Urgent Care

Posted: Sat Sep 28, 2019 6:12 pm **Turtle Injured Eye**

Posted: Sun Sep 29, 2019 5:27 am **Re: Turtle Injured Eye**

Hi Jessie, I agree with your assessment. It could be an injury, possibly an infection and I would rule out something dietary or UV related. I really can't think of any home treatments for an injury. Does he bask often?

The Zoo Med drops does say it "opens and cleans inflamed turtle eyes" so maybe there is some anti-inflammatory medication in there. As for vets, maybe look under "exotics" or even avian. Rehabbers might also be able to take a look.

Good luck, Angelo looks like a sweet turtle!

Posted: Sun Sep 29, 2019 9:40 am **Re: Turtle Injured Eye**

Hi Steve. Thank you so much for your reply! I adopted Angelo a little over a year ago. At the time, he had shell rot, and was living in less than ideal conditions. I didn’t know much about turtles at the time, but I have read and researched so much over the past year, I feel like Angelo is in a good habitat and I do take very good care of him. He is the absolute sweetest turtle, and he looks so much better and healthier than he did when I got him. He had these little pock holes all over his shell, and you really couldn’t see any of his coloring. Although the pock holes have gotten so much smaller (he shed several layers of scutes) there are still there a little, but he looks to be in excellent health other than his poor eye! He’s 4.5 inches long, but I have no idea how old he is. I think he’s probably 3 - 4 years old?

Angelo goes crazy when I walk in the room; begging for food. He swims back and forth so fast and “doggie paddles” at the top so much he splashes water out of the tank. It’s the funniest thing I’ve ever seen. He eats from my hand, lets me hold him and pet his head and neck and has not given me any hard time about putting drops on his eye, but he does keep trying to paw at it; obviously because it’s bothering him.

He does bask often... not so much when I’m in the room, but when I come in the morning to flip his lights from night to day, he’s usually sleeping in his topper. Otherwise he sleeps underwater on the little landing pad under the topper. I do come in and catch him basking during the day also, but as soon as he hears me come in the room, he slides into the water right away to beg for food. Lol. I was reading about some bulbs causing UV conjunctivitis in the eyes, and I do believe that he is using a Zoo Med Mercury Vapor bulb. The reports that I found on this were from 2007/2008, and Zoo Med has apparently made some changes since these cases were found. I don’t think it could be that though because it’s only one eye? Do you think it could be that? What do you think about the placement of the light? Is it too close to the basking area? I tested the temp and it was 89, which seems ok, but it’s the UV overdose that I’m worried about. I do leave his day lamp on from about 7:15am until 11:00pm before I switch lights. Do you think this is too long?

My two hatchlings are adorable, but they seem a little scared and hide from me when I come in. It’s like, oh no! Here she comes! Scramble! Lol. The opposite of what Angelo does. I haven’t been successful with getting them to eat any veggies. Actually, they won’t even eat the hatchling pellets that I got for them, but LOVE the dehydrated blood worms. I feed them outside of the tank in a little bowl (each in their own bowl), but they won’t eat anything but the bloodworms! If I just put pellets in, they don’t touch them! They did eat the super tiny mealworms I gave them, but no blueberries, or cooked carrots; nothing. I put one of those turtle calcium blocks in their tank so the calcium is in the water along with a small piece of turtle bone, but they have no interest in that. Any suggestions? I don’t want them to get a vitamin deficiency. I’ve been doing a once a week salt water soak in really shallow water (just enough to cover their shell, but their head is not under water) and Vitamin A eye drops once a week to keep them from getting any infections.

Sorry for the really long response. I’m a little excited to have found someone to talk to about turtles.

Oh, and I did find a local reptile vet and sent a bunch of info and photos about Angelo, but they are closed today. I’m hoping they can get him in tomorrow, but today I’m going to continue with the drops.

Again, thanks for your response!

Jessie

Posted: Mon Sep 30, 2019 8:43 am **Re: Turtle Injured Eye**

It was mainly the [compact] florescent lights causing the conjunctivitis. When it happened to my turtle, turning that lamp off and having her outside (under sunlight) would help. Your lamp is on for longer than it needs to be. Does he bask thoughout this time period? How long have you had the bulb?

How long have you had the hatchlings? Seems like they know how to get what they want.

Posted: Sat Oct 05, 2019 11:37 am **Re: Turtle Injured Eye**

Hi Steve,

Jessie again. I am VERY worried about Angelo. Shortly after I messaged you, I got in contact with a vet in the area that accepts exotic animals. He’s not a “herp vet” in particular, but probably has some limited knowledge about turtles.

Angelo’s other eye started swelling closed, so then I really got concerned and took him to see the vet last Tuesday. I asked my husband to get him out of the tank and put him in a clean box because I was barely going to get him to the appointment on time. Angelo has been laying on the bottom of his tank inside of his shell. Not swimming at all, or eating. Both eyes swollen and now I can really tell that he’s ill. He’s acting ill. Strangely, when my husband took him out to get him ready for me, he was out of the tank for 30 minutes and the swelling in his eyes went down and his eyes were open! He was trying to run around all over the place! So when I get him to the vet, he looks like a healthy little turtle; really active! You can tell that his eyes weren’t up to par, but he had them open and was all over the place at the vet’s office! He tells me it’s a Vitamin A deficiency and I need to change his diet; start giving him fresh salmon once a week, egg yolks once a week, chicken liver, mustard greens and he can still have his worm and shrimp and pellets; just need more variation. He gave me some antibiotic ointment for his eyes, and that was it. I was relieved and stop at the grocery store on my way home to get the food items he mentioned.

As soon as I got home and placed Angelo back in his tank, boom! Eyes swelled, closed up and worse, he doesn’t swim! It’s like his body was paralyzed in the water! His arms and legs were out and he just sinks to the bottom of his tank! Totally freaked me out! He goes inside of his shell and just stays there like he can’t move! My husband is convinced there is something in the water, but his water is really clean!

Like I mentioned before, Angelo had shell rot from poor husbandry when I got him. He was in a 30 gallon tank, and that’s all I had to keep him in when I got him. There was literally nothing in the tank but water. No gravel or substrate (which is probably fine, but seems so boring for the turtle), and he had a Zoo Med canister turtle filter. The light was a clip light (cheap aluminum) with a blue bulb (probably incandescent but no heat!!), and one of those turtle docks that suction to the side of the tank. (I got him from my brother, and I’m sure he took the advice provided by the pet store he got him from.) My brother told me that he ate a pinch of Reptomin sticks and worms twice a week; nothing else. I felt so sorry for the turtle as it just seemed cruel leaving him in this glass enclosure. What a boring life! Right away, I could tell that this filter was not strong enough. I was scooping poop off the bottom every day. So I just went to town; bought new gravel, fluorite for live plants, got the Penn Plax turtle topper so he could get out of the water to completely dry, got a double sided lamp with infrared heat for night and mercury vapor for day, got some live plants acceptable for turtles and a high power Penn Plax Cascade 1500 canister filter. What a difference! That filter was kicking butt in that little tank! Never once saw any poop on the bottom of the tank, or debris or anything! I just kept adding more water when it evaporated. Angelo loves his plants so much that he ate ALL of them! Even the ones that were supposed to taste bad to turtles like java fern, moneywort, and I had a whole bunch of hornwort! I got floating lettuce and he picked away at that until it was gone! My brother said he wouldn’t eat any veggies, but after that, I started giving him romaine lettuce regularly, but I didn’t replace all of the live plants. It was too expensive to do that, but Angelo seemed as happy as a lark! Probably 6 months go by and I think all is well until I am dumping in new water as it had evaporated and I see something really tiny in the water, so I get a closer look and there are a bunch of these teeny tiny worms in the water! Thin as a hair and white squiggly little things! I freak out at that point because I didn’t know what it was (detritus worms), and I take the whole tank down. Rinsed out the rocks and changed filter pads, think everything is good to go! Turn on the filter and bam, little worms come out of the filter tubes back into the tank! I am so mad, but start looking up info about what it is, and find out that these are harmless and show up when there is too much waste from food (strangely, Angelo wouldn’t eat ANY pellets or sticks, so I just started giving him wax worms and meal worms (with calcium powder) because he gobbled those down! I also got these frozen turtle blocks that he loved so I would rotate worms with the frozen turtle food. He was still eating lettuce, so I thought he was good, but there was never food left on the bottom of the tank. In any case, I learned that I should be cleaning the gravel and replacing the water and the worms shouldn’t be an issue, so I start doing that every week, but the worms were MULTIPLYING and FAST! I take the tank down again and pour boiling hot water on the gravel and rinse them all out, clean out the filter tubes, replace all pads, and put it back together. At first, I saw no worms but I was looking hard. Two days later, I see one. I scoop it out with my net and pray that was it. Then I see a few more and a few more, so I stir up the gravel and yep! They are still there! The boiling water didn’t kill them! I wanted to cry. I decided I would vacuum the gravel and change water every other day and hope I could keep them to a minimum, but not joking, within DAYS, these things were multiplying like crazy. I first saw these tiny white dots and I thought they were eggs, so I am vacuuming the gravel and changing out 75% water every other day, and sometimes every day, but to no avail! The worms still multiplied and I couldn’t handle it! So I bought a brand new 55 gallon aquarium (which is what Angelo should have been in to begin with), new filter tubes, pads, new turtle pebbles, all new EVERYTHING. Guess what. NO WORMS. I knew right then that I was going to do a 50% water change every week because I NEVER wanted to deal with worms EVER again! So I am very diligent with vacuuming his pebbles and replacing 50% of the water every single week.

All of that was to say that his tank water is clean. I tested it; no ammonia, no nitrites or nitrates, pH at 8.2. Water seems perfect. I cannot figure out why the water was making Angelo paralyzed??? I think maybe he’s going into hibernation mode??? The next evening, I scoop him out with a net because he’s not coming up for food and his eyes are swollen shut. I drop some Fluker’s eye rinse on each eye, Zoo Med eye drop for Vitamin A and apply the antibiotic to his lids. Slowly but surely, the swelling goes down and he opens his eyes. He seems so lethargic and definitely NOT ok. I decide that I’m not putting him back in the water until his eyes are healed because he seems to do so much better outside of the water. I set up a big Rubbermaid tub with a towel on the bottom and put his lamp overhead of that. I lowered the bulbs because I read that higher temps will help to beat the infection. I start reading about turtle illness trying to find something about water paralyzing the turtle with a Vitamin A deficiency, and come across a page that talks respiratory infections, and yep. That’s what it is! I am diligently doing a 20 minute soak in shallow water enough to cover his tail and half of his shell, but he hasn’t eaten in a week. He’s so lethargic and when I got home late last night, his eyes are swollen closed and he’s not moving. I am just so panicked and scared. I’m trying so hard to help him and he can’t die on me!!! He’s been such a healthy, happy turtle and I am devastated that this is happening! Since he isn’t eating, I am trying to get Vitamin A to him somehow but it’s probably not doing any good... along with the Zoo Med eye drops, I’m squeezing a cod liver oil capsule into his soak praying that it’s getting into his skin somehow. Last night, he was barely moving and I cried. I wrapped him in a little towel and put him under the light to keep him warm and I slept next to the tub. I texted the vet and begged him to get him in today. I woke up to Angelo clawing the side of the Rubbermaid both eyes are OPEN and he’s actively running around in the tub; of course trying to escape. He has a little white stuff on the corners of his mouth and I’m assuming that it’s mucus from the RI. The vet is getting him in at 3:30 today, but if you have ever dealt with an RI before, I would appreciate any advice that you can give. I’m hoping the vet will give him a Vitamin A shot and antibiotic shot today, but how long does this take before he will get better? I’m dry docking him until he’s well. I don’t think the water is helpful at all and probably made it worse. How do you think he got the RI? Do you think the tank has bad bacteria somehow? I’m going to change his water today even though he’s not in his tank for awhile, but is there anything I can do to make sure his water is good? I just cleaned his filter two weekends ago, and don’t want to kill off any good bacteria. I just put some of those BioHome media in one of the trays, too and I bought more for the next filter change. I’d like the bottom tray to be the course sponge with floss on top, but the rest of the trays filled with BioHome. There’s no way that the BioHome could have caused the illness, right? Whatever I need to change about his environment, please let me know! I’m willing to do anything to keep my turtles healthy! The babies are doing great, but I need to get Angelo well and never want this to happen again! I don’t know what I could be doing wrong? I will be providing more variance in their diet (babies are already eating more variety!!!). Could this have been caused by vitamin A deficiency alone???

Steve, I am SO SORRY for the book long message. If you cannot tell, I love my animals and want to give you as much info as possible so you can help if you have ANY advice. I am going to the vet, but an experienced turtle OWNER will always know more in my opinion. The vet may have knowledge about the animal, but not the experience to go with it.

Thank you for reading this (if you have), and hope you have a great day.
Jessie

Posted: Sun Oct 06, 2019 9:04 am **Re: Turtle Injured Eye**

I would think that most of the vet info is generic info. Do you have anything else in the water, like fish? For the cod liver oil, you can apply it directly to the eye lids. A little of the white stuff could just be from hard water dried up.

I would just dry dock him and see how it goes from there.

Posted: Sun Oct 06, 2019 12:40 pm **Re: Turtle Injured Eye**

I didn’t mention this in my message previously (can you believe that! Lol), but my brother told me that he loved feeder fish every once in while and I should get him some. So, I picked up some rosy minnows from the pet store; I think 10. Within the first two days, 7 of them were gone. He left 3 of these things in the tank for at least a month, then I woke up to find two rosys’ left. He left two roses in the tank for MONTHS! Like 6 months, and then out of the blue, I woke up in the morning and they were both gone. Apparently he decided that he was hungry for fish! But it was about that time that I noticed the worms, and I am convinced that the feeder fish brought the worms into his tank. I will NEVER put feeder fish in tank with the turtle again. I am telling you, the worms were a nightmare that I do not ever want to deal with again in my lifetime! There are no fish in the tank with Angelo. I also thought that maybe he enjoyed having some companionship with the minnows in the tank which is why he left them there for so long (and it’s why I thought he needed a turtle companion). Maybe just to give them something more to do so they aren’t bored if for no other reason. Do you put more than one turtle together? Do you recommend that I find a turtle companion for Angelo (same size) or leave him alone since he’s been alone for so long? Obviously he has to get well first.

The vet gave him a Vitamin A shot and an antibiotic shot yesterday and I have to administer antibiotic shot every three days and bring him back in two weeks. He said not to worry about him not eating right now, but that will be the biggest indicator of when Angelo is well enough to put back in his tank. Of course, when I brought Angelo into the vet, he was running around like crazy. Eyes are wide open and literally no sign of sickness! The RI can’t be really bad because his nose isn’t running consistently (only saw it wet a couple of times), he’s not wheezing or anything, but there was this white mucus coming out of the corners of his mouth and I’ve seen a little from his nose I think. It’s definitely not from the hard water. He hasn’t been in his tank since Wednesday night, and the white stuff is a thicker than water consistency. Not only is it coming from his mouth, but when I picked him up one day last week to administer the eye drops, I thought he peed on my leg, but there was a white mucousy spot on my pants (sorry to be gross). It was about the size of a nickel. I didn’t know what it was because it wasn’t poop or pee? It had to be mucous from the RI.
All day yesterday, Angelo acted like he was well. Eyes were open, he was actively running around and I was happy to be seeing improvement! Last night, I went to give him his nightly soak (I’ve been doing it twice a day; morning and evening - should I only do it once per day?), and when I put him in the bucket, he was actively trying to get out. I coated one of his dried river shrimp with cod liver oil because I thought I may be able to get him to eat something. I only put about an inch or inch and a half of water in the bucket, so not a lot. He had no interest in the shrimp and kept trying to get out. (I’ve NEVER been able to get him to eat anything outside of his tank though. I feed the babies in a separate container so I can keep their water clean, but Angelo is already set in his ways). I thought that I would leave him alone and maybe he would eat the shrimp, so I went downstairs and left him alone for about 20 - 30 minutes. When I came back, he’s just sitting there with his legs tucked in and his head underwater (I didn’t think the water was deep enough for that!), but his eyes were closed and he was tired and not moving around at all when I took him out. I put in his eye drops and antibiotic ointment and put him under the infrared light for the night. I thought that this morning I would find him actively running around again, but his eyes are closed again and he’s not active at all! Do you think he’s just tired from all of the activity yesterday and his immune is down so he’s tired, or do you think that it’s from being under the water??? OR, could it be from the antibiotic shot? How much water should I put in the bucket, how many times per day, and for how long to make sure he’s not getting dehydrated? I’ve read once a day for 5 minutes, and twice a day for 30 minutes, so I don’t know which is correct? The vet told me to put a couple of inches of water in half of the Rubbermaid so he can get in the water when he wants to, but after seeing what happened in just an inch of water, I’m not giving him any opportunity to sit in the water. I will soak him as necessary, but he needs to stay dry until he’s better, BUT, I’m just reading about the medication prescribed and it’s important to stay hydrated, which is most likely the reason why the vet told me to put water in the tub, but I am not comfortable with it. The antibiotic shot is Amikacin (250MG administered in .01ML injections in the back leg). He also told me to stay off of the internet and ask him if I have any questions. He does seem very knowledgeable and he sees a lot of reptiles; not sure how many of those are turtles. Please let me know about the soak and what you’d recommend. For the cod liver oil; should I put this on his eyelids before the antibiotic ointment? Once per day or twice? Do I just squeeze some out onto his eyes while they are closed? Or should I make sure his eyes are open? Should I apply the cod liver oil instead of the Vitamin A drops? Sorry for all of the questions!

Lastly, my baby turtles do not seem to bask at all! I never see them outside of the water, and I’m home all weekend. Should I be worried about that, too?

I thought turtles were so easy to care for, but I’m turning into a worry wart! I read A LOT of info about turtles online and maybe it was better when I was ignorant of turtle illnesses! Angelo seemed perfect until this and now I’m probably obsessing over it!
Here’s photos that I took today; close up of Angelo’s tank (which is empty for the time being), but as you can see, there is no debris on the bottom of the tank and the water is crystal clear. The vet said Angelo got the RI by having a low immune system from the Vitamin A deficiency which then allows the bacteria in. The water most likely made him get the RI after the illness started with the swollen eyes / Vitamin deficiency, which makes sense to me. I’ve also included a picture of Angelo this morning with his eyes closed; very lethargic and sleeping.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/184705186 ... 1218712658

I’m a writer, so I’ll always probably give too much information.

. Thanks for providing your opinion.

Jessie

Posted: Sun Oct 06, 2019 9:00 pm **Re: Turtle Injured Eye**

Are you sure they were detritus worms? Usually it's fly larvae, on rarer occasions it's parasites (introduced by fish). You can use a feeding tub if you want to feed his something particularly messy. I do this when treating them to fruit, tuna, or boiled chicken meat. As for companions, they do well alone. Males can be a bit more aggressive, so the basic rule is that you should only add another turtle if you are able to keep them separated if necessary.

The Vitamin A (or multivitamin) shot is something most vets predictably prescribe, which I find annoying. Many antibiotics will suppress his appetite, but he might go for fish? When was the last time it was offered to him? As for the spot left behind... it might also have been semen or urates. For the sake of not stressing him out, try to feed him in his tank. I would do 2 or 3 soaks (supervised), maybe one in his regular tank and another in the container with some unflavored Pedialyte (1:1 with water, and just enough so he can soak and drink). How long have you been using the eye drops/cod liver? At this point I would probably stop with those. How long have you been dry docking him? As for the change in behavior, I think he was just stressed from all the activity. Poor guy must be real tired.

What's the basking temperature for your babies? What are you using to measure temperatures? What kind of light is that in the bin?

Posted: Mon Oct 07, 2019 1:32 am **Re: Turtle Injured Eye**

Hello! Yes, I am pretty positive that they were detritus worms. I have no idea how else I would have gotten these worms in the tank to begin with if it didn’t come with the feeder fish; UNLESS they came in with the live plants and those Rosie’s were eating the worms so I didn’t notice them until the fish were gone! That is quite possible! Either way, I do not ever want to deal with those things again!
What kind of fruit do your turtles like? Do you just have RES turtles or any other type? The only fruit that Angelo has eaten for me was a couple of blueberries. I’ve given the babies a blueberry and a strawberry cut up into tiny little pieces and they both ate some! I gave them sweet potato, fresh raw salmon in really tiny pieces, raw chicken liver in really tiny pieces, mustard greens and romaine (which they do not eat...), dried bloodworms, hatchling pellets (the Southern Painted won’t touch these but my map turtle seems to like everything!), and I’ve even given some egg yolk pieces. I’ve tried canned carrots and peas because they are soft, but that was a no go! I also get frozen turtle food that comes in blocks, and the map (Leo) ate most of it, but again my little SP wouldn’t touch it. They have both gotten live small meal worms with some vitamin powder, and I’ll do calcium powder sometimes too. They have a turtle bone (tiny piece) in their tank but they don’t touch it. I’m trying to follow the vets orders and feed them a wide variety. They seem to be really healthy right now, but if you have ideas of other foods I should try, let me know! Oh, and I do have dehydrated river shrimp too; Leo will eat them, but not Raphie! Leo is a much better eater and much less picky! It must be the painteds because Angelo is picky too! He has been eating more and more things for me though but I wish he would eat in a feeder tub! Is there a special feeder tub I can buy somewhere? Right now, the babies eat in a small Tupperware container. I do not intend to feed them in their tank other than a treat like the river shrimp.
Their set up is pretty cool if you ask me.

I got the TetraFauna Viquarium with the little water fall flowing through the land area, but half the 30 gallon tank is land and half of it is water. They have plenty of hiding places (they like to hide), Anacharis plants (live) tied to a lava rock (Raphie likes sitting on top of the leaves), I have a Christmas moss coconut shell bridge in the water and a fake red plant, plus a little cave thing. The dry area has pebbles but the top layer is fluorite (tried to plant grass in it, but it died). Some driftwood pieces and some flat rocks. I use the same mercury vapor bulb for the babies that I use for Angelo but theirs is on a clip light so I can move it up and down. The bulb is a Repti Zoo 100W full Spectrum UVA/UVB sun lamp; self ballasted. I swap out the Repti Zoo for a black 75W infared moonlight heat lamp. I haven’t tested the temp for a week or two maybe, but I think it was testing between 85 - 89 degrees. I use Zoo Med reptile terrarium electric thermometer. Is this one accurate?? Or should I use something else? It’s simple to use, so I like it, but I hope the temps are correct! If the babies temps should be lowered, please let me know what they should be!
I soaked Angelo tonight for about 25 minutes; supervised with only like a quarter of an inch of water. He put his face in it (looked like he was taking a drink, I HOPE!). At first, he wouldn’t even move. It’s like he’s just sleeping. He’s so lethargic! He’s been sleeping all day today; not active at all! It must have really taken a lot out of him yesterday running around all day, going to the vet and getting two shots! The vet only gave him the vitamin A shot because I was worried that he wasn’t eating anything so I couldn’t get any Vitamin A into his system. He told me to take the cod liver oil and soak q-tip and rub it along his mouth. I did that, but felt like it was pointless. I tried to give him fresh salmon on Tuesday night, so 5 days ago. He acted like it wasn’t even there! I tried meal worms too because he loves those, but he won’t eat anything! I’ll try in his tank when he’s less lethargic... the last time I put him in his tank, he just sank straight to the bottom and didn’t move. Just like he did in one quarter inch of water! I’m too scared to put him in his tank like this! Maybe on a day that I can tell he’s feeling better. I didn’t put any drops or antibiotic on his eyes tonight. Just soaked him and put him back under his light. I am heartbroken over the poor little guy! I just want him to start feeling better! I hope he’s not so weak from not eating! No food = no energy! I will try the Pedialite! Thanks for the tip for that! Maybe that will help him get some energy!
Here are some pics of the hatchling set up. I took the photos in a dark room so the plants in their tank make the water appear green in the photos. It isn’t.

Some pics of the hatchlings too, and one of my BFF Angelo right before he got sick. I want him to get back to himself! We probably all think we have a special turtle, but I do think he’s special. I’ve read that turtles don’t have personality, and that’s just B.S. Angelo comes when I say his name and he’s in his turtle topper. He’s friendly and funny as heck. People that say things like that must not have a good relationship with their turtle. Angelo knows I take care of him and I think he is happy to see me. Whether he thinks he’s getting food or not, I like it.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/184705186 ... 1226146491

Going to bed now. I hope he’s more active tomorrow!
Jessie

Posted: Mon Oct 07, 2019 11:05 pm **Re: Turtle Injured Eye**

I only have RES. They like banana, carrots, strawberries, cucumber, and blueberries. Other popular fruits and veggies with forum users (back when forums were what social media is now) are sweet potatoes, yams (lightly steamed) and red bell pepper. For meats, they like chicken (boiled), tuna, boiled egg whites, and live minnows. There's this thing called Can O' Crickets (Mini) that can be a good treat too. There is no feeder tub for sale that I know of but I have a sink setup just for them. If they are reluctant to eat, feed them in their normal tank. They're more than willing to eat the messy treats in a feeding tub, just make sure you don't overfed them.

If the Zoo Med thermometer comes with a wired probe, I don't think they are consistently accurate. I like to have 2 differenent kinds of thermometers on hand... an infrared temp gun and some of the lcd sticker thermometers. Keeping the water in upper 70s is fine.

I forgot to mention, when you do the Pedialyte soak, add in some crumbled up pellets in there. Hopefully he will eat some when he drinks.

You have some beautiful turtles. Painteds are probably my favorite in terms of looks.

Posted: Tue Oct 08, 2019 12:18 am **Re: Turtle Injured Eye**

Steve, I am in a panic. I tried to send you a message earlier today because I am SO scared that Angelo is going to die. I am doing everything that I possibly can to bring him back up to health, but he seems to have worsened since he got the antibiotic and vitamin A shot on Saturday! He was so lively that day and seemed like he was possibly starting to recover! Is it possible that the antibiotic or Vitamin A shot could be having the opposite effect? Of course, now I started reading about the Vitamin A shot causing toxicity and I’m so scared that the vitamin A shot was bad for him now! I thought it would possibly help him feel better because he isn’t eating (or moving, or opening his eyes!). I’m supposed to administer another antibiotic shot tomorrow, but I am petrified! Should i do it, or not do it???!!! The vet wanted me to bring him in tonight, but I didn’t because I don’t think he can do anything for him right now! I soaked him three times today and ordered the Pedialite from Amazon (Walgreens only carries the flavored variety). I thought it was coming today - same day Prime shipping, but it’s coming tomorrow. I really hate this!!!! I want my turtle to get well, and I don’t know if he’s going to?! Do you think it could be pneumonia??? Seriously, I barely saw any wetness from his nose at all. Just the tiny bit of white mucous by the corners of his mouth, but his eyes are still not better (seems like there is a little crust, but not much). The scariest thing of all is the lethargy!!! Not moving. Not opening his eyes even when I pick him up; he just lays there with his eyes closed! Does he really have a chance of recovery here??? Have your turtles ever gotten a RI??? How many do you have? I love the RES too, but I adopted a Western Painted (Angelo), and he’s the best, so I got a Southern Painted because they stay on the smaller side and I love Angelo’s personality. The Ouachita map stays on the smaller side as well and makes a nice community turtle. His personality really cracks me up. He’s so chill compared to the Painted turtles! I’m glad you think they are pretty. I was really kinda bummed when I got Raphie because she’s supposed to have a red racing stripe and it’s yellow! I love her just the same. She’s adorable.

Just waiting on the Pedialite is killing me. I’ve been reading really terrible outcomes about turtles with RI.... I’m praying to God that Angelo stays with me. He’s only like 4 years old. Way too young to pass away! What are the chances that he will recover and how long does it typically take? All from a vitamin deficiency and I thought I fed him well!

Talking to another turtle owner through an old forum site is just giving me some peace of mind. Someone that can relate to my issues and understand what I’m going through here. I truly appreciate the tips. I’ll get the thermometers that you’ve recommended. I still can’t feed Angelo in his tank though... he just sinks to the bottom like he’s dead and goes inside of his shell! :’( I will crumble up some pellets and put it in the Pedialite solution tomorrow night. Pray for my little guy. He needs it!

Posted: Tue Oct 08, 2019 1:39 pm **Re: Turtle Injured Eye**

Sorry to hear he's not doing any better. It's not likely that the antibiotic or Vitamin A shot would have such a negative impact, that quickly. I'm not sure if has pneumonia, these things are not easy to diagnose and a lot of people just jump to that diagnosis or RI. The Pedialite is to help, it won't cure what's ailing him.

Urgent Care :: Turtle Injured Eye

Who is online