Urgent Care :: Rescued dying Map turtle from Pet store URGENT

[V Lou]

Yup, if you have serious pneumonia, mucus comes out almost every orifice and can stop up the airways. If he has a part of his beak missing, has to open his mouth to breathe better, has stuff blocking up his nostrils, and has just come away from near death due to pet store problems, malnutrition, he is fighting for his life. The part where you say you can't hear any noises could mean that his airways are way too stopped up to make much sound anymore. Hurry. Also, his noises may be so quiet that you can't hear them without a stethoscope.

Since I can't see him; since I am not a vet; since he has possible necrosis with his beak which could be due to secondary infection from all he has been through, including a lung infection, ahhhhhhhh, I'd take him to a vet as an emergency. I don't think that his body is going to get well by itself. Antibiotics are developed to attack bacteria. Bacteria have cell parts that are so foreign to our own body's cell parts, that the antibiotic can target bacterial parts and not hurt our own. The antibiotic could be a life saver for your turtle. Some bacteria kill us animals before our immune systems have a chance to put up a big enough fight. And, your turtle came to you malnurished, meaning he didn't have enough of the amino acids/proteins to put up a good fight, even if the turtle next door could have. Antibiotics are a way to give your turtle missiles when the attacker is using machine guns. He may be, probably is in pain. Please hurry.

It is what I would do. If it is cold outside, protect him by putting him in a cloth, put him inside your coat, against your body warmth and hurry.

Being safe ends up feeling good. Being too late ends up hurting every time you remember it. Please be safe with this little guy.

[jay2487]

I still have the same appt for the herp vet. I'm going to have to find another. This one is a big failure. There is no mucus, and I watch the breathing of the turtle in front of the back legs. He breaths good enough just breaths in and closes mouth then holds it for a while then cracks mouth then breaths out then in and holds. Once in a while basking he will breath in and out with his mouth cracked an all is well. No bubbles no wheezing, no strain. It seems that something has damaged his nose severely though and the clog doesnt seem like mucus but more like either brown putty or like the nostrils are swelled shut like your airways in those asthma commercials. I called 2 emergency vets and they say come in tonight, I will try that. Hopefully it works

[V Lou]

You know how written words are so difficult to communicate with alone. No visual, no inflection in the voice, no so many things which are so important for communication. You know I just care a lot.

Could you send a picture?

You are totally right that the nostrils could be swollen closed from the local damage.

I've got to ask.... does he have a UV bulb located nearby? If so how many inches is the bulb from your turtle?

[jay2487]

it's about 18 inches, the surface of the basking platform gets to be 100 sometimes. There is also a heat bulb shining on it. RI is definitely a possibility, its just that none of the other symptoms match other than lethargy. I mean he swims good, not uneven, doesnt blow bubbles or make noises and if he had RI combined with the way his nose looks you would think he would have suffocated long ago. When i turn on end he doesnt leak fluids like they say will happen with RI. He has been basking for most of the day for about a week or more now and no new symptoms and only improvements. I am going to get him checked out, I have to find a competent vet though. So that will be a total of $200 I spent on one sick map because I couldnt stand to see it in that wash basin anymore. So I know what you mean by care:/

[V Lou]

My blood pressure is dropping rapidly , to more normal levels, that is....

What do you think happened to his nose? What does it look like?

[jay2487]

okay, I'm going to put som eyoutube videos on when i get home tonight because there easier for me to load but to give a description: Where a normal turtles nose comes to a point with two nostrils barely separated, his looks as if the point has been knocked or bitten off or crushed. The tip is missing so the nostrils i can see looks like they would actually be an 1/8th inch inside a normal turtles nostrils(does that make sense)Like I'm looking at the inside of what should be his nose. The nostrils are further apart and are caved in like it was an egg shaped void when the nose was whole and now that the tip is gone, the hole is concaved. I think the best thing will be to take a video and upload it.

[V Lou]

Yes, a vet will probably give antibiotics to prevent serious infection. Not that serious infection will occur, but it totally could. It is so fantastic that you have an appointment already set, so it will be sooner than later. WheW!!!

...I have turned off the screaming sirens, flipped off the whirlly lights and just turned this ambulance around. Time to go get a perverbial donut.....

You know how sometimes if a turtle startles while it's way down in the water and suddenly it paddles with all its might straight up. Plow!!!! right into the edge of its dock or something. I believe that's how turtles seem to "climb" impossible barriers. I mean, they can climb, but they can also just rocket right up and out of the water, a reflexive turbo jet ...........ZOOM!!!! Incredible power and not at all the "slow" turtle of cartoons.

That might have happened and his nose just got in the way. Maybe.

[jay2487]

thats what I think or seeing as how he has a couple other sores here and there I'm thinking he was in an overcrowded tank at one time where aggression occurred and his nose got bitten. He is missing a couple back claw nails too so i think he was scrapping with other turtles

[V Lou]

Wow! I see. .... poor little guy!

And I just got hit by a virus on my pc....
It's like my nose just got bitten off, too. Too bad antibiotics don't work for viruses !

[jay2487]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hKAwjGLGKs

here is a video of the turtle, i tried to get his nose the best I can but he wasnt cooperating to good. but you can see the back scutes so tell me what you think.

here is the best pic i could get of his nose also
http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy24 ... 1266948327

[V Lou]

Thank you for those pix; I could sort of tell. I wonder what the vet will say.

[jay2487]

me too, what did you think about the grey scutes? sheding or?

[seanwb]

Looks like they are about to shed to me.

[V Lou]

You mean above his tail? One of my turtles has that, too. She/he came to me that way. I think they are just dried out and will eventually be shed. I don't worry about it.

My pc seems to have gotten over its "virus". That took hours of my day away from what I should have been doing. It's Always Something.....

[jay2487]

they seem to be shifting some and getting bigger gaps, I think there about to fall off. The nose is definitely damaged. Under a bright light you can clearly see the scab tissue trying to heal up.