The information is OK except for the part about the water temp, never should you drop it that low for a hatchling. 78 is good for a healthy RES and for a sick RES 82 is OK.


Dont waste time...take you're turtle to a vet if it is lethargic, the more time you waste the less chance of surviving it will have. A simple 40$ vet visit can save his life..trust me, you're turtle is in danger.

About the Reptomin, the only difference between the adult reptomin food and the baby reptomin is that the baby reptomin has a bit more calcium which is good for young RES. But if all you have is the adult reptomin, then feed them that. You might want to vary the diet a bit though, add different pellet foods (Zoo med turtle pellets, jurrisac diet, mazuri are realy good pellets). Dont forget the veggies!

[SpotsMama]

That water temp suggestion is too low. The higher temperature - at least 80 or even 82 will boost his/her immune system, which is what your turtle needs right now.

I agree with xsavings. It sounds like RI, which needs to be treated by a vet with antibiotics. You mentioned at least three key symptoms - lethargy, swollen eyes and breathing with the mouth open. The turtles that survive RI are the ones that are treated aggressively and early.

Sometimes swollen eyes are caused by a vitamin A deficiency but there are a lot of other things that can cause it too - RI, irritation from too much chlorine, injury to name a few.

[bubblestheturtle]

i know that i need to take the turtle to the vet. but im stuck. i really connot afford to do so. it will cost me $60 for each turtle to go to the vet, JUST for the checkup.

[xsavingsaturdayx]

RI is an illness that can ONLY be cured by a vet.

If you cant afford a vet, then you shouldnt own turtles.

[Turtle addict]

I disagree with the water temps, I never run heaters in any tanks of non-exotic hatchlings- res, mud, musks etc. The temps in the tanks get down in the low 60's and they are fine. I also only use reptomin adult for the babies. Once they get to 2 inches I switch them to mazuri balls. I have had baby res for 4 years straight....ones under 4 inches {yes as some grow I have gotten other babies} and never lost one, and they have all been healthy.

If the turtle is sick it does need a vet, spending the money as soon as possible can s the life of the baby, and be cheaper. The longer the sickness goes the more it takes to cure. Finding money is hard but maybe you could talk to the vet about making weeky payments of something to get it cared for. Or think about possible giving it to the vet for treatment. This is something I have with my vet....he gets sick ones in and then while they get treatment I take them and once they are fine I adopt them out. I get free care for the ones I have because I help him out by taking the left ones in and doing the shots etc instead of them being in his house or office taking up room and him doing the work. If someone was to leave their turtle there and I take them in, we do the work and then if by chance the original owner finds me and adopts them back for the $20 charge then so be it....the turtle gets the care they need, and the owner has paid $20 of that. Finding this in your area may take alot of work.

[industrial_girl_2000]

RI is an illness that can ONLY be cured by a vet.

If you cant afford a vet, then you shouldnt own turtles.

Unfortunately I have to agree with xsavingsaturdayx.

Also, the water temp they told you on that other website is way too low. It should be about 78-80 for a healthy hatchling, and about 82 for a sick one. However, you won't be able to nurse this little guy back to health just by boosting the water temps. He needs antibiotics that you can only get from the vet. If the one vet is too expensive, call a different one. Phone calls are cheap & that way you can comparison shop. Also, some vets offer payment plans so ask about that too.

It never hurts to ask questions. You are the customer! Good luck.

[bubblestheturtle]

RI is an illness that can ONLY be cured by a vet.

If you cant afford a vet, then you shouldnt own turtles.

i knew someone was going to say this. give me a break.

i KNOW that the turtles need vet care. i am just stating the fact that at the moment, its a little sore on my budget.

and i do care about these turtles otherwise i wouldn't be on this site and other sites asking for advice. people who shouldnt own turtles are those who dont even bother to do the research on what to do to raise a turtle and keep it healthy. i didnt realize they got sick so easily and i didnt know that a vet would cost me an arm and a leg and honestly i think the turtles were shipped to me sick because the plac i got them from probably neglected them and i am sure they are better off in my hands than in the sellers hands. fjdskjfsl;af

anyway: what i ahve to say is this, i am working on ways of gathering up money to send it to the vet. and yes i will call around, that is a good idea, but there are hardly any vets in austin that can treat turtles.

wheather weekly or monthy or whatever the payments are, 60 per turtle is what i am going to have to pay in the end. and i dont have a job. i live in a big house in a really nice neighborhood, and i go to a private school but my parents will not give me any money to save the turtles so i am on my own.

anyway i am trying and as soon as i can come up with the money i will but for now i am doing the best i can.

[xsavingsaturdayx]

RI is an illness that can ONLY be cured by a vet.

If you cant afford a vet, then you shouldnt own turtles.

i knew someone was going to say this. give me a break.

i KNOW that the turtles need vet care. i am just stating the fact that at the moment, its a little sore on my budget.

and i do care about these turtles otherwise i wouldn't be on this site and other sites asking for advice. people who shouldnt own turtles are those who dont even bother to do the research on what to do to raise a turtle and keep it healthy. i didnt realize they got sick so easily and i didnt know that a vet would cost me an arm and a leg and honestly i think the turtles were shipped to me sick because the plac i got them from probably neglected them and i am sure they are better off in my hands than in the sellers hands. fjdskjfsl;af

anyway: what i ahve to say is this, i am working on ways of gathering up money to send it to the vet. and yes i will call around, that is a good idea, but there are hardly any vets in austin that can treat turtles.

wheather weekly or monthy or whatever the payments are, 60 per turtle is what i am going to have to pay in the end. and i dont have a job. i live in a big house in a really nice neighborhood, and i go to a private school but my parents will not give me any money to save the turtles so i am on my own.

anyway i am trying and as soon as i can come up with the money i will but for now i am doing the best i can.

I never said that you didnt care for you're turtles. I agree that you are doing the best you can as of right now, by reasearching and all.

I can relate to you because i myself am still pretty young (16 to be exact), and i was once in you're situation a long time ago. I ended up pawning in 500$ worth of guitar and bass amps, so my turtles could be seen by a vet. Luckily it was nothing to serious and they are doing okay right now. I ended up getting a job, and now money isnt too much of a problem.

My advice to you is to get a job so that you can afford you're turtles needs, try bumming money off of you're boyfriend/mom/dad/uncle/the lady at the grocery store, pawn stuff in if you have to. You can do it, trust me. Im rooting for ya, no hard feelings.

-eddie

[bubblestheturtle]

yeah i'm 17 and its hard finding the money when you dont have a job/allowence (or just bought your prom dress *cough*). i could sell some artwork but i am way too attatched and i am pretty sure that my boyfriend isnt going to sell any of his music equipment from his studio. (go TURNCOAT!) anyway. i think a friend is going to hook me up.

and i acctually do sortof have a job. i facepaint hehehe. being the artist that i am. but i havent done it in a while. i will put up adds again.

theres no way i am selling the art now that i think about it. at least none from my portfilio.

[xsavingsaturdayx]

My girlfriend paints too, she goes to an art school.

But anyways back to topic, there are alot of ways that you can raise up money. If me being one year younger than you can find a job, you could do better! Im sure you have some junk laying around you're room that you can cash in. Heck, maybe ask you're parents for money (early b-day gift).

[bubblestheturtle]

very very early b day gift. i dont really paint much but i draw. i will figure it out.

[steve]

bubblestheturtle, RI can lead to pneumonia which is often fatal. Treatment depends on the cause of pneumonia and bacterial pneumonia needs to be treated with antibiotics. Pneumonia is a leading cause of death in people.

Anyway, hatchlings are very delicate, so keep water temps accurate. For healthy hatchlings, I would try to keep it at 78F. Also, puffy eyes are not always caused by vitamin A deficiency. I haven't heard of temperature gradients controlling parasites, but there are many different kinds of parasites and they don't all respond in a similar fashion.

[industrial_girl_2000]

very very early b day gift. i dont really paint much but i draw. i will figure it out.

Read my post about calling various vets & shopping around for one that offers payment plans.

Just understand that no one really knows you (it's impossible to guess who the people are behind a computer screen!) and we know you don't know any of us. We are just trying to help & you would not believe the volume of people who come onto this board with questions & then they basically tell us they won't take the turt to the vet "since I can just get another one from the store" (or some other lame thing). Not saying you are that type of person, but that's what we get sometimes.

FYI: There was an article in the Feb 2007 issue of Jane Magazine that was entitled "how to make $1000 in 5 days without landing in jail". Maybe you can get some ideas from that article? It had everything in there from delivering furniture from Ikea, ebay, craigslist.com, walking dogs, etc. It's interesting all the different & unique ways you can make some cash if you need to. Check in your local library for the mag.

[bubblestheturtle]

good news guys, i got a job offer today. anyway i took it and everything should work itself out shortly. that sounds like an interesting article i will be sure to read it.

oh and the turtles eye swelling has virtually disappeared. im not saying they are cured they just looook better.