Urgent Care :: won't take meds

[susan]

hi. i'm having a problem with my sick turtle. i took him to the vet and was told he had a bit of shell rot, but his biggest problem was that he was very malnourished. (i've only had him a few months; he came to me that way.) anyway, the vet suggested i raise the water temp and suggested some ways to get him to eat. (i've had minimal success with that.) my biggest problem is that i can't get him to take his medicine. he's always been very shy to begin with, but at this point i can honestly say he hates me. he swims and hides every time i come near the tank, and he refuses to come out of his shell when i pick him up. there is no way i'm going to get his mouth open to insert the little siringe to squirt the medication into his mouth. i know that if i can get him to take his meds, he'd start feeling better and would probably eat more. what should i do?? i hate to think about bringing him back to the vet; it was so terribly expensive.

he is about 7 inches across. i've had him since november. my set up is fine, according to the vet.

thanks!

[Starchick]

Call the vet and see if they can administer the drugs for you, or if they can show you how to do an injection. They gave me the same sort of thing last time for Napoleon's respiratory infection, and even if you can get them angry enough to open their mouths, you squirt the stuff in there and as soon as they shut their mouths it comes back out their noses. As a result, he didn't get the full dosage and the infection came back. I'm not sure what other ways there are to give meds to turtles, these are the only two I'm familiar with, but giving drugs orally with a syringe will not work if your turtle won't even poke his head out, and you should call and tell your vet that.

[jenaero]

I'll tell you something that worked for me. I had to treat my box turtle for worms. It was an oral medication and I was wondering how on earth I was going to get him to take it when, not only can he tuck his head in, but he can also close his shell! What I did was I got a small syringe from the vet, along with the liquid meds. I injected a butterworm with the correct dose and he ate the butterworm. Eventually he figured out that they didn't quite taste the same and started refusing them, but he got enough meds in to do the job.

[Turtle addict]

My vet told me about something that may work....get some un-flavored geletin. Mix it like the package says and before it sets put something it really really likes in it, for a red ear liver, tuna, shrimp whatever they really like. Then let it set up. I use an ice cube tray for this. Then once its set cut a small block of it and using the syringe put the med into the center of it and insert the liquid medicine. Give it to the turtle and cover the tank with a towel or blanket over the front. Walk away and leave it be for a bit. The gelitin takes a slower time to dissolve and by then the turt should have eaten it. You can change the flavors so no figureing it out. This works for both land and water turtles and tortoises. I give mine this stuff once a week as a treat..no meds to make sure they always eat it and when meds are needed they will get that in for sure.