Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've gotta female amboina box turt (malay box turt), and she seems to be sick !!! When i first saw her, i thought she was sleeping with the other two i housed with her. When i came, she had no reaction whatsoever, while the other 2 are starting 2 wake up & eat. She seems listless and her eyes are constantly closed. I also noticed she seemed weak, with limbs just hanging. She's still breathing. Another thing is she also has no reaction on water. When i transfered her to a bucket, she started moving around a bit, then gave up, dangling legs, just floating there.
The problem is, she urinated twice when i held her, and i fear that she could be weakened or dehydrated. Another thing is she's not eating at all. I'm trying to force feed, but i cant even get the mouth open, and she goes into hiding. 1 more thing i noticed, she seemed thinner than before, unlike the other 2 which are beefy in comparison.
At the moment i'm keeping her in a temporary plastic container & a lamp to keep her dry. No water. Paper towels as substrate. Some apples & strawberries i blended with a little water and mixed with vitamin calcium supplements for feed. Theres no herp vet here in Jakarta.
Her outsides seem fine, except the noticeable lack of meat between the limbs, weakness eyes always closed. Wont react 2 food. Just peeks out and stays there, closed eyes.
Any more sugestions? on how 2 force feed a turt, and is it right 4 me 2 keep her dry in such a setup? what do u suggest? please help, i'm not sure how much longer she will stay like that.
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My "babies" :
1.0.0 Indo BTS (Tiliqua gigas gigas)
0.0.1 Rainbow skinks (Mabuya multifasciata)
1.0.2 RES (Trachemys scripta elegans)
0.0.3 Amboina box turtles (Cuora amboinensis)
1.0.0 Chinese softshell (Trionyx sinensis)
1.0.0 Asian leaf turtle (Cyclemys dentata)
1.0.0 Leopard gecko (Eublepharis macularius)
And still growing...

Take your turtle to a vet!

If you don't have access to a vet you are in trouble. She may have an infection, parasites, or both. I would let her have a very shallow tray with water to soak in and keep her warm as you have been. It doesn't sound good though if she is noticable thin. Keep her warm a comfortable and see if you can get her electolytes into her by adding it to her soaking water.

Thats the main problem with herp keepers here, we've gotta rely on our selfs. She died this morning, barely moved from her place last night. Had a lamp on her & some of the fruit mix i tried earlier. She didn't touch it at all. The warmth didn't really helped either. She was a good one, had her for almost 3 years. I've expirienced necrosis twice, but this is nothing compared to necrosis. She seemed quite healthy, except for the sudden weight loss between her limbs & no reaction whatsoever.
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My "babies" :
1.0.0 Indo BTS (Tiliqua gigas gigas)
0.0.1 Rainbow skinks (Mabuya multifasciata)
1.0.2 RES (Trachemys scripta elegans)
0.0.3 Amboina box turtles (Cuora amboinensis)
1.0.0 Chinese softshell (Trionyx sinensis)
1.0.0 Asian leaf turtle (Cyclemys dentata)
1.0.0 Leopard gecko (Eublepharis macularius)
And still growing...

FOr some reason I recall a herp vet does happen in Jakarta. For future use, I would start by searching out other herpers and see if they know of one, also ask the local zoo and see who they use. Even look into government offices and ask which DVM is used for import/export purposes. They should be familiar with reptiles.

Ian

Without vet treatment and Vitamin A shots or parasite treatment all you are doing is prolonging a slow and painful death.Once a turtle becomes listless and cannot open it's eyes soaking in pedialyte,force feeding by holding turtle upside down and injecting squash baby food(high ion Vitamin A)with an eye dropper,and keeping the temps higher than normal with correct humidity still will not bring the turtle back to a full recovery .It needs vet treatment or it will eventually die.You are just prolonging the inevitable.I found this out myself the hard way.This is why you should not buy from pet stores especially in colder months because they are often wild caught and housed together so that if 1 has an illness it is passed to the other turtles.Symptoms may not show until you have bought the turtle.Please be aware of this.

I'm sorry but that is not true at all. I have brought
several turtle back to health by doing exactly what you
say will not work.....soaking in pedialyte, warming and
force feeding baby food chicken with vitamins and occasionally
cod liver oil and pedialyte(or gatorade).

To say that is not possible for illnesses to resolve themselves on their own or with supportive care is ridiculous.

Yes, its better to go to a vet when you can, but thats not
always practical or possible. I have several animals and have
had some significant financial difficulties over the past year
so I have to be cautious when I use a vet. And I have used
two different vets for turtles in the past, but I always try and
see if it is something I can deal with first.

Anything is possible but when a turtle is listless and it's eyes are constantly closed the turtle will PROBABLY die unless the owner takes it to a vet for shots.Even then it is MORE PROBABLE that it is too late to save the turtle in its advanced stage of respiratory illness.Take it to a vet please.Thanks

While recommending a vet is never a bad idea, to suggest what you have is a rather limiting statement. Stuff like this is best dealt with on a case to case bases, but of course, over the net, we arn't in the position to be doing so.

Ian

Was she in with males? Males are very agressive, and if she was kept with a male, it's possible she was heavily stressed. Stress can weaken the immune system, and contribute to weight loss, particularly if the turtle hides during feeding time to avoid a male or agressive tank mate.

Katrina
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1.2 Eastern Muds - Fred, Ethel, Edith
0.1 Iguana - Tiffel
0.1 Bearded Dragon - Foster
Foster turtles: More than I'd like the husband to know about.

I highly recommend investing in a feeding needle/tube and at least a 12 cc syringe.

Right now, Dr. Fosters and Smith have feeding needles on sale. I am also a huge fan of Nekton reptile vitamins that can also be found there.

My youngest box turtle escaped and was found 3 months later in the garage and weighed practically nothing. Felt like a hollow shell. I let her finish out hibernation in the house and waited to hear her moving around.

Once she was I offered a huge variety of food to no avail, she wanted nothing to do with it. Sunken eyes, hollow feeling shell, listless, no leg strength...on deaths doorstep you'd think.

Out comes the feeding tube and baby food w/Nekton. Took about a week of daily belly fulls to convince her that she wanted to eat.

Now she eats like a pig and runs all over the place, quite a character.

Getting the mouth open isn't easy but with persistence and patience, it can be done. Slide the tube down the side of the mouth and all the way in. Food goes right to the belly. Leave a little in the mouth when removing the tube to remind them how good food tastes.

Don't ever be discouraged and think it is over.

Here's a picture of my boys and girls before they go out to the garden. As you can tell, I'm doing something right...

and my Houdini turtle. Notice the green eyes???? In person they are a very vibrant green. All the others have you standard boxie eye colors.

Dr. Fosters & Smith Feeding Needle

It's important to remind everyone that forcefeeding in this fashion is an invasive proceedure that should not be undertaken by amateurs who have no experience! It's VERY easy to do more harm than good and it's better to have a vet do it and demonstrate proper technique.
Giving advice on veterinary care via the internet is not a good idea: nor is accepting such advice.
If your turtle is sick and you don't know what to do, take it to a vet!

It's important to remind everyone that forcefeeding in this fashion is an invasive proceedure that should not be undertaken by amateurs who have no experience! It's VERY easy to do more harm than good and it's better to have a vet do it and demonstrate proper technique.
Giving advice on veterinary care via the internet is not a good idea: nor is accepting such advice.
If your turtle is sick and you don't know what to do, take it to a vet!

Giving veterinary advice would have been what I did had I opened my herp formulary, told what to get, where to get it and amounts to use. Tube feeding, while invasive can be safely done by amatuers with the proper equipment.

In this persons case, vet care is limited and/or nonexistent. Some "choices" are better than none.