Urgent Care :: Gee wiz, another RI?

[e-akers]

Repetitive, I know, but I'm almost for certain, that my 5 month old RES has an RI. He's displaying all the symptoms and I'm not one to be a hypochondrianc. Yesterday, I noticed he was swimming lopsided and that immediatly set off bells. Since then he's progressivly declined in condition. Compared to my other baby [siblings, they are] he wasn't eating as much and refused to go in the water. For half the day now he wouldn't wake up [or so I thought]. Really, I believe his eyes are just swollen shut. I attempted placing him in the water, but he displayed some difficulty breathing, so I promptly removed him. Bubbles were foaming from his mouth and, while he's out of the water, he gasps and shakes from coughing.

Now, I need to take him to the vet, I know.

That, however, creates a problem. None of the clinics in my area [a whopping total of three] will treat reptiles. The closest one that will even consider scheduling an appointment for a turtle is about two hours away and, from what I've been told by other RES/reptile owners in my area, they're worthless to try. I feel horrible saying this, but I can't really afford to go two hours and pay a fortune only to be told they don't know what to do about it.

I'm trying to keep him as comfortable and warm as possible now, though. He's in a box with a heating pad and towels now. I don't know what else I can really do but keep him warm and pray that he gets through it.

Help? Advice? Whatever you can throw my way? Thanks. :]

[e-akers]

Oh, and the questions:

How big is your turtle? And inch 1/2- 2 in?
How long have you had it? About two weeks.

What is the water temperature? 80-82
Are you using a water heater? No
How much water is in there? About three inches.
Are you using a water conditioner? As in to remove chlorine? Yes.
Are you using any filtration? No, just water changes for now.

What is the basking temperature? 87-88
Is there a basking light? Yes
Is there a basking platform that is easy to climb on? Yes
What kind is it or what is it made out of? Stone, slate rock
Is there a UVB light? Yes

What have you been trying to feed it? Reptomin Baby pellets, tuna, veggies
When was the last time your turtle ate? Yesterday morning

How big is the tank/pond/enclosure? He's in what I believe is a five gallon until his new tank comes in
Is the tank near a window? No
Is the tank in a room with a lot of activity? No

Have you read the Basic Care section? Yes
Have you searched the forums for similar situations? Yes

Is there any other unusual activity/symptoms? Just what I've discribed

[virusspawn]

Dude same here my turtle is in the same situation right now too

Did u get him from a store
How big is he?

[e-akers]

Arg, sucks doesn't it? I feel pretty much helpless right about now. Good luck with your situation, though :]

No, I didn't get him from a store. A friend of mine who specialized in reptiles decided awhile ago to breed a pair of his RES and sell the hatchlings for profit [quite a bad idea in all aspects] and he found himself overrun with baby turtles. Now he's trying to find good homes for them and I took two of them in. The other baby seems to be doing fine--very active. I just hope she doesn't develop he same thing :\

[virusspawn]

you know
i wonder, What is the cause of RI
What are we doing wrong?

[e-akers]

A respitory infection can arise from several things. Environment, primarily. An animals immune system can be weakened from too low a temperature, which I believe was the case in Puck [my turtle]. After that, I believe it was just a progression which signs I failed to noticed.

[megcornell]

Unfortunately you can't treat an RI without antibiotics very effectively. Your best bet is to call the vets around you and see what they can do for him, perhaps since it's just an RI (which is a pretty routine fix for vets) they can call a herp vet for reference and give you the antibiotics you need. It's worth a try.
Otherwise you may have to travel to the herp vets, I find that the more educated you are about the disease when it comes to exotics, the better you fare. So if you go in and tell them what you suggest maybe it will go better than what others have experienced.
Good luck.

[e-akers]

Possibly. Thanks for the advice. I just don't know if I'm going to be able to afford it. Do you have any sort of estimation on what the bill may run? I don't mean to sound like Scrooge McDuck or anything. Money just suddenly became tight and I've heard of bills for such simple procedures running into the hundreds. I really don't want to loose the little guy.

Question, though. If the RI that he's contracted turns out to be viral, antiobtics wouldn't help at all, would they?

[megcornell]

Well when I took my turtle to the vet for an RI it cost $108 and that included the $50 emergency visit fee ( I went late at night). And most tests culture for RI's so I don't think they are usually viral. Also, if you can't afford it all at once most vets allow payments plans.

[rockstar]

it might also be a vitamin A deficiancy.
thats what my little guy had.. plus an upper respiratory infection.




btw, my bill was $85

[SpotsMama]

Be very wary of excessive vitamin A. Some people's inexperienced vets have given turtles' excessive vitamin A by injection with very sad results as too much can be poisonous. Not saying a turtle shouldn't get it when it's needed - just be very confident that it's really necessary and the vet knows the correct dosage. What I've heard of that makes sense to me is providing supplemental vitamin A in a less aggressive form - such as with zoo med turtle eye drops or a little cod liver oil in the food or on the eye lids.

[marisa]

You've got him in a box with a heating pad? I'd take out the heating pad and put a light over him to keep him warm (temp high 80's) and give him a cloth to burrow under if he wants to. (Put a cloth under him as well). Keep him away from drafts. I'd hydrate him twice a day in water that's about 80-82F (you can make half of it Pedialyte to give him some electrolytes) and also see if he'll eat a little. Since it sounds like he can't see, hold a bit of something smelly (tuna, sardines packed in water) near his nose just above the water and see if he'll take some of that.

What was his diet like when he did eat? You could try a little plain cod liver oil on the eyelids, but getting him to a herp vet for antibiotics ASAP would be the thing to do. Call whoever you decide to take him to and get an estimate so you don't have any nasty surprises.

As for why he got it, he could have been ill when you got him (two weeks ago?) but was not displaying symptoms or, had a weaken immune system and contracted something along the way. Given the symptoms you've given, try to find somebody that will treat him. Good luck.

[rockstar]

Be very wary of excessive vitamin A. Some people's inexperienced vets have given turtles' excessive vitamin A by injection with very sad results as too much can be poisonous. Not saying a turtle shouldn't get it when it's needed - just be very confident that it's really necessary and the vet knows the correct dosage. What I've heard of that makes sense to me is providing supplemental vitamin A in a less aggressive form.

its very diluted because of his size =/

[virusspawn]

is it possible that a turtle recovers from RI without antibiotics and meds?

[rockstar]

its very un-likely.
becuase it will probably become pnemonia, which can kill your turtle