Urgent Care

Don't give up on him. Turtles have made some amazing recoveries. Please don't release him. That will not make him happy. That will scare him and probably get him eaten by a predator. In addition turtles in captivity carry bacteria that the wild population are not used too. You could wipe out the wild population. Try to annoy him with the syringe. When he opens his mouth to bite put the syringe in. With the calcium shot and sunlight, the correct diet when he's able, he could live a long healthy life. Try to feed him when he's the most alert. And keep taking him outside for sun. Please read through older posts, you'll find some amazing recoveries. Don't give up, he needs you now more then ever.

I agree..please don't release him! If he is sick, that would be the worst way to go! If he doesn't make it, he would be much more comfortable with you than being attacked by an animal in the wild. Don't make his last days horrific

. And maybe he will pull through! They are tough little guys.. he may surprise you!

Thanks for the encouragement guys. I did get him from the wild, so didn't really think about it being harmful to other animals to put him back where we got him. Still won't eat though. I can't get him to bite even when he is mad at me in order to stuff food in his mouth. Gonna try again when I get back home tonite. He spent all day out in the sun today. When I first put him in his tub, he swam around bumping the edges with his nose to test his surroundings, but he never would eat anything and he never opened his eyes today at all. He was alert when I put him out and I thought he might eat the new pellets when he raised his head to sniff them when I first dropped a few in the water but he never did eat anything at all.

We're gonna try the rest of this week to see if we can get any signs of improvement.

I understand what you are saying Steve about the vitamin shots, but he has to get some nutrients somewhere or he is just going to starve himself to death. I'm trying all I know to try to get calcium and vitamins in him, but if he won't eat, what else can I do? It's so painful to see him just lay in the water so limp and lifeless. His little legs are so soft and his shell is starting to withdraw and turn up. He really is in bad shape right now. I've GOT to find some way to get him eating again. I just don't understand what happened so suddenly. He was fine and playful and eating everyday then he just suddenly stopped everything. The vet said he didn't get sick overnight, but the symptoms sure showed up that quick.

While he's getting vitamin shots. Try to get anything into him. Sometimes they can't resist earthworms or anything soaked in tuna water. Is the special food the vet gave you hard or a liquid? Can you get a syringe from the vet? That would help with feeding. Is it possible for the vet to give him one tube feeding? Sometimes all it takes is one to give them the strength to eat again. Be careful leaving him in the sun all day, you don't want him to overheat. As far as the vet saying he didn't get like that overnight, he's right, but did he mention that turtles will hide their illnesses. If they are ill in the wild they become prey. So it could have been like overnight that you saw the illness. Thank you for keeping us posted. I'm routing for him and you. You're trying your hardest. I hope he improves.

re: vitamin shots - use your best judgement.

Have you tried live foods? Minnows or guppies? You can hold them by the tail and let them squirm in front of your turtle's face. Try soaking him in 50% Pedialyte and 50% water, that would give him some electrolytes.

Thanks so much guys for the encouragement not to give up on Turtimus! Love the 50-50 idea steve! Going to pick up some pedialyte this afternoon along with some cod liver oil. I fought with him this morning while he was most alert and managed to get him to suck in maybe .05mL of the pet food. It is canned food and I add a little water to soften it even more so it goes thru the syringe easy. I can't get him to completely open his mouth yet to shove a full bite in, but if I smear some around the edges of his mouth and then piss him off he shoves his head out of the shell and sucks down a little at a time. I figure he may end up hating to be handled for awhile, but if it gets food in him I don't care anymore. We worked at it until we were both worn out this morning.

It's stormy out today, so he's back in the tank for now. I check on him every hour when he is outside since it is so hot. I pull his tub into the shade if it gets too hot out in the full sun. I leave him out as much as I can right now to be sure he is getting the natural UV. I asked the vet about this and she said that is good as long as i keep an eye on him in the extreme heat. I'm so excited today that I finally got SOMETHING in him. More in him than I got on me so that's progress! LOL I think he may have some fight left in him yet. His legs are pretty strong for as little bone mass as he has and a couple weeks without eating! I just hope he doesn't hate me if we get through all of this!! We're going out of town this weekend, but I think we are going to take him with us. I may have questions about traveling with him if I don't find what I need to know elsewhere on the forum.

Going in for another calcium shot in the morning. I have an appointment after that for my Tysabri infusion (I have MS). That takes 2.5 - 3 hours. Any precautions I should take for leaving him in the car while I get my IV done? I plan on having his outdoor tub with some water in the car. Should I put the window shades up or leave them out to let sunlight in. I know the UV is going to be filtered out so I was thinking put the shades up to help against the heat? I may or may not be able to park with some tree limbs overhanging the car.

You might need to crack your windows.. cars can get pretty hot. I would put the window shades up too

So glad you're able to get something in him. Maybe he'll just get tired of fighting you and eat. Sorry you have MS, must be hard dealing with the turtles illness along with your own. I hope he makes it for you. Sounds like he's trying and so are you. Good Luck to both of you!

Thanks so much Love of Animals!! I just got home from the store. I'm such an idiot though. I forgot to get the pedialyte! Hopefully, hubby will stop and pick some up for us on his way home. All I could find for Cod Liver Oil was soft gels. I'm hoping I can bust one open and put the contents on a q-tip to apply to his eyelids. Is this a reasonable thing to do, or should I go back and get some Orange Flavored liquid? It was the only other option and cost 3X as much and comes in a 16 or 20 oz. bottle. I was concerned about the flavor additives being applied to his eyes, too.

I feel so stupid right now. We thought he was going to be pretty simple to care for if a bit on the expensive side to get started, but now we are learning all this complex stuff to deal with. It'd be easy to handle if he was just healthy again. I can deal with water changes even though it's a pain. Force feeding is awful though! Hubby still wants to let him go if we can get him on the road to good health again, but I think our bond will be so much stronger if we make it through this ordeal that I won't be willing to just let him go.

Just had a thought for feeding Turt...what if I could get some tuna water in the syringe with the bits of tuna crumbs that would go with it, I wonder if I could get him interested in opening up for that. Then maybe in the morning we can try the other food again? I've tried dipping his veggies in tuna water, but he still isn't interested. He still raises his head up at the new pellets, but doesn't eat them. I think he does like the smell of them. I'm thinking now that a big part of his reluctance with those is that he can't see them with his eyes swollen shut. It smells good, but he isn't sure what it is he's gonna bite into so he doesn't.

What kind of vitamin shots did the vet give him? You might not want to do the cod liver oil if the vet gave him a vitamin A shot. The cod liver oil is for a vitamin A boost as well as soothing the eye. You would put a pin prick in the capsule and put one drop in each eye. (not flavored) You can try that with the tuna water and you can mix it with the food the vet gave you. If his eyes are that swollen google turtle eye drops and see what you come up with. I don't think they would be too expensive and you can have them shipped right to you. Tell hubby to please not let him go even when healthy. A captive turtle might just go up to a person looking for a handout and get seriously hurt or killed. Recently in the news an Eastern Box Turtle was found with a nail nailed into the top of it's shell all the way through coming out of the bottom. There are a lot of stories in the news about people abusing turtles. Some people are just cruel. It's also a real fight living in the wild. A predator may get him, he may go hungry because he's not used to hunting for food, on top of possibly hurting the current turtle population. Glad you're getting the pedialyte. That will help him get some minerals into him. He's going to get stronger and start eating for you. Did the vet give him antibiotics? If he did your turtle may not have much of an appetite. But keep trying, that's all we can do sometimes.

Yeah, he got a Vitamin A & D shot on the first visit and a Calcium shot on the 2nd visit. It was time for him to get another Vitamin A shot anyway, so I don't think that should be a factor. He gets another calcium shot in the morning. I'll talk to the vet about the pedialyte dip. He's soaking in it now. Seems to be marginally more alert already. Hubby just picked him up and he's kicking around and moving his head about, but still no eyes open. Should I wait to put the Cod Liver Oil on the eyes since this also has Vitamin A in it? How long should he soak in the pedialyte mix? Hard to tell if he is feeling better or just annoyed. When hubby tries to pick him up now he gets really agitated. I'm not sure if he is upset about this morning's feeding still, or if he just likes the way the stuff he is in is making him feel and doesn't want to get out.

The pedialyte dip is great. Talk to the vet tomorrow about putting the cod liver oil in his eyes since he already had a Vitamin A shot. Also since you're there ask him what he suggests to soothe his eyes. It's good if he's agitated and upset. Means he has fight left in him. The ones that lay there lethargic and don't care what you do to them usually don't make it. Please let us know what the vet says tomorrow. Sounds like he's feeling a little bit better!

We saw the same vet as the first visit this time - the one that gave the Vitamin A & D shot. She was impressed with how much more lively he was in spite of his eyes still being shut. She said Cod Liver Oil isn't a bad idea to put on his eyes, but since she was giving him another Vitamin shot in addition to the calcium shot today, she suggested I wait until tomorrow to start that. She liked the pedialyte idea. She was impressed by the thought of doing that & asked where I heard about it. Good job guys! He has been so much more alert today even though he still isn't opening those eyes. She gave me a curved tip syringe this time to try force feeding. Basically, she suggested the same stuff in the jello shots recipe only run it thru a food processor and fill the syringe and try getting some of it in his mouth. Refrigerate and repeat daily. Bring him back in for another calcium shot and maybe more vitamins Monday. I told her you guys talked me out of giving up on him. She said, "We're gonna take him as far as we can and hope for the best. No giving up here."

All the girls in the office go nuts over him when I bring him thru the door! They marvel at how big he is because they are used to seeing the little bitty guys come in. They gladly kept him there at the office under a lamp while I went for my infusion. So that saved me the worry over him overheating in the car.

He's resting on his dock now. He still lifts his head every time I put a pellet in the tank, but no bites yet. I figure I'll keep putting one or two in there just to monitor if he is ready to eat solid food again yet. He is very interested in those pellets if only he'd just open up and grab one! Stay tuned for another update after our trip to Kansas this weekend. Should be interesting.

)

Urgent Care :: Turtimus Prime is sickly...can anyone help?

Who is online