Urgent Care :: Strange white goo/poo

[sparis123]

My RES, Bandit, who I have had for four years now is about 7 inches long. Bandit has rocks, lots of water, and a nice big light to bask in. He normally is very active, swimming all over the tank, hanging out on the rock in his light, but this week he has been very lethargic. He has been keeping his eyes closed most of the time, and staying at the bottom of the tank in his shell. He hasn't been eating much either. Tonight I came home to find in his tank some strange white goo. It looks like tiny white balls in a sac. It looks like some sort of fecal matter. He has never been like this before and is normally very happy and active.

[Take-One]

SHE may have layed eggs. Or she may have tapeworms. I have little experince with both

[SpotsMama]

Was there much of the white stuff - or just a little bit? Is he acting any perkier tonight or is he still lethargic? If he were mine and still behaving the way you described, I'd take him to see a good herp vet as soon as I could get an appointment. Capture some of the white stuff in a pill bottle or something and take it to the vet for analysis.

For a sick turtle, you should keep the tank warmer than usual (80 or 82 degrees), keep him very clean, avoid stress (ie, don't pick him up unless you have to and keep the room quiet), and try to get him to eat. If he won't eat his normal food, you can tempt him with treats like tuna, shrimp or boiled chicken.

Here's a standard caution for people taking their turtles to see a vet. If the vet offers to give a vitamin A shot, first make sure the vet is positive your turtle really needs vitamin A and then discuss other alternatives to shots with the vet like eye drops with vitamin A, cod liver oil or food supplements. Several turtles have recently had very bad reactions to vitamin A shots and I think it's best that if vitamin A is needed (and often it's not) the safer methods be used instead.

Good luck. Keep us posted on how it goes.

[marisa]

I know you said he wasn't eating much, but what has his diet been like?