redearslider.com

Hi,

My friend is on vacation and left his turtle for me to care. I also have another one that's my own, and that one's fine so far (touch wood).

Anyways, this one he left is pretty small, and i don't know how old he is, but I'm guessing around a year.

His cheeks were puffed up when he gave it to us to watch the turtle, but now one side (the right side) has puffed up exponentially. Really concerned about it and in my location (Vancouver, BC) there isn't any herp vet to help. Wondering what should be done by myself.

Here's the images:

It's an ear Abcess. Very painful and can be lethal if not treated.

Bring it to the Vet ASAP!

"common condition that turtle keepers face is an ear abscess. It is an ear infection that is easily noticeable in the form of a lump on either one or both sides of the head. It may appear to be swelling or inflamed due to bacteria developing either from poor habitat conditions, previous respiratory ailment, injury, or some other unknown manner. This type of infection will not disappear by itself. It may cause the eyes to be swollen closed. It may also cause swimming and orientation problems. A vet visit is required to lance and drain the area so it can then be cleaned and disinfected. It is not a procedure that inexperienced keepers should attempt to try themselves. "

ear abcess. check this thread: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=32334&hilit=ear+abscess
*edit
i dunno if the medicine in that thread needs prescription. start looking for a herp vet.
would you know if the turt had a Respiratory infection before?

Have you looked for herp vets or exotics vets? It shouldn't cost too much but it should be operated on. (It usually involved lancing, extracting, antibiotics, dry docking.)

The turtle shouldn't have had RI before.

and i've tried to look for herp vets/exotics vets, but there's none in my area (Richmond, BC, Canada)

Anything I can do without going to the vet? Should I dry dock him now?

Just saw a vet since my turt has a lump on his left cheek. Vet said the lymp nodes are inflamed. Possibly from the previous RI. He did not want to lance it since anesthesia would be tricky to administer for a small turt (usual replies i've read in this forum of vets who wouldnt treat small turts) and lancing would possibly introduce further complications. I know this is contrary to what others have done in this forum but what can I do but trust the vet. He works in our local zoo and is dealing with reptiles including turtles. Tried contacting several vets but herp vets are hard to find here. He recommended amoxicillin to be administered for 14 days. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed. There were some contradicting information. He didnt recommend the basking light unless temperature is really cold. But I'll have to trust the forum here since my turt seems to love basking. He had his hind legs outstreched and crossed. He usually preferred human calcium supplements rather than the reptivite I bought.

@jenyip33 - Dry docking won't help. Check out this site and contact them for who they would recommend for an abscess removal: http://www.reptilerescuerichmond.org/contact.htm

They might even have someone there who's experienced with it.

@darla1699 - A good vet can do this quickly without anesthesia, but I guess it depends on their policies/training/experience.

@steve- i'll see what happens after the antibiotics. if the lump doesnt heal then I'll find another vet. keeping my fingers crossed. the vet apparently owns some reptiles but no turts. But the zoo he works for has hundreds of RES.