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Hello, i have a caspain turtle named pooky who is very sick, the symptoms are: stopped eating about a month ago, her leg and hand sides are swollen, her eyes are red and swollen, he rubs his eyes and yawn from time to time and there seems to be weird red color on its skin, he is basking all the time, never swims or eat or do anything, he's making a very heart breaking sound from pain and i know turtles dont make sounds and that what makes me more sad for my pooky. i live in lebanon, we dont have vets specialized in turtles so i took him to a regular vet who gave me antibiotic injections and another vitamins injection to inject pooky for a week but he isnt getting any better:( The basking dock temp is 31c and the water temp is 31c also! plz i need help coz pooky means the world to me and i miss him moving and being healthy and happy! i appreciate any kind of help plz.. Thank you

Hi, I'm not sure what can be done at this point. Is there a zoo with a reptile department or university with a veterinary department in your city? Can you try to get your turtle out in the sun and give him a soak in diluted Pedialyte (or something similar)?

Perhaps contacting a nature reserve would result in someone who could give you some guidance on what to do...

Thank you steve and marisa for ur reply, well i tried but it seems no one can help me with reptiles, the vets here only specialize with dogs and cats...im thinking of getting pooky vitamin A eyedrops, and i was reading that vitamin A injection might help? What do u think guys, i appreciate ur help and advice!

If you can get some plain cod liver oil (fish oil) and apply it to the eyelids (not in the eyes), that should help if he's got a Vit A deficiency.

I tried to do some searching regarding reptile vets in Lebanon but as you noted, resources appear to be nonexistant. I noticed, however, that there seemed to be a sea turtle sanctuary near Tyre, and wonder if anyone there could give some advice.

Thank you marisa for ur help, i appreciate it! Tomorrow i will go get the cod liver oil and apply it on the eyelids and hope it helps, and i just got the number of the sanctuary and as soon as i wake up ill give them a call and see if they can help! By the way i visited another vet today who gave me a liquid oral vitamin that i should give pooky, the composition on the bottle are: vitamines: A-D3-E-B1-B2-B5-B6-C-PP-H-Folic acid-choline-methionine-cobalt-copper-iron-magnesium-maganese and zinc but the problem that pooky isnt opening his mouth, is there any trick to do for him to open his mouth? Thank You again

Vitamins A and D are fat soluable and are stored in the body. An excessive amount of either for a prolonged period can cause an overdose. I'm not saying don't give it, just not to overdo it. There isn't a problem with the B vitamins, don't know about the minerals, but trying it shouldn't hurt. As far as getting him to open his mouth, some people have had success using blunted toothpicks to gently try to pry the mouth open and squirt in the meds. I've found that making a turtle "angry" by constantly stroking the area around his mouth with a q-tip will sometimes cause him to bite on it, leaving his mouth a little open so that some of the medication can be put in the mouth.

I really hope that sanctuary can be of some help to your turtle. Since he's native to your region, I'm hoping that someone there will know how to help even though he's not a sea turtle (Perhaps there's a reptile vet or one that they know of???) Good luck.

Well nothing helped me to make pooky open his mouth, but i hope if im dropping on his mouth some will enter! Today i went and bought the Cod liver oil and applied it, my question is, how many times do i apply it on his eyelids? And i tried finding the diluted Pedialyte that steve advised but i couldnt find so i bought something similar to it called: BabyLyte 240ml, my question how much water and from babylyte do i put? And marisa i called the sanctuary no one there that can help me now! I really appreciate your help and hopefully poooky get better! Thank you again

Hello again, this is the newest picture of pooky, his eyes look worse! im putting once a day the cod liver oil, is there anything i can do plz help? Thank you!

Hi Sireen, Pedialyte would be diluted with water 1:1, so I would try the same. You can try the oil every few hours, or once you notice it to be absorbed. If the swollen eyes are not due to a Vit A deficiency, then the cod liver oil won't be of much help.

I'd try the cod liver oil once or twice a day, especially with the vitamin injections he's had, on the eyelids with a q-tip. If it is a Vit A deficiency, there should be some improvement in 3 or 4 days. If there isn't any at all, then I'd stop it.

What is the rest of his set-up like?

Thank you steve i did what u advised and put him out in the natural sun, he seems to enjoy it! And marisa i continued with the Cod liver oil, today he was able to open both eyes but still very swollen! His tank is small coz caspian turtles arent good swimmers like res, i have another res turtle in a big tank, he's healthy and in good shape! ill update you if anything happens and i hope the next time i write in this forum pooky would be better hopefully! Thank You so much!
I attached a picture of Bully my res turtle and another pic for pooky when he was healthy!

I hope he gets well soon and is back to his old self! Keep us posted!

Thank you jessiebuck for ur wishes... Hi again, i really appreciate ur help steve and marisa but pooky eyes didnt get better at all and now he is making a sound when he breaths:( so if its not Vitamin A deficiency what would it be? Is it RI? And f yes what kind of antibiotics should i give him? if u can give me the name of the antibiotic then ill tell the vet and maybe he can help me with the dosage and injection! And today i called all the zoo we have in leb but no one could help me! I will try and search if there are any reptile vet in the countries near lebanon like syria or jordan coz i cant just sit and watch my precious pooky suffer:(I swear it hurts alot! I need to make sure i did everything i can for him! Thank you alot, you are the only ones who are helping me out!

If he's wheezing (making a noise when he breathes), he most likely has a respiratory infection (RI). Baytril (enrofloxacin) is one antibiotic that is often given for it. Fortaz (ceftazidime) is another. Dosage is by the turtle's weight.