General Care Discussion :: removed my sick turtle from the tank..:(

[vincentapa]

hello everyone in my pervious posts you all know i have two turtles and one of them is sick. i have removed the sick turtle and have him on a dock in a big bucket for now to save my other turtle from getting anything contegeous. what is one way to see if your turtle is alive or has passed away.. the obvious is throwing them in the water but i dont like doing that especially if they are sleeping but i find its the only way i can see if the poor guy is still alive. it seems like my turtle that is ill has swollen eyes and is unable to open both of them... would it be a good idea to purchase turtle eye drops and see if this is wat the problem is.. when an illness has to do with the respitory system is the turtle always breathing from his mouth? or only once in a while. i experimented by putting him in the water to see if he was alive and he woke up and swam around for a bit but was struggling because it couldnt open its eyes? any suggestions or help please as im struggling myself to make a decision on what i should do that is best for both my turtles and cichlids?

[TheComputerGremlin]

Well, look at it this way, if your turtle has passed away, there is no harm not checking on him every 5 minutes. So, if the only definite way to tell if he's still alive is by putting him in water, put him in every 12 hours or so. He should be rehydrated periodically anyhow. I *believe*, though I've not experienced turtle death, that his limbs should be either very limp (following death) or very stiff (following rigor mortis) or very limp (about 24-48 hours following death). But if he's very sick, I wouldn't subject him to much stress, like throwing him in the water. You could gently hold him in the water, which would probably wake him up.

Make sure your water temps are around 80 degrees F. If it's very cold, it could send the poor dear into shock, and certainly won't help the healing process.

Are you taking him to a vet?

[joeybsmooth]

Hug.. I am sorry for you .

I don't want to sound mean , so don't think I am. I think you Turt my be about to leave. They take a long time to pass away , and when it is has bad as you say it is I think it maybe to late .

But others can tell you for sure .

When my turtle dead it was easy to tell , he was out of his shell. and you just can tell. I put him back in time after time hoping it was not true but you just can tell.

[vincentapa]

thanks everyone for your help and kindness. im not going to take the turtle to the vet .... i dont want to sound like a bad owner or that i dont care cuz i really do its just i made the mistake of buying them from a flea market and im almost 100% sure that he was sick when i got him. realistically it will cost me 5 x as much to bring him to a vet them what i even paided for the little guy. it was my fault i was just so excited to get turtles i didnt think that they might be ill or not taken care of properly. my other one seems to be doing fine i think.. i hopee..... anyways thanks alot for your help and suggestions this site has really helped me out and made me become more aware on how to take goo care of RES turtles. hopefully my other turtle has caught anything from the sick one. one odd this is that i usually see him with one eye opened and one eye closed lol its sorta funny looks like hes blinking but other times he will have both eyes wide opened is that normal ?sorry one more thing do you guys think im doing the right thing by taking him out of the tank and putting him in a bucket? the bucket is pretty big, he has his dock on there which he currently just stays on twenty four seven, with slight movement hear and there. i put three types of food in there pellets shrimp and carrot slices to see if he eats... am i doing the right thing

[TheComputerGremlin]

He needs warmer water, so if the bucket has a water heater, you are probably doing okay.

However, one part of being a RESPONSIBLE pet owner is to ACCEPT your pet's life is in YOUR hands. If he were sick in a pond, something might eat him or he might be able to get better. But you have restricted him to YOUR environment. I'm not going to lecture you, but the responsible thing to do is to take him to a vet and try to get him treated. The vet will likely only give him antibiotics to take care of what sounds like a respiratory infection, which is very treatable, often with 75% getting better after vet care. All you are doing is sentencing him to death. At least you could try taking him to a shelter and seeing if they could treat him for a lower cost.

And honestly, and I don't want to sound harsh, but neglect is considered animal abuse, and turtles are covered under the animal abuse laws.

Please do the responsible thing and try to save him. Please.

[vincentapa]

i understand everything your saying but how is it my fault if the turtle was sick when i bought him not even 5 days ago? its not and im trying my best to keep him alive and heathly.. im going to see a vet tomra and see if i can get some help

[joeybsmooth]

Gremlin is not trying to bash you. Just offering things that you could do to help the little guy. I am in South Carolina so we have a lot of them , and I know how it is for your state but you could take him to a rescue.

[hdaisog]

Some herp vets might "adopt" the turtle from you and treat it then find a good home for it.

Most of us are in the same situation as you (regarding spending more on your turtle than you paid for it). I only purchased one of my turtles. He was about $10 and just on his setups over the years I have probably spent $500+. Luckily he hasn't ever been sick, but the costs associated with RES are high especially when they start getting bigger and bigger.