Urgent Care :: what can i do about RI until the vet?

[cage69]

So, Diego's Cloaca still won't close under water ( it generally does when I take him out)

The RI is what I am really concerned about. I know it's irresponsible to have a RES or any pet for that matter without being able to afford proper care. I would usually be fine with the financial cost of taking him to a vet, but I honestly can't afford (at this moment) the consultation and medication fees ( I phoned and it's going to cost close to $200 for everything).

having said that, I know he has a RI and I need to know if there is anything I can do at home for him until I can get him to a vet.

I have raised the water temp to 78-80 deg. He is in a 40 gallon tank with 2 other RES that are fine (They are all 6 months old). I keep the tank clean. I make sure he eats ( I feed him by himself if necesary). he spends the majority of his time basking under the UV light.

What else can I do? I remember reading something when I was younger that putting drops of cod liver oil on their heads is good for them. Should I give him fish or vitamen A oil supplements?

Again, I know the best thing for Diego is a Vet., but I just can't afford it right now, please help.............

[FLhaven4strays]

I don't know about treatment really, but I DO know that RI is pretty contagious for turtles...you need to seperate them ASAP or risk having 3 turtles needing treatment for RI.

Maybe leaving the sick turtle in the regular setup would be best since it would be easier to raise the temps - up to 83 is good - and cause him less stress. (don't know for sure...just my thinking)

Is there another place you could keep your other 2 for a little while? Maybe a tupperware tub (mine only cost about $10)? You could move the lights between tanks...12 hours of basking light for each setup...?

[cage69]

Your idea of rotating the light is one I had never thought of. I do infact have a smaller aquarium and heater that I could use to seperate them (Diego would have to go in the smaller one, I think the current one is too large to properly regulate the heat in this case).

Everyone has told me to seperate them but I just dread doing it for so many reasons. As we all now, RES tanks are sooooo much work and I like to think that he will miss the other 2 guys as they all get along so well.

but i guess i have to suck it up if i want Diego to have a good chance of living. I am going to seperate them. Thanks for your post.

Can anyone else tell me about home care- IE- fish oils, vitamin A etc.?

[SpotsMama]

You should separate the turtles more for the sake of the two well ones than for Diego. As FLhaven said, RI is very contageous. You sure don't want to have three of them sick.

And FLhaven is right on target about the temperature - in the low 80s is best to stimulate Diego's immune system.

If Diego stops eating, you can feed him things you'd normally only feed for treats like shrimp and tuna fish until he gets well again. He will need his calories. Vitamin supplements won't help as long as he's getting good quality food. If he has a well established RI, it's going to be very difficult to cure him without antibiotics from a vet.

Here's some standard advice for someone who's going to take their turtle to a vet. If the vet offers to give a vitamin A shot, first make sure the vet is positive your turtle really needs vitamin A and then discuss other alternatives to shots with the vet like eye drops with vitamin A, cod liver oil or food supplements. Several turtles have recently had very bad reactions to vitamin A shots and I think it's best that if vitamin A is needed (and often it's not) the safer methods be used instead.

Long term, you're going to need to do some thinking about how to manage three turtles. Diego won't miss the other two if he's separated and the other two won't miss him because turtles are basically solitary creatures that don't crave the company of other turtles. In fact, more than one turtle in a tank leads to competition between them and aggression when they get old enough to mate. One turtle can badly injure or even kill another one very quickly. We have to deal with issues all the time on here where one turtle has suddenly gotten agressive and hurt another.

That said, even if they continue to live more than one in a tank, you're going to have some terrific space needs in the future. If it turns out they are all female, each one will grow to be 10" to 12" long. That means they'll need something in the range of 300 to 360 gallons of living space. Males don't get quite so big but they are even more aggressive. Most likely they will need separate aquariums which means doubling up on filters, lights, heaters and maintenance.

Just something to start thinking about.

In the meantime, give Diego the best care you can and we'll keep our fingers crossed for you. Keep us posted.

[cage69]

thanks for the advice. I am going to do everything you said and the point about Diego not being lonely was a good one; so, I feel better about seperating him. Can anyone answer the following qiestion?:

there are supposed to be experts on RES here- doesn't anyone know if giving them fish oil is a benefit or is it an "old wive's tale?"

sorry for being so harsh, but I love Diego and I need to look into anything I can in the mean time.

Thanks
Cage

[mikee]

cage69 --The advice about raising the water temperature to 80 to 81 degrees is a good idea. Also make sure that the basking temp is at 90 to 92. The elevated temps will help him resist the RI. You mentioned the UV lighting: make sure that it is UVB lighting. They need that to metabolize their food. Lastly, keep the water very clean. Good Luck!!

[octpusgirl8]

The fish oil is a treatment for vitamin A deficiency. It won't help treat RI. Make sure you get enough food into him as spotsmama said, he needs to keep his strength up.