Urgent Care :: Soft shell/Calcium

[knjmyers]

Ok, I just got my RES in December. They are very young. I don't know how old they have to be to be sold, but mine are that plus two months. Shelby has been basking very long hours with her head out and kind of lying there. I have taken her to the vet, who gave me some antibiotics for some white stuff on her foot, and she prescribed neocalglucon. Walmart and walgreens don't have it. Where can I go to get her some calcium supplement? Her shell is pretty soft, and although I know their shells won't be totally hard since they're still young, her brother's shell is much harder than hers. I really just want to know the best supplement to get her and where to maybe get it? Do reptile shops usually have this?

Thanks for any help you guys can give me.

Jay

[sonyj]

I'm really not sure what to tell you about the meds prescribed. I'm sure someone else will be able to help you there.

As far as calcium supplements go, any pet store should carry calcium sups like Rep-Cal that you can coat their pellets/food in. Also try giving them cuttlebone regularly. You find it at the pet store in the bird section. It's what birds use to sharpen their beaks on, but works great for turtles as another source of calcium in their diet.

What did the vet say about her soft shell when you took her? What is their set-up like: size tank, amount of water, heater, water & basking temps, UVB light, heat light, filter etc? Knowing the answers to these questions will help us help you.

[RESCHIU]

my vet gave my turtle oral neocalglucon, it's actually pretty good and cheap oral vitamins(it has all the essential vitamins that reptile need) and it cost about $20. However, it is a pain in the butt to feed him that everyday, it's not too bad after a while. I agree with feeding him the cuttlebone, but since your turtle is not very active now, you might want to get powerlike calcium and spread it on the food. However, I still think oral vitamin will be the most effective way dealing with inactive turtle.

[knjmyers]

I have a 20 gallon tank for the two. They are small, so I think this will suffice for a short time. The tank is about 17 gallons filled. I have a basking dock for them that is secured to the side of the tank and goes up or down depending on the water height. It stays out of the water so they can dry. I have a water heater that is set right now at 83 degrees. There is a UVA heating lamp and a UVB flourescent bulb. Side of the tank water filter. I learned though that it may be too small for their tank. The tank has a lid so as to keep ambiant temperature in the 80's or 90's.
They get fed pellets and some romaine lettuce. I had water plants in there that were edible, but I took them out. I also had the bottom covered with pebble(larger than their mouths) but took those out too.

The vet told me to force feed her the mashed up pellets to at least keep her from starving. So we carefully do that then stick her back in the water after we give her a mashed pellet. We do that a few times each feeding.
I really guess I just need to find the calcium and hopefully the antibiotics will fix the other possible problem.

Also she has kind of a sore or something on her tail. Can I but some triple antibacterial stuff on that? Or what would work best for that?

[marisa]

I've read the Neocalglucon can be gotten from a pharmacist without a prescription (but I wonder why your vet prescribed it but didn't tell you where to get it). It's also used for birds and other reptiles. It sounds like neocalglucon is a particular form of calcium gluconate, which you can get as calcium tablets in vitamin sections of stores/supermarkets. I've seen calcium gluconate tablets (broken up) recommended for turtles who don't like cuttlebone.

You could also go to Petsmart and buy some non-phosphorus powdered calcium supplement. RepCal is one, there are others, but whatever you buy try not to get one that says it contains phosphorus, or at the very least has a good calcium/phosphorus ratio. If you have pellets (Reptomin Baby is good), moisten them (you could use the water from canned tuna to make them more smelly/appealing) and coat them with the powder. Then let them dry so the powder sticks to them and give a few to your turtle. If your turtle will eat from your hand, you can feed them moistened.

If you're keeping the ambient air in the tank in the 80s/90s, what is the temperature of the basking area?

About the sore--this is new since the vet saw your turtle? What does it look like--open? oozing? raw? Does it look like the tail was scraped? Bitten? Hard to suggest something without more information. For superficial cuts/wounds, applying Neosporin and keeping your turtle dry for about 30 minutes to let it sink in can help...

I would be careful about force feeding, since if the food goes down the wrong tube, a turtle can choke.

What were the anitbiotics your vet gave your turtle for the foot. And what was the "white stuff" on it---fungus?