Urgent Care :: Is this URI?

[eb46296]

How big is your turtle? ~.3 grams, 1-1.5inches long
How long have you had it? Since Feb.10th

What is the water temperature? ~80
Are you using a water heater? yes
How much water is in there? ~25 gallons
Are you using a water conditioner? yes
Are you using any filtration? yes

What is the basking temperature? ~90
Is there a basking light? yes
Is there a basking platform that is easy to climb on? yes
What kind is it or what is it made out of? zoomed, attaches to the side of the tank with suction cups
Is there a UVB light? yes

What have you been trying to feed it? Zoo med hatchling aquatic turtle food, and fresh romain letuce
When was the last time your turtle ate? It is still eating

How big is the tank/pond/enclosure? 40 gallons
Is the tank near a window? To the side of a window - no sun light hits the aquarium
Is the tank in a room with a lot of activity? mild

Have you read the Basic Care section? yes
Have you searched the forums for similar situations? yes, and from what I have read I believe my little guy has an upper respitory but I am not sure.

Is there any other unusual activity/symptoms? He has been basking most of the day, while sitting on their basking site he tends to hold his head cocked to one side (like when you are trying to listen closely to something), he is still eating, and he is still swimming, except when he swims hs is a little tilted to the same side he tilts his head to but he can straighten up and swim just fine. He does not have any discharge from his eyes or nose, and is not blowing bubbles.

I work for a vet in another town (not a claimed herp vet, but the vets do have the knowledge), so treatment would be not problem. I just dont want to put the turtle through a treatment if it isnt needed. May be I am just being paranoid about him, he has only been acting like this today.

[SpotsMama]

Have you seen him breathing with his mouth open or yawning? Does he seemed more tired or less responsive than usual? For example, when you walk up to him when he's basking, does he leap off the platform like he's being chased, or does he just sit there?

[eb46296]

I have not seen him breath with his mouth open, nor have I seen him yawning. He seems to be basking more than normal, about twice as much, but he still looks up and watches me when I walk up to the aquarium like he usually does. So I guess to answer your question yes I think he is sleeping more than normal. I did see him swimming a while ago, he would swim in a few small circles, and then swim away.

Also I do have some clindamycin hydrochloride here at home...I found in some veterinarian proceedings that this was safe to use in reptiles, but has anyone ever personally used it for their turtles? I hear that Baytril seems to be the antibiotic of choice, which is fine if it is needed I can certainly get some from work but I wont be able to get to work until Thursday.

[megcornell]

When my turtle had an RI i took her in after she started listing- swimming lopsided. I didn't wait for the lack of appetite and other symptoms to follow.. she was only a hatchling and I didn't want to wait too long and have her recovery take longer than needed/ lose her. When one of my pets is sick my personal thoughts on it have always been to get treatment at the first notice, especially if you have a vet to easily access... no harm in checking. I don't think baytril is used for RI's, that's more of a treatment for topical infections.
It's good you elevated the water temps, I would get some oral antibiotics/ injections from your vet if they agree that an RI is possible/probable.
Good luck.

[SpotsMama]

Megcornell is exactly right. The turtles that get RI and survive are the ones that are treated early and aggressively. If it were me, I'd take him in right away.

Your water temp is pretty good at 80 degrees. You can bump it up a few degrees. If he's sick it helps his immune system to keep him warm.

I do believe Baytril is used for RI. It's often injected. Here's a link on it:

http://www.redearslider.com/index_health_1.html

Good luck! Keep us posted.

[eb46296]

Thank you all for all of your help! The vet I work for call in a prescription to a vet thats closer to me for baytril. I started it this morning - it wasnt very easy to give though being that he is so small. I think I will be using it as injectable from now on, orally is just to stressful for both of us. My biggest issue is that he stresses out when I tried seperating him from the others. So the vet said to leave him with the others since he has no discharge so that he doesnt stress and make things worse. At least none of the others have any signs of it, yet. The vet also said that he may have inhailed some water and this may be why the others are fine. Thank you all for your help. An please say a little prayer for my little guy.

[eb46296]

P.S. On the plus side he his swimming around alot more today.

[SpotsMama]

I'm sending you both my positive thoughts. It was so good of you to get treatment for him so fast.

[eb46296]

Thank you! I hope he gets better soon, he has such a good attitude. To be honest I am a little nervous having to inject this little guy, but giving it to him by mouth took quite some time and was very nerve racking for both of us. I did go get a new water heater today so he could be completely comfortable.

[SpotsMama]

Several people on here have had to inject their little turtles with antibiotics. It wasn't fun but it was doable - and best of all it works. They can give you tips on how to do it, I'm sure.