Urgent Care :: Can this be considered an abscess?

[interfree]

Hello everybody,
i've been a reader of these forums for a while, and now i felt the need to register in order to ask you an urgent question about my Trachemys Scripta Elegans.

I have to underline that I saw the turtle after a month (she lives with my parents, and I live in another city) and I cannot say in any way when the problem did appear in the last month.

My female red-eared slider is nearly 11 years old, and has never had any visible health problem in her whole life. She lives in a big aquarium filtered by an external filter (mechanical, adsorbing and biological action). A UV tube is timed to turn up in the morning. In the past month the filtering materials have not been changed, but the water is clear and only minimal debris is visible.

The problem is the following: the turtle has a lump on her neck, only on one side. I've searched the forum thoroughly, and I realized it could be an ear abscess, that i've read must be lanced and drained by a vet. Nonetheless, I want to ask you an advice because I'm not really sure it's an abscess. I will try to post pictures tomorrow, but for now I can only try to describe it.

It does not seem to be a lump grown beneath the skin, visible as a little ball under the skin texture, as seen in some pictures posted on this forum: it is similar to, excuse me for the lack of technical terms, an human skin pimple. Trying to be more precise, the "pimple" seems to be something like a "yellowhead": it raises over the skin and terminates with a yellow top.

Unluckly, I don't think that near my town any kind of specialized vet exists, and i'll try to find one as soon as possible. For now, i cleaned the water of any debris, washed the mechanical filter and changed the adsorbing activated coal.

Should I do anything else? Is it an abscess? Do you have any suggestion?

[xsavingsaturdayx]

Is she eating fine? Behaving normally?

I'm not sure, but like you said..it could be an abscess - your best bet would be to take her to a vet who specializes in Turtles. For now, dont poke at the lumb, or try to pop it etc. Leave it alone and start calling vets ASAP.

[steve]

An abscess doesn't need to be on both sides of the head but it could be a sore of some type. A pic would be helpful.

[interfree]

Hi everyone,
unluckly i've not been yet able to take a pic, but I phoned a vet, who unluckly is not in my town.
I'll answer about the behaviour, that is perfectly normal. She eats loads as usual.

The vet said that "nothing much can be done", and did not talk about lancing at all. He wanted to know the weight of the Elegans (580 grams, 1.27 lbs), and he said that I should do intramuscular injections on her neck.
I should use an insulin syringe and inject every day for five days 2.5% Baytril (enrofloxacin), 1/10 of ml.

What do you think about this solution? Does anyone know how to use a syringe on an Elegans neck?

[SpotsMama]

Some of the people on here have injected their turtles with antibiotics and can share their experiences. I don't recall that they were injecting their turtles in the neck, though.

It bothers me that the vet did not talk about lancing. Lancing - followed by antibiotics - is the standard treatement for an abcess. If you get a chance to post that picture, it sure would be helpful.

[steve]

Can you contact a different vet? I'd want to know what a different one would say.

Also, see if there are any local herp societies or organizations. There are some experienced herpers who know how to do it as well.

[marisa]

Get a second opinion. An abcess in most cases won't go away by itself. The material inside the lump is cottage cheese-like and puts pressure on surrounding tissues as the abcess grows. If it is an abcess, the turtle will eat well and behave normally until the infection grows much larger. Abcesses can be signs of a much larger systemic infection, and antibiotics can be necessary to cure it. I'm assuming the vet you consulted with suggested Baytril to treat any larger infection, but if the lump continues to grow, it really should be opened up and cleaned out as well.

[airgetsthinner]

i second the fact that you need a second opinion, the first thing that should be done is a lancing, theres probably a LOT of stuff in your turtles ear. i watched my vet lance ted's ear and i couldnt believe how much junk came out from just 4-5 days of having it! from what i understand its very painful for your turtle so a second opinion is definately needed here.

[interfree]

Hi everyone,
thank you VERY much for your advice. Tomorrow morning I'll try to phone some other vets, although I don't really know if they are able to cure a reptile.
I took some photos, but I'm not sure they'll help... it's so hard to get good photos with a moving turtle!

[xsavingsaturdayx]

Aw man, that looks realy painful. Vets shouldnt have any difficulty curing a reptile. So many vets have cured tiny little 1 inch baby turtles who were sick with pneumonia and other fatal diseases. Be sure you take him to a vet who knows how to treat reptiles. Good luck,

[jenaero]

Definetly looks like an abcess to me. If the vet doesn't say it needs to be lanced, go to a different vet.

[DavidY]

I think most any vet who is willing should be able to treat that. It shouldn't take an herpetologist to lance an abcess and administer antibiotics.

[steve]

At least find a vet who has treated one before. Turtles need to be handled a certain way, medications need to measured properly, etc.

[interfree]

I must thank everyone again, your help is really precious!
I phoned another vet, and he did not treat reptiles; he gave me, anyway, the number of a fellow vet who does. This other vet said me that he tried many times with antibiotics alone, and he could not achieve anything: lancing is necessary, and a surgeon is needed. Unluckly, it seems that no one in a range of 300 kilometers from here is able to open an abscess!

Anyway, I got in contact with a veterinary clinic, 300km away. I asked them if they could cure turtles, and the man said "yes, for basical things". Then I said I need to cure an abscess, and he said "yes, we can do surgery". Hopefully, they really do.

Now I need to find a way to transport her through 300kms of road without problems. Any suggestion for such a car journey?

[marisa]

Put your turtle in a box with some holes for air. If it's not really cool, put your turtle on a damp towel and and give your turtle another cloth to burrow under. Put the box on a stable surface so it can't tip. If it's on the floor you might want to put some padding under it to minimize bumps. Keep the temp in the car comfortable--not to warm or cool. I don't know how long the trip will take you, but if it's really warm, you might want to stop along the way and put your turtle in another container with some water for a bit to let him get hydrated.

Too bad there you couldn't find anyone closer. Good luck.