General Care Discussion :: Very sick turtle :(

[tmg9671]

Hello.

I have an RES that we had for about 13 years now. Not sure how old we was when we found him, but his size hasn't changed very much. He has been pretty healthy since we found him, until recently.

His swollen eyes, limited activity and lack of appitite came on very quickly. We took him to a specialty vet who said he looked in pretty bad shape. We are now tube feeding him formula and giving him antibiotic shots. His energy came back and his eyes aren't swollen anymore and he was looking pretty good until today.

His nose looks slightly caved in and appears to be deteriorating. His nostrils cannot be seen. I also noticed that his right eye is tinted reddish pink in the corner and his pupil does not react to the light in unison with his left pupil.

His more feisty than he has been in a while, but he is not looking good. I am afraid I may be losing him.

This leads me to my question...Has anyone lost their turtle? If so, what did you do with it after he/she passed? We want to do the right thing but don't know what to do with a turtle. Please help. Thanks for reading.

-Troy

[SpotsMama]

How scarey. Poor guy - sounds like he's having a hard time. Have you told your vet about this latest development? Don't give up on him yet - he's a fighter or he wouldn't still be around. Perhaps the vet will know what to do.

[tmg9671]

Hi SpotsMama,

I haven't called the vet yet because I just noticed his latest condition this evening. I will be calling him tomorrow morning.

Thank you for reading and thank you for your response.

-Troy

[megcornell]

Sounds like your guy is in some rough shape, I hope he pulls through. Good luck with the herp vet. When turtles are fighting infections sometimes it's an up and down battle for a while, hopefully this is just a small set back.

As for the worst case scenario, there isn't a "norm," people do whatever makes them comfortable. Some people bury their turtles in a special spot, others do other things to remember them by. What's important is that you feel it's respectful and fitting. I sincerely hope that it's not time for you to say goodbye to your friend though.

[Bumby's Mom]

What antibiotic is he getting? I would make sure he is getting a pretty strong broad spectrum antibiotc like baytril or similar. Hope he gets better.

[Bascomb]

tg-71 Don't forget the basics. Raise the water temp to 80, your basking temp to 90 or 91 and very clean water. Sometimes we forget the basics.
Good Luck--

[pinkcadillac]

Tmg- I definitley hope the best for you turtle and dont give up on him, sometimes these conditions can go back and forth.

I originally was given 2 turtles that were purchased off the side of the road somewhere. One of them was very sick, lacked calcium, and had a very soft shell. We had him for only a month or two before he died but we ended up burrying him in a little box outside our apartment. Still very sad to think about and i hope you dont have to deal with that for another 50 years but i just wanted to answer your question.

[dawn9800]

So what did the vet say?
I hope that everything turns out well
we bury our animals in the backyard and of course we cry..

[marisa]

What did the vet say about his newer health problems?

What kind of set-up has he been in? What has his diet been like? Is he still eating?

[tmg9671]

Hi everyone. Thank you so much for your responses.

GREAT NEWS!!!! Spaz is doing much better. His newest conditions (pinkish eye, damaged nose) disappeared the next day. He must've slightly scratched his eye during the previous night and he may have just had a stuffy nose. But both conditions were gone. That was about a week ago. We finished off his antiboitic and one day tried tube feeding him, but he fought back! Every time I tried to get the tube in his mouth, he snapped at me. He even bit me once! I was feeling much better about him now. I called the vet and he was very pleased with his current condition. He suggested waiting a little longer before returning him back to his regular tank.

Anyway, he is now eating on his own. We have been giving him red wiggler worms and at first he just looked at them, but one day he inhaled one. Now he keeps looking for them.

He is out of his "hospital tank" and back in is regular home, being the Spaz he was for the last 13 years.

We are so relieved that he is better. Thank you all again for your replies.

-Troy

[industrial_girl_2000]

Glad to hear he is feeling better!

[megcornell]

That's great news !! I'm glad spaz is feeling better.

[marisa]

Glas to hear he recovered.

[SpotsMama]

It's so good to hear good news! Hopefully Spaz will be around for another 26 years! Or even more!

[tmg9671]

Thank you all. Spaz is doing awesome now.

He really loves his worms. This is the first time we have given them to him. He gets the Reptomin floating sticks every morning...how often should I give him a worm?

-Troy