Urgent Care :: Koopa won't eat and just sleeps

[dragon_PR]

He's been more active after the basking light was placed lower and more directly overhead... but not eating yet. I'm going to the market to get a head of lettuce and see if he'll eat the greens. Did take him to my vet but she didn't seem that knowledgeable and knew it was a gamble. She wanted to him with her to home, she's been my dogs vet for 5yrs now and we've developed some trust. But asked if she had a tank and somewhere where he could bask and the answer was no so I was hesitant in accepting the offer. The reason she wanted to take him with was to allow him to have direct sunlight in a open space, is that an option I can try? I have a canister that can be filled with water and a smaller basking platform that he should still be able to fit. Another was that she wanted to try a "special" blend of food of flavorless gelatin, kale, trout feed, vitamins/mineral, among other things that she got from a vet care book she has on hand...

There still 5 rosy red's in his tank, untouched and ignored :/ as well as the Anacharis...

I'll keep you posted!

Thanks for all the helps so far!

[ljapa]

Yes, you can take a RES outside to bask in sunlight. You can even take it outside for a bit without setting up water. I have a Rubbermaid storage container I'll fill with water. There a rock for a basking area. I'll talk Tobi out and put her on the lawn for 20 or 30 minutes then put her in the water so she can thermoregulate.

She's only once actually basked on the rock. Watch them closely. They can move fast on the ground, and they can be tempting to a hawk even in the water. But direct sunlight has to be healthier than artificial. There's no way we can duplicate that spectrum.

[penelope]

I applaud you for going to such extremes to get to a vet.
Before making the trip again, you may want to verify that the vet knows about RES.
I hope all goes well. Maybe this place can help:

Puerto Rico Veterinary Medical Association
Evymarie Miro, Administrative Officer
352 Ave San Claudio, Ste 248
San Juan, PR, 00926-4107
Phone: 787-283-0565
Fax: 787-761-3440
E-mail: evymarie@cmvpr.org
Web site: www.cmvpr.org

[steve]

Hold the fish by the tail, let it wiggle in front of his face, and hopefully he will eat it.

[dragon_PR]

I applaud you for going to such extremes to get to a vet.
Before making the trip again, you may want to verify that the vet knows about RES.
I hope all goes well. Maybe this place can help:

Puerto Rico Veterinary Medical Association
Evymarie Miro, Administrative Officer
352 Ave San Claudio, Ste 248
San Juan, PR, 00926-4107
Phone: 787-283-0565
Fax: 787-761-3440
E-mail: evymarie@cmvpr.org
Web site: http://www.cmvpr.org

Thanks! I always try my best to give my pets good care. The vet I went to is said to be an expert in reptiles including RES. My friend that recommended him also has RES, 2 in fact, and one had the same symptoms as Koopa is presenting and was treated and is well.

My usual vet, who treats my dogs, doesn't know much about RES... so I have to make the trip again. Hopefully I'll get leave from work so I can go tomorrow...

[dragon_PR]

Yes, you can take a RES outside to bask in sunlight. You can even take it outside for a bit without setting up water. I have a Rubbermaid storage container I'll fill with water. There a rock for a basking area. I'll talk Tobi out and put her on the lawn for 20 or 30 minutes then put her in the water so she can thermoregulate.

She's only once actually basked on the rock. Watch them closely. They can move fast on the ground, and they can be tempting to a hawk even in the water. But direct sunlight has to be healthier than artificial. There's no way we can duplicate that spectrum.

Thanks! was going to give this a try yesterday but we had a very cloudy weather and he wouldn't of had a good sun bath... My major concern is if he manages to tip the container. There's two gate with opening enough for him to crawl under and that goes to the road... Also have 3 huskies, but I'd bring them inside while he's out.

Had thought of using a storage container with some water and a small basking platform inside. Hopefully there'll be a clear sky when I get out work and he'll be able to bask out.

[dragon_PR]

Koopa is back to being lethargic and still no interest in feeding whatsoever and just sleeping Can't tell if he has eye infection or just sleeping, I'll upload some pics taken yesterday of him. My vet said that putting him in the Sun, mentioned already, would "activate" him and he'd be active and eating again... as I mentioned, we've had bad weather in the past few days with lost of haze and then dense clouds hovering over.

How long can he go without eating? it's been 8days now and I'm getting worried. He's still strong, keeps his head up and thrashes about when I pick him up...

I've placed a piece of lettuce and its been untouched... I think he fed on ancharis, but didn't see him do it, cause there were pieces missing.

Could he be going into hibernation? don't think it's the case since his water is warm, 85°F and the basking area too.

I know how to deal with dog illness but RES is so new and so different...

Appreciate all the help!

[dragon_PR]

Hold the fish by the tail, let it wiggle in front of his face, and hopefully he will eat it.

I'll give this a shot once he starts to be active again and see if it works.

[dragon_PR]

Took Koopa to the Hep Vet today and he got a full check up. The diagnostic was vitamin deficiency, but this was kind of known... He did inject Koopa with two vitamin supplements and said to feed him raw shrimp in pieces and cichlid pellets inside his carrier container. Sadly Petsmart had a sale and they were out of medium size pellets so I got him Exo Terra Juvenile pellets...

Hopefully he'll recover with the "boost" of vitamins the vet applied and the eye drops that were recommended. I'll keep you guys posted/

[dragon_PR]

Koopa is in the same state, he's not eating and barely moving. The only food he's had is the force fed mash of raw shrimp that the herp vet gave him this past Saturday. I'm really worried at this point and don't want to loose him

His eyes are opening a bit today with a slight slit. Now he's showing signs of weakness, barely being able to move around the dock and will not go into the water. Afraid that he'll also get dehydrated since he's not going onto the dock step as he used to to thermoregulate and get wet.

Applying the drops 2xs a day, morning and evening, and putting him the critter carrier with about 2" of water and a few pellets and a piece of raw shrimp for about 1hr. He just sits there...

What else can I can do?

[steve]

Sorry to hear it, but it sounds like force feeding is the only option right now.

[dragon_PR]

Yeah, that what I thought... wanted to see if there were anymore options.

But... Woke up this morning to find him swimming around the tank with eyes wide open and very responsive. Dropped in a few pellets, a piece of raw shrimp and a few dry shrimp to see which he'd go after. He didn't eat anything, guess it'll take him sometime to get back to complete normality. He did go after a dry shrimp but didn't eat it...

Seems that the drops did their thing, THANKS! Should I continue to apply but just once a day for a few days to ensure he'll keep progressing? Don't want him to regress back into the state he was in.

I'll keep you posted with the progress.

[steve]

Well, above all else, you need to get him to eat. He's not going to get better if he's too weak.

[dragon_PR]

He started eating again on the 3rd in the afternoon feeding. At first it was just a bit of the shrimp and then he started eating the meal worms as well. He's seems to be back to his healthy eating habits. ATM I'm just giving him 4 red shrimp and 4 meal worms, since I want to monitor his eating habits and see if he's done a full recovery. Need to see if he'll go for fresh raw shrimp as well. Plan to keep him on that amount of feed to see if the pyramiding is less noticeable when he reaches maturity. Or are these portions too small?

Left a stem of anacharis in the tank so he can go after that when he wants some greens. Going to check the diet section and see what other vegetation I can get locally for him. So far I've found that one of the local pet shops has water lettuce for sale. Going to get one today and put it in my planted tank and let it grow a bit before feeding it.

The red rosys seems to be his friends now cause he refuses to eat them. He just swims toward them and looks kinda curious at them.

I'll be posting some other questions in their respective topics.

Thanks!

[steve]

I don't know their amount in relation to his size, but you do want to ease into it and not over do it. He's not getting the best foods right now, but it's progress.