Urgent Care :: Lung/head injury?

[Dazzled]

Yesterday I was washing my RES (Tacky) shell when I accidently dropped the showerhead on her! It hit her either on her head or on the front part of her shell where the lungs are.

She withdrew into her shell and started bleeding, with mucus from her nose. You can't imagine how sorry and anxious I felt. When she finally popped her head out she was having difficulty breathing, wheezing and gasping for air every few moments, but the bleeding stopped.

She ate a little and isn't moving as much. I brought her to the vet the next day and the vet said nothing looks broken in her head area, and it may be an injury to her lungs. She administered anti-biotics and an injection.

So everyday for 3 days I'll have to give Tacky a jab at her butt and a drop on her nose. I feel soooo sorry, I wish I could have taken the jab for her instead since it was my carelessness.
Right now Tacky still has trouble breathing and I keep checking on her to see if she's still alive.

Any idea what I can do to make her feel more comfortable? Should I put her in water? She seems to wheeze less out of it. Any idea what are the survival rates for RES with lung injuries? How long will it take for her to heal? My country is situated near the equator, a tropical island really, so the average temperature is 80 to 90 F.

Here's a photo of her when she wasn't injured.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/140/359516536_d82cb00762.jpg?v=0

[marisa]

Welcome. You've got a pretty RES. The shell wasn't cracked at all? Where exactly did the bleeding come from---the nose (to me it's unclear from what you wrote)? I'm wondering why the vet didn't do an x-ray to see if anything was wrong internally...At this point, I'd be keeping a very careful eye on her and taking her back to the vet (this is a vet trained to deal with turtles/exotics?) if her behavior changes.

I don't know about survival rates for lung injuries (you don't know for sure if this is one---you vet said it "may be a lung injury" or the length of time it will take to heal---these are questions you should ask your vet.

Aside from antibiotics, what other injection was your turtle given? What meds are you injecting her with now?

Did the vet specifically say to keep her out of the water? If not, I'd put her in water (don't make it very deep so she doesn't have to expend energy swimming, about shell length should be OK) and create a basking area that's super easy for her to get on.

If a turtle's shell is healthy, it's not really necessary to "clean" it. Wiping with a soft cloth or a gentle rubbing with a soft brush if there's algae on the shell should suffice.

[industrial_girl_2000]

Oh gosh, I'm sorry to hear this happened!

I agree with Marisa.....definitely make sure this vet is qualified to see "exotics" and an xray will help you see a bigger picture.

[Dazzled]

Welcome. You've got a pretty RES. The shell wasn't cracked at all? Where exactly did the bleeding come from---the nose (to me it's unclear from what you wrote)? I'm wondering why the vet didn't do an x-ray to see if anything was wrong internally...At this point, I'd be keeping a very careful eye on her and taking her back to the vet (this is a vet trained to deal with turtles/exotics?) if her behavior changes.

I don't know about survival rates for lung injuries (you don't know for sure if this is one---you vet said it "may be a lung injury" or the length of time it will take to heal---these are questions you should ask your vet.

Aside from antibiotics, what other injection was your turtle given? What meds are you injecting her with now?

Did the vet specifically say to keep her out of the water? If not, I'd put her in water (don't make it very deep so she doesn't have to expend energy swimming, about shell length should be OK) and create a basking area that's super easy for her to get on.

If a turtle's shell is healthy, it's not really necessary to "clean" it. Wiping with a soft cloth or a gentle rubbing with a soft brush if there's algae on the shell should suffice.

Thanks, I thought I was the only one who thought Tacky was pretty.
Nope, her shell wasn't cracked at all. She bled from her nose, although the bleeding stopped, there's still some mucus at her nose and a bit of a film at her mouth.

My country doesn't seem to have vets who are specialised in reptiles, but the clinic that I went to said it could deal with all pets and aquamarine creatures. I didn't know they could do x-rays on turtles..
The vet did say I could put her in water, though not too deep.

I'm suppose to drop Aminophylline on her nose once a day, and inject baytril/saline solution into her once a day too.

At least she seems fine, not very lethargic, although appearances can be deceptive. I have a bit of trouble injecting her, since I was a little hesistant to poke a needle into her and she was quite unwilling to have a needle at her butt too. Afterwards she gave an accusing stare at me, as if saying "Why'd you do that for!"

Here's some more pictures of her when she was still ok.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/133/360175819_ce3ae91490.jpg?v=0

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/131/360175816_3425de2f40.jpg?v=116900684

[grey goose]

From those pics, I'd say your "she" is a "he".......

[Muirner]

i say it's a lil young to tell... way to young.

[grey goose]

I don't know, Murner, those nails look awfully long......

[marisa]

I need to see a pic of the tail for sexing---but from the pic, Tacky does look a little small to tell for sure.

How is Tacky doing? Is s/he having any trouble breathing? Is s/he eating? Baytril often affects the appetite, so don't be too surprised if s/he loses the desire to eat while on it.

[Dazzled]

Tack's tail is short, stubby and small in comparison to her body. The bottom of her shell's flat, her nails are quite short and she's as cranky as a girl with PMS every month.

The last part was a joke. Somewhat. But I think she's most likely a girl, I'm having troubles transferring pictures to my computer at the moment, so I can't show you a picture of her tail.

To my greatest relief, she's better than the day when she got injured. She's gasping/wheezing less often, although her appetite is slightly diminished, her eyes still light up when I bring the bottle of turtle pellets near.

But I guess I'll stop those every-30min-calls to my house to check on Tack, when she stops gasping completely and eats enough for a rhino.
Being on this site helped eased a lot of my tension, I'm glad to know there are people who also think turtles are very lovable. Thanks for all the concern, really appreciate it.

[cam722]

Sounds like she's doing better.. glad to hear it. If the appetite is still there, then I'd be very happy..

lol I for one being female will definitely acknowledge that we can be a bit cranky when pms'g..

[steve]

Is she scheduled for any follow up visits with the vet?

[Turtle Love]

What a scary moment!! Happy to hear things are better!

[pumpkinsherbet]

oh wow! well i don't really know the answer to your questions, but i just wanted to say i hope tacky feels better! i think i'd have a heart attack if that happened.

best advice is just do what the dr. says.

[da sAUCE!]

man I hope she gets well soon. best of luck.