Urgent Care :: Rescued dying Map turtle from Pet store URGENT

[jay2487]

I saw this near dead map turtle at the Pet store. I had to try and save him. He can barely open his eyes or move but he can if he has to. I saw some type of puss or something come out of his eye when he was basking and he wiped it away. I know that whatever his condition is it was caused by poor care. He was in a wash basin with one basking bulb and a piece of driftwood, when they fed him they dumped food in and never removed what wasn't eaten. Please tell me what I can do to improve his chances. He will sink to the bottom if i put him in deep water so I don't think he has RI, but he doesn't have the strength to swim back up he has to find something to climb. I have him on a dock under heat and UVB. Any tricks to get him to eat? Shoud I? What can i do?!

[BSC]

You didn't actually pay for it did you??

Personally I wouldn't buy a sick turtle from a store, because then the store knows that they can raise turtles poorly and still make money from them.

[jay2487]

Look I'm trying to help an animal in need not discuss the evils of capitalism. Yes the turtle was $20 and the only guy there that is worth a s*** gave me half off for being the only person that cared enough to try. At first glance you would think it's dead so I'm sure they wouldn't think displaying dead animals is profitable. You can rest assured every one in the store knew why I purchased it and what I thought about how they kept it.

[V Lou]

I would move him between clean, warm water and a walking/basking/uv area, because he isn't strong enough to do it on his own. Clean water to drink and hope he recovers enough to accept food at some point. I'd assume he hasn't had sufficient protein to keep him healthy on all kinds of levels and insufficient nutrients in general. So, quality, emergency protein once he will accept it - tuna? Calcium will be an issue, so some canned salmon pieces with some of the soft, crunchy bones. And, of course good pellets, vegies for vitamins, etc.

I'd see a vet for the eye; Vitamin A deficiency is a possiblity as a cause of his eye problem, due to malnutrition, in addition to the possibility of infection causing his eye problem. He might need a Vit. A injection or something from the vet. Other organs could be at risk with a Vit. A problem, in addition to just the eyes.


Poor turtle. Awesome of you to take this on. The first things on my list would be to take him to a turtle vet that people in your area recommend. When you get back, I bet others from this site will have written/given you some great advice.

[jay2487]

I got an appointment but they cant exept me for emergency treatment until next week due to the irregular cold weather here in Fl all the herp vets are filled up. I called one normal vet and when he told me to take him out of the water and try to feed him while dry docking I decided he probably wouldnt be able to help. I am going to drip some cod liver oil in his eyes, I was told that would give him a vitA boost and help soothe the eyes. If he sinks like a stone in water does that mean he probably doesn't have RI? He is too weak to swim but if put in the water he can climb the decor and plants to get out so I cant tell if hes listing to one side or not. He has absolutely no energy, will the heat alone cure that?

Update:the pet store guy(the one that cares) just called and said he had his vet friend drop off some meds and is going to give them to me along with directions on how to use them. Still I shouldn't do anything but treat the eyes before actually seeing a herp vet?

[seanwb]

All I can add is that Maps have a reputation for not tolerating poor water. So with the improvement in water quality by your kind act of buying him, you have improved the odds.

As for food, mine eats any pellet, shrimp (dried or alive), finger or thermometer that goes in the water, but went totally crazy for pellet sized pieces of carrot (before I found out it was not good for them too much carrot). If you have a carrot handy, could be worth a try.

Mine does not eat out of water. I could be wrong but I think they can only eat in water, so if he will not eat dry docked, try feeding him in water.

They also have a reputation for being a bit skittish (no one has told mine), so it may be worth backing off for a few minutes to let him settle before trying to feed.

All the best with care for him.

[LittleResQNorth]

Pedialyte, it's found in the baby isle of any drug store or Wal-Mart, get flavourless. Warm it to room temp and put him in it. It'll give him a vitamin boost.
Dry dock him because sinking is still a sign of an RI, just a really bad one. If he is sick you should be able to clearly hear his breathing because he's so small.
For food try wet canned cat food or soak pellets in tuna water, get a syringe from the drug store (smallest one they have) and try to force feed him because if he won't eat then he won't live.
Be prepared to lose him though, sick baby turtles aren't easy to cure once they're so far gone. I would suggest not giving him that medicine until you see a vet. I would also be concerned since this guy has a 'vet friend' yet he did nothing to improve the turtles care while they had it. And without a vet seeing the turtle, seems strange, vets don't just hand out meds.

[V Lou]

They are closed now, but if our turtle vet clinic is open tomorrow, maybe they will let me inquire, find out the emergency care instructions, given what you have told us so far about his case. Probably won't work out, they might be closed for the weekend, but I'll get back to you if I find anything out. Tomorrow morning....

[jay2487]

UPDATE: So I did the cod liver oil and also got some turtle eye drops which said was high in vitamin A and have been treating all weekend. When I first got him he could barely swing his head from side to side and couldn't pull in his head. I put him in a 55gal hospital tank and tried to feed him some tuna but he chose to go for the baby shrimp instead and wouldn't touch the tuna(weird right?)

As of this morning he is able to swim to the bottom and back up to the top where before he would sink like a stone and have to climb back up. He also expelled quite a bit of substrate so that may have had something to do with it. I put him in the 6ft tank(his permanent home)on sunday morning and kept the temp above 80 until sunday night and let it go back to the normal 75. He still spends a long time basking, and doesn't have much of an appetite or energy but man he is 300% more active and better than he was in that wash basin full of yellow water at the pet store. The pink puffiness that had welded his eyes shut has completely healed and he can open both fine, the pink reddish raw spots on his skin are even looking better and his colors are starting to come back somewhat. He still needs a lot of care but I think hes going to make it.

One more question, Maps are more carnivourous than RES's right? Should I be feeding mine a mostly meat diet or greens? I know he needs some small bony fish for a week or two for calcium he probably never has gotten before but after that what would be a good diet? First map I've ever cared for and the care sheets I read say mostly carnivorous but one also said that a little gravel through the system can be helpful so...

[seanwb]

Most care sheets I have seen have them down as omnivours, but more carniverous than sliders. I find mine will eat anything that goes in her tank. (Unlike my slider that refuses to eat any veggies even if I starve her for a week andc over it in Tuna oil.)

My Mississipi Map is thriving on reptomin (some Mauzri) and dried shrimps and krill.

When I get a chance I feed her live River Shrimp (may be called Ghost shrimps your side of Atlantic).

Excellent job with the rescue so far. I really hope he makes it.

[jay2487]

I am definitely going to try the pedialyte bath,
@seanwb, yeah we call them ghost shrimp here but he's too weak to catch anything yet, it also seems that his beak is getting overgrown, anyone have a suggestion for that? I have two cuttlebones in the tank already, i heard that helps

[V Lou]

I can't find the vet I wanted to consult. The cliinic isn't listed anymore....

Offering vegies can't hurt; he'll eat what he will. He needs proteins and vitamins; both are primary, along with clean water. The clean water helped him clean out his system. It is great that his system flushed so obviously. It is still de-toxing. In my opinion, proteins are extremely essential in his condition. Try earthworms/nightcrawlers, from a local WalMart or sporting goods store. Those are naturally in pond/lake environments, so a natural suppliment that I include in my turtles' diet and they go crazy for earthworms. The cuttle bone is great to offer him, too. If he'll eat pellets, they would be great for the vitamins. He might prefer pellets over vegies at first.

Did you see this webpage already? http://www.turtlepuddle.org/health/eyes.html

I am so glad he is doing better.

[jay2487]

Very helpful info, my turtle would definitely be in the important category as he has almost all those symptoms. Especially the lethargy and shell rot. I think I will try the pedialyte thing suggested above. My vet is still all filled up fixing frozen iguanas so I am going to have to wait before she can see my turtle.

[rsour24]

is he doing better at all jay?

[jay2487]

somewhat, hes moving more and can swim good, but he'll lay in the basking area until he's so dry and stiff his eyes start to weld back shut and I have to push him in the water. but when he gets them open and is swimming he gets around fine. He doesnt really want to eat much but compared to how he was when I got him hes 300% better, still not a sure thing on survival but I'll keep on trying