General Care Discussion :: how does a vet checkup for a turtle?

[aon]

just looks at it?

[SpotsMama]

He/she may look at the turtle, watch him walk, weigh him, ask you lots of questions about the turtle's diet and habitat. The vet may take a culture of the shell if it looks infected. The vet may take a stool sample to check for parasites (in fact, if he/she doesn't offer to do this, I'd ask). If the turtle has a respiratory infection, the vet may give him a shot of antibiotics.

You should ask the vet lots of questions too, and try to find out if the vet really understands turtles. Here's some good info on taking your turtle to the vet's:

http://www.redearslider.com/choose_vet.html

Here's a standard caution for anyone taking their turtle 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.

[aon]

AHH, i asked because i took my turtle in for a checkup today and it costed 50$ and all the vet did was looked at the turtle, weighted him, and that was it, he basically said everything that i already know about turtles. ahh. oh well atleast i know my turtle is fine i guess

[SpotsMama]

Well, that's worth something! Did you get a feeling that the vet knew about turtles?

[aon]

no i did not get the feeling that he knows anything about turtle lol. but he did say if my turtle was sick he could have gave it antibiotics, shots, etc. im not sure if he does know alot about turtles though, since there wasnt really anything wrong with my turtle lol

[SpotsMama]

Just a suggestion - but it would be really nice for you to know of a good vet that you have confidence in so if the day comes that you really need a vet that knows about turtles, you'll know where to go. It took me three tries to find a vet I have confidence in. Another person on here said it took him five tries. You might try a different herp vet next time you take your turtle in, for example, to get a stool sample checked for parasites. But don't wait until you have an emergency situation, because then you won't have time to fool around.

[aon]

was he supposed to take a stool sample!??!?! eh..i dont even trust him that my turtle isnt sick all he did was look at him

[SpotsMama]

Vets don't seem to automatically take a stool sample from a turtle like they do with dogs and cats, but I personally think think they should. Parasites are pretty common in turtles and, once you know about them and what kind they are, they are easy to treat. Since they can do a lot of harm over time, I don't see why it's not standard operating procedure to check for them - but it's not. So the fact that your vet didn't do it isn't in and of itself a reason not to trust him/her.

[aon]

yeah...i guess...maybe i dont trust him cause the whole thing was 10 minutes max lol.

[1981camaroz28]

sadly you are going to fine this 8 out of 10 times with vets. You are going to have to find a good vet and stay with them. Do a google search for turtle vets in your town.

AHH, i asked because i took my turtle in for a checkup today and it costed 50$ and all the vet did was looked at the turtle, weighted him, and that was it, he basically said everything that i already know about turtles. ahh. oh well atleast i know my turtle is fine i guess

[Mickey]

I was lucky. My dog vet recommended a herp vet. I really felt good about him b/c he had reptile magazines in addition to dog/cat magazines in his waiting room. He asked a lot of questions about his illness, age, background, behavior, habitat, diet, weighed him, listened to his breathing, and watched him crawl. He didn't take blood or a stool sample b/c LaVar was so little. He explained what he thought was the problem and how he planned to treat LaVar. He talked about post-treatment behavior and aftercare. LaVar was feeling much better the next day. hahaha. My non-turtle friends laugh about taking my $2.50 turtle to the vet.

[aon]

I was lucky. My dog vet recommended a herp vet. I really felt good about him b/c he had reptile magazines in addition to dog/cat magazines in his waiting room. He asked a lot of questions about his illness, age, background, behavior, habitat, diet, weighed him, listened to his breathing, and watched him crawl. He didn't take blood or a stool sample b/c LaVar was so little. He explained what he thought was the problem and how he planned to treat LaVar. He talked about post-treatment behavior and aftercare. LaVar was feeling much better the next day. hahaha. My non-turtle friends laugh about taking my $2.50 turtle to the vet.

a pet is a pet to me, i dont see why you can take a dog/cat to the vet and a turtle it'd be funny how much was your vet checkup? there isnt much reptile vet around here i guess i'll have to do some research and travel a little further next time.

[Mickey]

The vet bill was $70. $50 for the checkup and $20 for antibiotics. My bill sounds in line with your visit. This vet is about 20 miles away but well worth the visit. I think LaVar would have died if I didn't take him. That was back in January and now he's living the good life.