General Care Discussion :: Took Squirt to the Vet

[starscollided]

ok, so as most know i rescued squirt from a bad home and he has been getting a bit better but after 2 months of eye drops from the vet nothing happened.

So i finally drove to a herp vet this morning - - about half a tank of gas and $128 in vet fees later the verdict is that he is still sick and we don't quite understand why
Squirt is at or over a year old and hes 2.5-3inches tops and weighs next to nothing. The vet says that he is anemic, has a vitamin A def. and needs more calcium and protein. He says that i should feed him 10-12 pellets a day and make sure he gets everything else that he needs. He got a shot with all the vitamins he needs etc. He also wants me to up the water temp from 78 to 80 - (The basking area is around or slightly above 90 which is fine)

Over the last 7months that i have had him he has been eating like 4 guppies a month getting shrimp like every other week and 7 pellets MWFSn and 3 pellets Tu.Tr.S - He eats romaine lettuce and the plants in his tank and he has had cuttle bone (he doesn't like it much i don't think though)

The vet and i dont understand why he is anemic - but i am going to up what i feed him a little bit and give him a few more rosies. Now that he has that shot things should start to get better but i am going to keep putting the eyedrops with Vit. A in his eyes. we want him to grow but not OverGrow so its a matter of keeping a really good eye on him


Just thought i would share my vet experience

[TheComputerGremlin]

I'd recommend cutting out the real meat and bumping up the pellets, which contain more vitamins and minerals than what he gets from the fish. Also, romaine isn't recommended to be fed as the only lettuce, it's an okay lettuce, but leafy greens and dandelion greens are better for him. They should also contain more vitamins and minerals that he's lacking.

[Vtolds]

That is a lot of live fish a month even for a much larger turtle. You should also be putting cuttle bone in if you are not already. Did the Vet tell you to keep giving the Vitamin A drop? if he didn't I would stop doing the drops and just do the shot. You don't want him to overdose on Vitamin A.

[industrial_girl_2000]

Agreed with computergremlin about feeding more pellets.

Also, a few earthworms couldn't hurt either, for variety (plus they are high in iron, among other minerals!). I used to dig for them every time we had a rainstorm in the summer & Sheba just LOVES them! Don't just feed one....feed several at a time & don't worry if the worms are big/thick. Turts are well-equipped to deal with thick juicy worms, LOL.

Feed in a separate pan of water....worms are messy, LOL.

[imderanged]

I don't mean to second guess the vet, but was a fecal sample run? The first thing that comes to my mind when I hear that ANY animal is having trouble putting on weight is "parasites".

[starscollided]

a sample was run and there are no parasites - he also took the water and sampled that as well as looked @ it for any harmful bacteria etc.
All that came back AOK

The vet said to keep the drops for about another week or two and then stop- -
To sub. for the fish etc. i went out and bought a 'wet food' to use until things get back on track - they are like a multivitamin for him which the vet said sounds like a great idea.

As for earth worms? like the skinny ones or like the big fat night crawlers - - If the night crawlers are ok then ill feed him the leftovers from when i go fishing
Im going to try feeding him some other greens too - that sounds like a good idea but he doesnt show any interest in them at all he just pushes them around and then leaves them alone - same with the cuttle bone i have in there. I even tried putting some calcium powder on a cricket but he doesnt seem to have any interest in the crickets either.

[Bascomb]

Your turtle has a good chance of surviving as he is eating. I would cut back on the protein and up on the pellets, calcium and veggies. Aside from all the advice I would suggest that you keep the water super clean. He does not need any other sicknesses to contend with. b.