Urgent Care

How big is your turtle?...........6.5 inches
How long have you had it?.....over 20 years

What is the water temperature?......80f
Did you use a thermometer?...yes
Are you using a water heater?...yes
How much water is in there?....currently in sep. tank for monitoring ..ususally appx. 70 galons.
Are you using a water conditioner?.... just regular fluvol flitration system, charcoal, bio rings.
Are you using any filtration? ...yes, Fluvol 405

What is the basking temperature?....85F
Is there a basking light?..............ceramic heat lamp
Is there a basking platform that is easy to climb on?..yes!!!
What kind is it or what is it made out of?...in large set up he has access to plywood platform covered with dura deck.
Is there a UVB light?...yes, set to appx. 6inches above turtle.

What have you been trying to feed it?...reptomin pellets, red/gn leal lettuce, dandilions, ...recently boiled chicken w/shredded carrot to entice eating. (sep. feeding area)
When was the last time your turtle ate?...yesterday.....ate a few mineral soaked floating pellets. He has eaten with coaxing appz. every two days.

How big is the tank/pond/enclosure?....plastic pond, 4'L x3.5'W x 2'Deep, set in4'x6' enclosed plywood platform.
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?...absolutely!!!
Have you searched the forums for similar situations?...yes!!!

Is there any other unusual activity/symptoms?
NO REGULAR STOOLS FOR OVER 3 WEEKS!!!!! He is not eating them!...Has never had access to any gravel etc. that could cause impaction but wonder about scute eating??
Usually scoop out tank every 2nd day.
Twice in last 2 weeks has discharged white mucous, small amt. first time and today appx. 1 teaspooon size. He ate a few food sticks soaked in mineral oil yesterday.
Lethargic
Swims very little (but no listing) and quite slowly, prefers to bask sometimes with head in water.
No signs of RI around nose/mouth and seems to be normal in every other way.

I am going to see if any of the local vets have herp experience or could perhaps xray to see if there is any blockage???? We live in a small town!!
Any other suggestions would be very welcome!
Thanks for this site, I have learned so much from it over the years!!! Wendy

Seeking out a herp vet would be the right thing to do. Any listing? Was the mucous coughed up?

steve wrote:Seeking out a herp vet would be the right thing to do. Any listing? Was the mucous coughed up?

Not coughed up...other end! He isn't listing. My biggest worry is that his bowel is impacted from possibly scutes?? In 2008 I posted that he passed a HUGE nasty lump that looked like scutes. If this was the case and he couldn't pass them I doubt that any vet could do surgery on a turtle to fix it. We were on holiday last month and our son looked after Fred while we were gone and he may not have cleaned out the shedded scutes often enough. Any suggestions on how often I should try the mineral oil soaked pellets??? Just tried first ones last night when he was fed.
Thanks for posting!!

I would't know what effect the mineral oil pellets will have. I'm not sure if that was mucus that was discharged... males might expel some semen when fanning. How much does he shed?

The first discharge was still partly connected to his clocea and he was on his basking platform with his tail hanging in the water. The discharge this morning was on the bottom of the tank. I havent seen him fan in eons. Looking at vet listings on your site I see some vets have ultrasound. Could be helpful in diagnosing him?? Have you heard of turtles not having bowel movements for weeks before???

Well, if there is an obstruction, I think an x-ray should be sufficient. What kind of thermometer are you using? If it's accurate, I would try bumping up the temperatures a few degrees.

With lots of phone calls got a very knowlegeable herp vet in Wash. State who has offered to work with my vet here. See her suggestions below. Getting xrays as soon as vet has an opening today (I hope).

"Radiographs would certainly be helpful to rule or out some things, include an impaction. They would need to take three views, one from the top, one from the side and one from the front (the front is different than most other animals, but it’s the best way to look at the lungs). Otherwise, blood work would be nice, given that he is getting quite old (oldest I’ve seen). The jugular vein is located just behind the ear (a round scale on the side of the animal’s head) and is probably the easiest place to get blood. If they can get hold of the head (and not get bit) they can put a finger against the neck between the neck and the front leg and usually get the vein to stand up enough that they can see it. Don’t take more than 1ml of blood for an average sized RES. They will need to get a CBC and Chemistry panel, but they’ll probably have to send it off and make sure that the CBC doesn’t get run through an automated counter like a dog or cat since they have red blood cells with nuclei and it screws up the counting. They also need to request a reptile chemistry panel as it has different parameters than a mammal panel. Those things would be a really good place to start and then I can help them interpret blood results and look at the radiographs if they’ll email them to me."

If I remember, my vet drew blood between the tail and hind leg.

Thanks for the blood drawing tip...I like it better than the neck one!!! Fred ate some mushy food sticks today but still very lethargic. Vet was away so really booked up today...apointment tomorrow. Fingers crossed!!

I remember how nerve racking it is having a sick turtle... we only want the best for them. Are there no local herp vets?

Small town! Nearest place is about 3 1/2 hr drive from here and you have to cross the us/can border so not sure how taking a turtle across would go. I am fortunate to have a good general vet who is very caring and open to consulting with the Herp vet. Herp vet is amazing!! She rigged up a castor to a tortise's shell after it had to have its leg amputated.

Wow, let us know how it goes.

Vet visit Wed.: 1 hr. lots of xrays and turtle did well. $259.00 but worth it if Fred can be helped! Sent films to herp vet.
For the first time I made Jello Shots for Fred yesterday after finding the recipie on your site (used fresh dandilion leaves, carrots, rd/gn leaf lettuce and apple etc). After a rest from the vets I gave him some and he chased down every morsel and early this morning things seem to be moving a bit! White mucous mostly at first but now showing signs of normal stool just a bit. I got a great picture and sent that to the herp vet too.
Will keep you posted.
*** RE: jello shots.....any thoughts on mercury in tuna???? Salmon is supposed to have much less! Also notice there is salt in canned tuna. Thinking I will get fresh salmon and poach it next time instead of using tuna.*******

For the tuna, the water from the can is probably the most appetizing part of it. Glad to hear things are looking up!

Great to hear things are going well with Fred! My turtle name is Fred coincidentally.
With the turtle jello shots I usually don't add any sort of protein, just veggies, they keep longer that way and I don't have to worry about accidentally feeding rancid food. The pellets will provided a safer source of protein.

Urgent Care :: 26+yr old male RES Lethargic! White mucousy discharge!!

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