Urgent Care :: Help leg- VET UPDATE

[Cramer]

I'm new here, but it seems these Rena XPs are bad news. How many has it been this week, 3?
How big diameter are the intake tubes?

[mikee]

This getting your turtle stuck in the suction side of you filter has gotten a lot of attention. I resolved the problem many years ago by using an under gravel filter grate on the bottom. I plug up all the, up tubes, except one, and connect my filter pump, suction, to that. By doing that, the waste is sucked down and through the bottom out through that one up tube. It takes some minor plumbing to do this, but it has worked for me for years. The grate acts to help my biological filter process and the hook up and looks clean and neat. The more surfaces you have for the waste/water to travel across the better.

[notoch351]

i talked to the receptionist she didnt really know much...but i found another vet alittle farther that looks good ill try calling tomorrow as of her swimming i put her in some warm water and feed her shes eating fine, her siwmming im not to sure she cant move it i know she can go up for air i have a 20 gallon long tank ill put her in and make a slop so she can rest with the water mid way i dont have another uvb light and the rest of are pumps may be to weak to pump it half way and, i dont have a extra heater i may be able to take it from the tank frankins in his water should be ok,what do you think i should do tonight?

and i think the legs going to die or i dont no what do you think of it? i just want to see a vet and no whats going on, hopefully soon.

chad

[mikee]

Oh! Cramer.-- It is not the filters fault. It is the operator’s doings. It is like faulting a car if you get in a wreck. What you can do is put the suction tube where the turtles can't get near it. -- ORR you put in multiple suction tubes so that it reduces the suction in each. You can put a piece of pvc over the end of the suction filter grate so the turtle can't get at it. It is the operator; it is the operator, not the filter!!

[notoch351]

I understand what your saying but i dont really think there was anything i could do and i do have all the tubes being used it just came off i would have never thought they could do that, its not the filters fault either its just something that happened a pvc cover.. ill probably use now but i dont think that i could have known or perdicted it could come off.. i dont really care on whos fault it was.. and not saying anything bad about the filter just want to focus on the health of my turtle. I appreciate all the help. And am still wondering what to do tonight? thanks

[confrontinglife]

Definately got sucked into the filter. Same thing happened to my turtle, took it to the vet and what you have to do is keep it out of the water with its leg tucked in and taped up! The vet will also give you antibiotic shots to give him in his other front leg... cant give them in the back leg because the drug could rush to the liver. Give him maybe an hour a day in the sink with a little bit of water, just to feed him.

here's a link to see the tape job.
http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewt ... highlight=

He has completely healed, it took like 2 months though of drydocking.

be sure to take yours to the vet to make sure the leg isnt broken

[notoch351]

ok thanks that gave me some hope...

[steve]

Notoch351, I'm sorry this happened. That is a serious injury and I hope your vet can help you out.

Hey Cramer, Mikee... I don't think anyone here is at fault. It's clearly an accident and assigning blame hardly helps anyone.

Confrontinglife, thanks for posting that update, I had missed it earlier.

[SpotsMama]

The filter's a very good filter - it's easy to operate, keeps the water very clean and is reasonably priced. However, there is obviously a need for some safety precautions where the intake tube is concerned. I've been using an XP3 for a long time and have never had a problem, but since this situation was first reported a few days ago i've siliconed the sieve to the intake tube so my turtle won't get caught like these others.

There were some similar problems with a very popular turtle dock awhile back. Little turtles would squeeze between a zoo med turtle dock and the wall of a tank and get stuck. At least one that I recall drowned this way. The solution to this is to turn the plastic frame upside down and remove the underwater suckers so the dock is easier to move and the turtle won't get stuck.

There's also a potential problem with the decorations a lot of us like to use in our tanks. The plastic decorations are often hollow with a hole in the bottom to make them lighter. My turtle got his head and front feet stuck in the hole in the bottom of a toy alligator and nearly drowned. The solution to this is to fill the hole with aquarium silicon.

It's probably cold comfort if your turtle is one that has been injured but the truth is it's very hard to make a perfectly safe artificial habitat for an aquatic turtle, even with good products. Even gravel on the bottom of a tank can be a killer. We just have to keep working at it and learning from the experiences of others. Maybe some day all these problems will have been worked out but we're not quite there yet.

[notoch351]

ok, we just came back from the vet he seemed nice and deals allot with exotics, things however aren’t looking so good the leg is dead and will need to be amputated witch costs just under $1000, I just can’t do it I want what’s best but I don’t have that. The other option was to put it down and that I also couldn’t do, if we left the leg it could have a chance of working its way up into the turtle resulting in death, he gave us antibiotics and are told to keep her out of water in a month it should be shriveled up and would just be snipped which will cut costs he warned use this isn’t the best way it may not work out. I don’t know if I made the right choice, what would you have done? I wish I could give her the operation.

[notoch351]

Also, I'm supposed to keep her out of water as much as possible, how about overnight? can they stay out over night? how often should she be put back in the water how long? questions I forgot to aask him

[mikee]

No-351-- I would ask the vet, but keeping her out for several hours is no problem. You call that dry docking.

[emma]

I am so sorry to hear the news. She is probably getting the best treatment possible with you. I wouldn't be able to do the surgery either.

[notoch351]

Thanks, I'm not sure how to get her to open her mouth so I can put the antibiotics in any ideas? so you think she can stay out the night?

[emma]

Are they in pill form? (Sorry, I have never dealt with turtle antibiotics before..)