General Care Discussion :: WORRIED: Bowser isn't acting normal

[Ashley]

So Bowser has been acting just fine for the past week, but her poo has still been weird.
We've been feeding her the anti-parasite pellets as directed (exclusively for 3 consecutive days per week for 3 weeks) on Mon, Tue, and Wed. but just regular pellets on other days.
No veggies until we finish the special pellet regimen in a couple of weeks.

Anyway, she has pooped some normal looking turtle turds lately but for the most part her poo is all broken apart, stringy, fibrous, and just not normal. She seems to be feeling ok. Eating normal, being playful, basking, etc.

I'm just worried that something is really wrong with her insides, possibly even damage from eating so much of the old dock.

[steve]

Has she been eating some of her poop before you have a chance to get it?

[Ashley]

Yes, because she poops several times a day and I'm at work all evening.
When I'm here we do make sure to net the tank as soon as she goes.

[Ashley]

Her poop is looking sandy again and she's been wanting to bask a LOT.
I mean, she has a good appetite and is being active but her poop really isn't normal.
We're very worried and don't know if we should take her to a vet.

EDIT:

More poo pics...






ANOTHER EDIT:

She's acting strange again. Not playful, kind of in a fog.

[steve]

Perhaps the change in seasons are making her a bit moody.

[Ashley]

Perhaps.
She's been basking for the past 6 hours...at least.
We did make an appointment with a herp vet for Monday morning.
They said it will be about $38 for the visit, but any tests cost extra.

[Jaysea]

Glad to hear your taking her to a vet, hopefully everything works out just fine

[Ashley]

And after basking all day she came to the bottom of the dock and drank a bunch of water, then finally got in the water and was acting almost normal! She begged for food, ate a bit, and went about trying to destroy things in the tank.
I can tell she still feels bad and needs to poop....I'm on "poop patrol" just waiting for her to poop so I can scoop it out before she eats it.

[steve]

$38 is a good price, though they might add "office fees" for your first visit. My female RES doesn't poop with any regularity, so I wouldn't be too concerned with it.

[Ashley]

We just got back from the vet.
I love that place, and the herp vet is really good! I also like that they are literally 2.5 miles down the road from me.
It ended up costing $49.50 because they took a fecal sample (which Bowser did NOT enjoy).
The doc said that she seems to be a healthy turtle and that we're doing a good job with her.
Her eyes, nose, shell, etc. looks good. And she has a lot of strength, too.
Fecal sample came back normal.
He said the sandy poop could be from her pellets. And if they dock had caused an obstruction then it would've happened long ago and we would've noticed.
The attitude changes could also be from the seasons changing. He said it's best to keep them inside and away from natural sunlight this time of year, to simulate Summer all year long.
She stayed pretty calm the whole trip...we put her in a little round container with a towel to keep her warm.
She only got upset when they took the fecal sample from her. Talk about one unhapy turtle! She wanted to bite us all!


ANOTHER INTERESTING PIECE OF INFO:

We mentioned that we feed her grapes, and he said that they've recently found grapes to cause renal failure in dogs so it's possible that it could give turtles trouble.

[marisa]

That is interesting. I've read it to be true of dogs, but never really thought about it in connection with turtles.