General Care Discussion :: My Maya can't climb ?

[NicoleBell]

Hello everyone!
I am a new RES owner. I have never owned a turtle before. My Maya is a rescue turtle she was abused by her previous owners. She is about 5 years old and has bad soft shell, because the previous owner only fed her fish food! (I have only had her for two days. )

Anyways.. I have two floating dock tied together for her ( she is really big and I went to 3 stores they only had small or medium) All morning she has been trying to get on her dock but she can't seem to climb up! she will get her front up and desperately try for minutes to get up but can't seem to climb. I have tried to put her on the dock but she just goes back into the water!
is there anything I do??

oh then she just swims around touching the glass with face like she wants out!

[SpotsMama]

Is she trying to climb up the end of the dock that bends down into the water? Or is she trying to climb up the side, where her back feet have nothing to push against?

[NicoleBell]

The end of the dock that bends down into the water.

[SpotsMama]

Maybe she hasn't had time to learn how to climb the ramp yet and will figure it out in a day or two. If she's never had one before that's a distinct possibility.

When she crawls around on the ground is she able to lift her body up off the ground or does she drag herself along? In your avatar, she looks alert but like she might be resting as she's got her back legs splayed out. A healthy turtle will pull her back legs under her body and usually lifts her body up off the ground when walking.

It's possible she has weakness that's related to her soft shell condition though she doesn't look to me like she has metabolic bone disease. Or her legs may have been injured in some way. Does she seem to poop ok?

On the soft shell situation by the way, it can be very serious. Here's some info on it from an authoritative source:

"Soft spots on shell are the result of dietary problems. Ensure that you turtle is getting their species-specific diet. Also be sure that the softening of the shell is not the onset of a fungal infection.

Ensure that your turtle's diet if rich in calcium and that your UVB light is still producing UVB waves. This condition should heal itself without the aid of medications, but if it persists without improvement, a trip to a qualified vet is in order."

[octpusgirl8]

That kind of dock doesn't have a very long ramp that extends into the water. Most turtles don't have a problem with it but it could be that since she's been neglected all those years she doesn't have as much strength. You could try ordering an acrylic basking ramp online like this one: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/p ... &N=0&Nty=1
In the mean time, maybe you could put something under the ramp that she could use for leverage?

[NicoleBell]

I don't think she had much of anything before, so I will give her some time.

As for her walking. She does drag and every few minutes it sounds like her shell is hitting the ground. Here is a picture of her walking around in my picture she was sitting like that.
http://img159.imagevenue.com/img.php?im ... _623lo.JPG

I was told by a work friends that she has soft shell Here some more pictures of her shell, I feel bad for her it looks bad. She does have vita shell on, but I was told to use a cuttlebone not vita shell.

She is going to vet next week to be look at.
poor Maya!

[kmichael55]

I don't know the exact reason, but I have heard vitashell is bad...maybe someone else knows why. I would stick with the cuttlebone, and leafy green vegetables also provide calcium.

[NicoleBell]

Thanks, My vet just called me to go over basic care and asked me to stop putting the vita shell on.

[Bumby's Mom]

The reason she is dragging the legs and clinking the shell (is probably) because she is walking on a hard smooth floor. My adult Painted does the same thing when I have her walking on a wood or tile floor. Do you have any carpet or rugs or something you could set her on to walk around? Also when I first got the floating dock for my turtle she had a really hard time getting on it and staying on it. If you can get her one of those acrylic docks that are suction cupped to the glass they work a lot better for the heavier turtles.

[Starchick]

Another thought is depending on your water level you could get some kind of tank decoration for her to push against to boost herself up. I had a stone ramp under the basking dock in Hercules' tank until just a few weeks ago because he had such a hard time at first. But I think the idea with the acrylic dock is a good one too, it might be a better permanent solution for such a large turtle.

Also, it sounds like you have a great vet! Good to hear that they followed up with you and even knew about the vitashell!

[industrial_girl_2000]

When they are walking outside the tank & dragging the shell, it's mostly due to the lack of exercise in their previous environment. This will improve over time because she is in a much bigger swimming space. The more they have to swim, the more it strengthens the legs. I wouldn't worry about that. After a while, she will be actually standing up, then walking. That shell is very heavy if your legs are weak! LOL

I admire the fact that you have adopted this big girl. In time, her shell will make a full recovery if you feed her a nice wide array of good foods (check the nutrition section of the forum for suggestions).

[SpotsMama]

I wonder if there's coating of vita shell on her that's making it white. Does it feel slick or greasy? You might try washing her gently in some warm (just barely warm - not hot) water and a soft toothbrush and see if some of it will come off.

The reason vita shell is bad is that a shell needs to "breath" and vita shell clogs it so it can't.

On the soft shell, does her shell actually feel soft or flexible to you?

Good for you for getting her to a vet! If the vet offers to give her a shot of vitamin a, why don't you discuss some vitamin eye drops or food supplements as an alternative. A turtle on here recently had a bad reaction to a vitamin a shot.

[NicoleBell]

Thank you all so much! you have all helped me so much!!!

I'm going to take her out to bask in the kitchen. I have a rug and her favorite . towel she been hanging out on when i take her out. and her lamp all set up because I read on here that her shell needs to dry out every day.

I will take off the vita shell while she out and check to see if soft or fixable
Thanks again !!!

[NicoleBell]

The white stuff on her shell is the vita shell I don't have toothbrush I'll have to run to the store. I did get some off with a warm cloth but she started hissing so I let her be.
Here are some better pictures of her shell.

[SpotsMama]

Goodness. It will be interesting to see what that shell looks like when it's all cleaned up.