Urgent Care :: ***URGENT***PLEASE HELP!!!

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Post Posted: Thu Jun 06, 2019 10:06 pm   ***URGENT***PLEASE HELP!!!

I found this turtle on the road yesterday. I did some research and it looks like this little guy may have shell rot BADLY. Any advice, I really can't afford to take him to the vet and the closets reptile vet to me is 45 mins away.
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kmcpage9117
 
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Post Posted: Fri Jun 07, 2019 1:33 am   Re: ***URGENT***PLEASE HELP!!!

He really needs a cream from the vet that’s a RX in the US ! Silver Sulphadinze. Despite your best intentions may be more than you can do. Seek a pet shops help , SPCA , a rescue center. Also look at top header on this page under “Health” and also another link has been a go to page. http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/medshell.htm

May be abandon or a female just looking for a place to lay eggs. They are known to travel far from water to do so. It has shell problems that can be fixed. I am more concerned about it being dehydrated and hunger now.

Under these conditions without meds from a vet I would do this. We done this after Hurricane Katrina when we took in lots of turtles washed in from the swamps and couldn't get RX's drugs in at the center.

Re hydrate first and if you have some lettuce offer it to him. Get something like a tote but “only” place an inch of “dechlorinated” water in it , it may be too weak to swim and drown. He is a RES turtle , semi-aquqtic , needs water. Also aquatic turtles need water to swallow food they have no slave glands. And will be deep enough so it can drink. An OTC diaper rash cream can help but takes a long time to see shell improvement. The RX cream could fix in a week. The zinc oxide has some documentation on helping the shell , better than nothing. Even a antibiotic cream like lotrimin ultra that has "butenafine" in it for fungus will help. Sorry but Neosporin will not work for fungus. Just a thin layer of either it will be messy. Do this for as long as it takes to see improvement.
You will read about “dry docking” with a RX cream but don’t too stressful now. I am more concerned about dehydration ! So just an inch of water at least for the first week. The top shell should be out the water with the cream for now. Be reading up on how to keep it or seek a rescue center for proper care. From photo may not have shell rot needs to be cleaned up a lot and treated to see more . Looks as deposits and fungus than anything . Good luck others may offer a different approach this is what I would do without proper vet care , herp vet care. Part of the shell may start to lift off that normal in shedding . Turtles do that to grow and also remove problems on there shell naturally to. Thats a thin kerton layer that come off and is normal. "Do Not " try and pull any off let nature do it. Lots of homework to do if you plan to keep it.

PS : could be a lost pet that escaped with a child crying for it. Put out signs "found"
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