You know I'm still worried about Dottie.

I don't know if you remember, but I lost a female ornate last summer. I had been worried about her yet she really didn't have any symptoms....there was just something different. Her patterns were just a little off. She ate fine, she was just a little quieter and was hanging out in different areas than she normally did. Unfortunatly, I can't remember if I ever observed her to see if she was walking normally.

So, you can imagine how I am fretting over Dottie, probably my absolute favorite. She enthusiastically ate some superworms and "biljack" dog food last night, both coated with vitamins.
She does seem to be walking normally.

I haven't been able to get her to eat any romaine or tomato this week though, although ornates seem to be more finicky about veggies, I think most of mine eat them occasionally.

My problem is, my family's finances are the worst they've ever been. I do have some reasources to deal with vet bills but I still have to be very careful.

What kind of prudent course could I take with Dottie without spending a fortune on every test imaginable, to try and figure out whats wrong? Would you start with a fecal and basic bloodwork? The vet says he has a way he can collect urine directly from her and has suggested doing that to see if he can find any of the parasites. Maybe, also, some sort urinalysis is in order?

How long should it take to see an improvement with the flagyl?
The vet has me giving them 10 doses of it, its been impossible for me to get it to all of them every day, but I'm just writing down when I dose them, so I'll know when they have had 10 doses.
Dottie, I'm making sure she gets it every day. The others are getting it on average every 2-3 days.

I might consider an x-ray to see if she's eggbound. I haven't seen any nesting activity with her and she has laid eggs the last two summers. But, its still somewhat early in the season. But, if there is something wrong, and its the same thing that took little yertle, little yertle didn't have any eggs.

Dottie had been soaking excessively with little yertle and the day Little Yertle died Dottie was in the water bowl all day and I finally pulled her out late that evening and put her in one of her favorite hiding spots for the night. Since then she has periodically moved on her own to dryer spots, but she still overwhelmingly prefers the water bowl, or the mud hole that forms when I leave the water trickling in the water bowl all day, which is what I do when it is really hot. Otherwise I just refill the bowl several times a day.

It has been very hot for this time of year, just like last year.
Last year I attributed Yertle's(the one I lost last year)
strange behavior to the excessive heat. I don't mean that I think the heat cause heat stroke or anything. Their pen is in open shade with some relatively small sunny spots that change with the sun. But it is hot enough to influence their behavior for early June. They normally don't experience this until mid July when they've ready for a dormant period after eating, mating and nesting throughout the spring and early summer.

Anyway, any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks for listening!

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