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Hey All,

Anyone heard of a RES, or any turtle in general, getting a large lump, or lumps, on the side of their heads/necks? Just went next door to my neighbor's house and saw that his RES has a large lump on the side of his head/neck. Looks like a large cyst but I'm no doctor and have only 2 weeks' worth of experience with RES. So I sure don't know!
I told him he needs to take it to the vet, but I think he doubts the potential lethality this 'thing' might present. I just wanted to ask if anyone has ever heard or experienced anything like I've described so that I can relay to him what needs to be done, if anything, short of a vet visit. I'll try and attach a pic here shortly. I know that means a lot more. Plus it'll be good for everyone to see.

Thankfully my 8 greenies seem to be doing ok. Built a new basking area for them to lounge on and play in the (artificial) sun. I'll send pics of that as soon as I can.

Thanks for listening and thanks in advance for advice. :~)

Does it look something like this




http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/medeyes.htm

(look about 3/4 way down)

Aww heck! Thank you very much punkie! That is exactly what it is. Ear abcess. I'll post a picture of it here later this evening so everyone can see what it looks like from someone on this forum.

I even looked on that site but didn't find that page. I just looked under the Medical Information but didn't go into the various sections. Guess I need to look a little harder next time!

Here are a few pics of my friend's setup and turtle. Tank is way too small for one of the turtles, let alone, two but it's all he has to work with right now. I encouraged him to get better filtration though.

You can't see the lump real well. My camera isn't the greatest for closeups.




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yep, looks like an ear abcess. A vet visit is in order. One thing that I know causes this is dirty water. Tell him to get a better filter/bigger tank asap or it's just going to keep happening.

You're right Jen. His tank isn't filthy, but you can tell that the filter he has is not quite up to the job. I've already mentioned better filtration to him so I guess we'll see what happens.

Just make sure you tell him that if he doesn't get a better filter and a much larger tank that he's going to keep putting those turts thru painful vet visits, not to mention the cash he'll be spending. Maybe that'll get his attention

HA! Funny thing you mention money, cause that's about the only thing he responds to. I'll be sure to continually remind him!

I hate austin's turtle page, they take forever to load on my computer.

Hey Stray,

Have you found a better or other Medical site for greenies? That's the only one I've heard of and it seems to be pretty comprehensive though. You're not using dial-up are you?!?

personally, I love ATP

I love ATP too. If you go thru the Forums over there, you may have better luck in loading faster.

I third ATP.

Judo 42, for another medical site try http://www.anapsid.org

Cool, thanks Marisa.I actually got a lot of my initial greeny knowledge from reading Melissa Kaplan's site. Pretty comprehensive and informative. Thanks again for sharing.

You're welcome. I actually had a more specific link, but it seems to be out of commission. MK is good (and thorough).