Urgent Care :: HELP! TOBI GIRL IS SICK!!! (long)

[camee1991]

I dont know where to start. For those of you who dont know about Tobi girl she is a RES and is almost 5 years old. She is about a foot long and 10" wide. She started laying her 1st clutches of eggs last year on 9/9/07 (unfertile) and since then she has laid about 32 eggs in all. (Yes guys she laid about 5 more in the tank after Christmas.) She has NEVER been sickly. I have had her since she was quarter size. She has been very very healthy....until now.

I dont know what is going on. About a week ago I put a corkbark "natural" log in her tank and she bit at it until she realized I guess it wouldnt hurt her then she started laying on it, like she should.... then about 3 days ago I woke up and uncovered my turtles tanks to feed and turn on their lights, like normal. And she ate as usual. Then by mid evening...she was laying on the bottom of the tank acting weak... not following my fingers on the side of the tank or anything. Not even enticed by food! (Also, a couple days earlier I had to take a few plant decorations out of the tank cuz she was acting MEAN and biting them and pulling hard, like a dog and a bone!) So...I took them out. (I also took out the new log since that day...in case she ate some?! And it constipated her?!)

Anyhow, since then...she will only eat an occassional worm...wiggly of course. And she is mostly at the bottom of the tank. For LONG LONG periods of time. I have to stomp the ground by her tank to make sure she is alive ALOT! She still goes up to bask...she seems to have the energy to climb the ramp...but not much more. She lays on the bottom and lays her head out. ALSO...The 1st night I took her out of her tank cuz I was worried and held her in a towel and tried to let her walk to see what she would do and she didnt walk much at all. She just wanted to sit. So I picked her back up and I started touching her shell, which is in bad need of a shed... and she peed on me like a FOUNTAIN Im not kidding! TWICE! She totally drenched my jeans! She has NEVER peed like this EVER...nor does she ever pee when I have her out! I was freaked!

So...I put her in a plastic bin to see if she would try to get out, like she normally would, and she tried...barely... and then PEED BIG TIME again. After that she poo-ed a big green smooshy poo. (I havent seen any poo since then!) (I thought she may have been constipated or worse from the log) Well, I put her back in her tank. And all is the same. She is VERY jumpy ONLY if her shell is touched at this time. I will touch her to see if she is alive or to get her moving a bit and she is like on FIRE freaking out in the tank until I stop touching her shell! OMG! I dont know WTH?! I took her out a sec. ago just to hold her up...and get her some AIR...and she did her fountain peeing again!

She isnt open mouth breathing, no gasping, no bubbles, no lopsided swimming, (just lazy swimming) and floating... no pink tinge to her skin...no cracks in her shell...no swollen eyes or watery, etc.... What could this be?!!!!!! I thought tonite that maybe...just maybe she was sad I took her plants away, so I put them back in tonite and she laid against them once. But no change.

I have NO herp vets close at all. My vet has to search for anything turtle related on the internet...and I cant find anything!!!

Anyone....please help!!

[SpotsMama]

How frightening! I wish there were something I could do to help. Is there a zoo near by? Or can you call a zoo and talk to a herpitologist? Or maybe there's a university with a veterinary school you could call. Perhaps your vet could help you locate a herp vet that would be willing to talk to you over the phone. I can't recall exactly where it is that you live - somewhere cold I believe. Maybe someone else on here will have some ideas.

[marisa]

Perhaps all that egg laying caught up with her and led to some kind of nutritional deficiency. If at all possible, it would be good to have that checked out. You said she's still eating something, though, so that's good.

Her prolific egg laying has a part of me wondering if she's going to become gravid again...

About the peeing---my RES will do that as a last resort if he's really unhappy with being held and and wants to be put down (and it's very effective ). Wild turtles have done that to me as well when they've been picked up.

[megcornell]

Perhaps your vet can run some blood tests/xrays under the guidance of a herp vet?
I don't remember where you are located, but he must be able to find a good one, worse case he could call a vet school. I know Cornell has herp diagnostics and consultations, so I imagine other schools must as well.
I think I agree with marisa... after all that egg laying it's very likely that Tobi is just literally drained, the poor girl. If I were that exhausted and sick, I'd be snappy too. If it makes you feel better, Leo always pees when I pick her up, one of the many reasons I never pick her up, haha.
Have you talked to your vet about the changes in behavior and disposition? Even if they are not trained in reptiles they must be able to recognize that the changes are not good and be able to give you some ideas on where to go from there.

I'm so sorry Tobi's not feeling well! I hope things work out.

[camee1991]

Thanks for your reply you guys. I live in Ponca City and it is not much different from Texas...lol

But no, my vet knows nothing and the closest zoo is Tulsa; I could call them.

And about the peeing..it is not just "dont pick me up" pee....it is like a hard FOUNTAIN! And dont stop! She has never ever peed like that! My little guy pees when I pick him up and I realize what "normal" scary pee is like.

Anyhow...she is eating a few pellets today and still "hanging" in there. I guess it could be just total tiredness from the egg laying. But Im not sure.

I do know this man who raises RES and Alligator Snappers...so Im gonna call him tonite and see what he has to say!

Thanks for all your posts. I just cannot lose my baby girl

[steve]

With my RES, I've been bitten, fluttered at, scratched, climbed on, fanned on, peed and pooped on. So I wouldn't worry about that.

As for "anti-social behavior", I get that sometimes too. Without understanding why, they might appear skittish or very frightened. It's unusual because they sometimes practically leap out of the tank to get to me. I basically leave them alone and they're back to normal after a couple of hours.

All that egg-laying is tough... let us know how she's doing.

[camee1991]

Well...better news Tobi girl has eaten lettuce and even came to the front of the tank and was SWIMMING back and forth to see me!!!! I was sooooo happy!!!!! She ate that lettuce like she hadnt eaten in weeks!
She was totally acting normal.

Then, she went back to the bottom of the tank and laid there. Not moving for a long long long time.

THEN....back up again...wanting more food and acting "normal"... But now she is basking. So...I guess that is an awesome sign that she is actually reacting to me again!!! And eating and swimming and not just floating and ignoring the world. Day by day....
(Oh yeah...I actually saw NORMAL POO in the water this evening!!!!) Something is moving...lol

[SpotsMama]

Thank goodness. Maybe she's just had a stomach upset.

[megcornell]

Good to hear she's getting back to closer to normal.

[marisa]

Sounds like she's regaining some strength.

[emma]

Thats great to hear she is doing better.

[industrial_girl_2000]

Oh man, today was the first day I was able to read about Tobi. Sounded immediately to me like she had an upset stomach. I don't know if it helps, but there are certain foods that when Sheba eats too much of them, she also acts like Tobi did (sitting on the bottom of the tank & not moving much). After about a day or two, she is back to normal as if nothing ever happened. Sheba gets an upset stomach from eating too many collards so maybe that is something that happened to Tobi (not sure what you fed her recently).

Sheba & I are both glad to hear that Tobi is doing better.