General Care Discussion :: Recovery time?

[hi9215]

Hi guys, just wondering, but how long does it take for a RES to recover from an illness, and how can you tell when a turtle is starting to get better? Thanks!

[Tampa Bay Turtle Fan]

Hiya back, It differs not knowing the circumstances behind the illness and if it is being home treated on minor issues or veterinarian treatment. Usually exotic vets can determine how long it will take and tell you during their diagnoses up front and of course based on the antibiotics utilized as prescribed. It is a tough question without the details and what for.

[hi9215]

Thanks for responding! I'm sorry I didn't think about sharing the details, I didn't think about that. Anyway, I did go to a vet, and she gave me tobramycin opthalmic 3%, an antibiotic that I should drop on my RES's face once daily to help with opening her eyes, and in hope that she would inhale the antibiotic in to kill the bacteria inside her body. She gave me special food to force feed her (she's not eating) , and some calcium to help boost her shell. The vet didn't really specify exactly what type of sickness my RES has (she's 1.5 in, about 4 months old), something about a bacterial infection. I did boost the water temperature and have a basking site, and my RES stays on the basking site all day, occasionally gasping for air here and there (I feel so bad!). She was healthy before and would beg for food, swim around a lot, but now she sleeps all day. She got worse until I started giving her the antibiotics from the vet, but now I feel like all the antibiotics did was slow down the process of the illness from spreading as fast, her symptoms have beem the same since the past week and a half I started doing the meds. How do I know when my RES is better? Thanks again!

[steve]

Was this a herp or exotics vet? Certain meds suppress appetite, but I would expect things to return normal quickly if successfully treated. A bacterial infection sounds a bit vague, what were the symptoms prior?

[Tampa Bay Turtle Fan]

You are very welcome. You specified plenty here but not all on the ID of the bacterial infection itself. This is a great antibacterial ointment but tends to work a bit slower than baytril which is usually prescribed in similar treatment plans and safer then baytril for bacterial infections. Tobramycin opthalmic of course is a weaker form in general being utilized as a antibacterial and anti-inflammatory primarily within the eyes of many species of reptiles. You should clearly see based on your vets treatment plan, see signs of improvement if you follow the vets orders anywhere from day 3 though 5 days and it should get better from there on out based on what the bacterial infection has been identified as..

By the 7th day, if you do not see any improvement, I would re schedule with the vet because by then, if it gets worse and the since the vet did not ID the type of bacterial infection it was to you, you can be in a more serious phase. As Steve pointed out with saying " bacterial infection sounds a bit vague", I feel the same way. I am sure your vet did I.D. the infection correctly so my recommendation is to call the vet to verify what I said here and to ask what type of bacterial infection it is . Even if you are unaware of the name, write it down on paper in the best spelling you can.

[hi9215]

Thanks you for your recommendations! My vet's an exotic vet, by the way, and the symptoms where my turtle yawning a lot in the water, gasping for air (open-mouthed) occasionally, and weird liquid bubbles coming out of her nose, and she seemed to have a hard time opening her eyes. When she swims, though, she doesn't really swim weird, she just runs out of energy and then stops moving and floats in the water (I though she died a couple of times), but then she sticks her head out of the water and crawls back on the basking plank. She wasn't eating before I took her to the vet. I asked my vet and she said my turtle had a respiratory infection, and they don't use baytril because it's not very safe (too strong and has side effects), especially for baby turtles. So I guess I will have to wait a longer time for her to recover because I'm not using baytril, and am using a weaker antibiotic, does a couple more weeks of healing sound about right for a full recovery? Thanks again!

[Tampa Bay Turtle Fan]

I agree, anything under a year old reptile, baytril is really strong, over a year old is when they start using it. Shes right with the age of your turtle. Yes, approximately 15 days for a full recovery if it is a RI as she said but it can be up to 18 days max. She will start eating though way before then based on the current plan. Exotic vet or herp vets is fine really with experience. Many cities do not have vets that specialize in only herps were other cities do. I recommend staying away from regular dog and cat vets however as they tend to lack the experience needed. Did your Vet specify the temperature levels to you that it should be kept in during treatment? Normally for this it is around 82 degrees but if she did not, please ask her to be sure. Also inquire about sterilization of its enclosure during and after. She would agree with me here as well.

[hi9215]

I see, thank you for your information, I think the vet wanted to check back on my turtle, though, she told me to bring my turtle in after a couple of weeks, she may tell me about sterilization then (like how to clean the tank after and stuff ... Is that what you were saying?), and I did boost the temperature to 82 already. I guess then I'll wait a couple more weeks, thanks!

[Tampa Bay Turtle Fan]

Regarding your question on cleaning and sterilization, Yes that is what I meant. Basically think of the turtles health as your own. For instance, If you land a flu virus, after you start feeling a bit better on medications, you wash all your bedding, pillow cases and all so that you eliminate any possibility of a recurrence. Well the whole aquarium is your turtles domain there for sterilization should be maintained especially after a RI. Now vets have their own preferred choices and recommendations for this and it is 1 of 3 ways normally. Check with your vet first and prior to see her recommendations and if needed, I can provide the three ways that you could consult with her about.

[hi9215]

Ok, thanks. I'll make sure to ask my vet about sterilization, but can you tell me the three ways anyway? Thanks!

[Tampa Bay Turtle Fan]

Here is a beneficial link that explains most everything in regards to the area we are discussing here that you could expand your knowledge on below my posting. The only thing not mentioned that could be used during the dry time between these steps ( cleaning, disinfecting and sterilizing methods described in the article ) would be direct natural sunlight for hours . Natural sunlight as a dry time can help eliminate remaining bacterial issues as well. A spray bottle for each mixed solution used would be helpful and very cheap to have on hand .

Here is the web link http://www.anapsid.org/cleaning.html