General Care Discussion :: Baytril Refridgerated??

[redearlover]

Hello all, I wanted to consult the EXPERTS! My "Arturtle" has shell rot.... The vet has scraped away the rotten areas and in two areas it became very deep, so we just put him on Baytril yesterday. Topicly-Nolvasan wash, and then alternating Silver Sufadiazine(mid day) and Granulex(night). Granulex he said to help speed tissue re-growth. My question is the vet said to keep the Baytril in the refridgerator but it seems HARSH to inject cold antibotics into a poor creature who likes to be warm!
Also I put him IN the water, to eat, drink and destress for about 8 hours and leave him OUT for about 16. Does this sound sufficient? Vet wanted him completely out of water, but I read and know he needs his water time!
Thank You for any advise! Oh and FYI my poor Arturtle got shell rot from my 16 year old son whom my husband thought was responsible, was not changing his water and left to live in unhealthy conditions!
Thus, he is now MY turtle, if the poor thing makes it!

[SpotsMama]

I'm so sorry to hear of Arturtle's problems. Sounds like he has a good vet and that you're trying very hard to care for him. All the things that have been prescribed are familiar except the Granulex - I haven't heard of it but it sounds like a useful drug.

On keeping the Baytril in the refrigerator, yes you need to do this, but it seems to me you could warm the tiny bit that you inject just before you inject it by holding the syringe in your hand for a few minutes. Does that sound like a do-able thing?

On the length of time in the water, 8 hours a day in the water is too much. The injured areas can't heal if they're wet that much. It won't hurt your turtle to be in dry dock for most of the day. Most of what I've read says to put an injured turtle in water for 30 minutes a day while he's healing so he can eat and drink and that's all. That's what my vet prescribed when Spot had some slight injuries to his shell.

Do you have a safe, comfortable place for him to rest when he's in dry dock? All this must be very stressful for him so it would help if he could relax while in dry dock. When I had to dry dock Spot I put him in a great big 50 gallon rubbermaid tub from Lowe's that cost me around $17. It had a secure lid and air holes in the side. I put towels in there to make it soft and give him something to burrow into if he wanted.

Be sure and keep Arturtle warm (80 to 82 degrees), out of drafts and very clean.

Good luck. Keep us posted on how it goes.

[SpotsMama]

By the way, when I had to keep Spot in dry dock for long periods of the day, I put a little bowl of water in with him so if he really wanted to he could get a drink. I don't know whether he ever used it or not. The bowl had to be small enough that he couldn't climb into it - that would have defeated the purpose of the dry dock - and I had to sort of wrap a towel around it to keep him from tipping it over. I don't know what size your turtle is (Spot's 7" long) but if he's very small you'd have to use a very very small little bowl to keep him from climbing into it. Maybe a plastic bottle cap or jar lid glued to the bottom of the dry dock box would work. I wouldn't use a metal bottle cap because he might cut himself on it.

[megcornell]

I agree with spotsmama on the dry docking length. It may seem harsh but it's better to have arturtle dry and healing then to lengthen his recovery by giving too much water time.
When I had to inject my turtle with antibiotics they too were kept in the fridge. I believe that instruction is just for safe storage of the drug, you can let the injection warm up for a few minutes before injecting it.

[industrial_girl_2000]

Can you fill the needle then hold the syringe in your warm hands for a few minutes? The amount that you are injecting won't be that much & should warm quickly (within a few minutes).

I would listen to Spotsmama's suggestions regarding dry-docking since she has had to do this in the past.

I would also never re-use the same water when you allow the turtle to swim in it. Change the water every time you put him in the water for eating/drinking so that he doesn't get any kind of additional infection.

Keep us posted! Sounds like your turtle is in good hands!

[redearlover]

Thank You both! I will warm his syringe in my hand, good idea! I will also limit his water time.
For dry dock, I have a Arturtle also in a 50 gallon rubbermaid tub and I have both uv and basking lamps over him. He has a "rock" cave to hide in and for water I bought a dish for a hermit crab that is shaped like a swimming pool, palm tree included. Kinda cute! He does go in and drink and sometimes sits in there but the water is too shallow to touch his owies so it has worked out pretty good. He is only about 2 1/2 inches long.
I forgot the vet said to give him cod liver oil, to help bump up his immunity, to help aid in healing. I wasn't sure if he would just take a lick or I thought maybe I could soak his pellets in it?

[industrial_girl_2000]

I would soak the pellets in it! Or mix it in with some kind of mushy food like cooked sweet potato (if your baby eats sweet potato). Feed by hand. He's not big enough to really latch on to your finger yet (Once he gets bigger, you can feed him mushy foods with a spoon to save your fingers).

[Safdar]

Wonderful, Im sure hell get better!

Ya just dip the pellets in it and let it dry

[redearlover]

You say feed by hand, but I thought their head had to be in the water in order to eat? Is this not true? I know box turtles eat on land,but I thought RES had to be underwater?
I doubt he will eat cooked sweet potatoes but I'll try. He is very picky!

[megcornell]

If you haven't been feeding by hand, perhaps now isn't the time to start. It can take time and effort to get that kind of bond with a turtle, and while that's fine with a healthy turtle, for now if he's eating on his own, I'd just put the pellets in the water like you usually do after letting them soak in the cod oil. I'd just be worried that he may be hesitant to eat by hand at first and when a turtle is sick it's more important that they eat rather than how. But, you're right, turtles need water to swallow, so keep feeding him in water.

[SpotsMama]

Sounds like Arturtle has a neat little dry dock habitat! He probably doesn't even know he's in the hospital!

[industrial_girl_2000]

You say feed by hand, but I thought their head had to be in the water in order to eat? Is this not true? I know box turtles eat on land,but I thought RES had to be underwater?
I doubt he will eat cooked sweet potatoes but I'll try. He is very picky!

when I say feed by hand, I mean that the turtle is in the water and you HOLD food down in front of his face so he can eat it (as opposed to just dropping the food in the tank and walking away).

[marisa]

You do not have to have the water deep to feed him. It just has to be a comfortable height so that he can easily swallow the food. For my RES that's not even the height of his shell.