Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Finally got what I wanted today.
I wish I knew how to make arrows on the photos where I could label different areas, I'm just not that whizzy. LOL

In the new photo you can't see this as well as you can for real, but there's the area on the left side of his body where part of the shell was totally gone. Today it's pinkish colored but it's new growth! That entire hole in his body has filled in with new shell growth, that's so exciting!

Ken you'd asked about how badly broken he was.
His break was really bad, devestating injuries IMHO. The plastron was broken apart badly at the top, parts of it gone in the upper middle & broken near the bottom. Then on top of all that he was badly infected by the time the vet treated him. Now that I see the photo here I can see that by looking at it you really can't tell how badly broken the rest of his plastron was, all you can really see is the hole in it.
Last year I didn't hold out a whole lot of hope that he'd even make it. But wow not only did he, he's thriving today.
Here's the pics again, before & today.

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PHRatz

OMG! It is truly amazing how well he has healed! I wanted to cry about the first photo, but I cheer for the second photo!!

>>OMG! It is truly amazing how well he has healed! I wanted to cry about the first photo, but I cheer for the second photo!!

So you understand how excited I was last week when the vet popped off the acrylic that covered him! The students who were there with me just weren't grasping why I was so thrilled.
I just could not get over how much he'd healed, I really didn't expect to see what I saw.
I'm a little disappointed that on the side- on the margin, he's grown back a little bit crooked but it doesn't bother him. If it doesn't bother him then that's what matters most.
I'm just so happy for him.
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PHRatz

That is really terrific progress! It's amazing to see what they can recover from.
You are VERY fortunate to have a vet who is knowlegeable and willing to go the extra mile, and your animals are luckey to have you around.
Thanks for the update.

>>That is really terrific progress! It's amazing to see what they can recover from.
>>You are VERY fortunate to have a vet who is knowlegeable and willing to go the extra mile, and your animals are luckey to have you around.
>>Thanks for the update.

Thanks Steph!
Like I've said I am well aware of how lucky I am so I just keep my fingers crossed that things don't change any time soon!
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PHRatz

That is amazing! Good Job!!!! That is one lucky Box Turtle! A friend told me she had no room in her house for her pet female Eastern Box three days ago, and she knew about my large turtle pen and the other Easterns that I have, so she brought it over and asked if I would care for it. The poor thing had an terrable inner ear infection, A huge lump on the left side of its head. I had just watched a DVD on removing the infection that is sold by carapas press. and read about it on several web pages. So I gave it a shot, the poor turtle look so pained! So, I strapped on the rubber gloves, grabbed the steril scalpel and made the little cut. after a few seconds of turtle positioning, I was able to get all of the infection out. That stuff stinks!!!!!!!! well, She seems very happy now. and was eating huge worms on her second day of recovery. She may have to spend this winter inside but Im so glad that I went ahead and did it!

>>She may have to spend this winter inside but Im so glad that I went ahead and did it!

IMO she for sure needs to stay in for the winter.
This is how I got Hope the one who ran away because the tortoise bent the pen. Her owner told the vet she wasn't going to pay for treatment but she would be willing to run her over with the car to put her out of her misery. The vet I used then said no to that. He fixed her then gave her to me. Luckily when she ran away she was very healthy.. it was 15 months later.

It took her quite some time to fully recover from a double ear infection. Have you spoken to a vet about some antibiotics for her?
Mine needed to take them for 10 days or so after having the gunk removed from her ears.
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PHRatz

Ear infections can be tricky...I have found that its really important to flush the wound thoroughly on a regular basis for a good while after the surgery to make sure it stays clean. And of course antibiotics are in order.

>>Ear infections can be tricky...I have found that its really important to flush the wound thoroughly on a regular basis for a good while after the surgery to make sure it stays clean. And of course antibiotics are in order.

Yes I'd forgotten about that until you mentioned it Steph.
I had to flush Hope's ears for several days after the vet had done the surgery.
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PHRatz

It's stunning, just stunning! I have a hunch that Ornates are much tougher with trauma like this. I think the reason that my Easterns have healed so much more quickly is because they frankly don't survive THAT degree of damage...not to mention the infection. They die before anyone can get them to me. Normally, when I get them, they're still bleeding. The fresher the better when you're dealing with this stuff. Again, great job Ratz!

>>It's stunning, just stunning! I have a hunch that Ornates are much tougher with trauma like this. I think the reason that my Easterns have healed so much more quickly is because they frankly don't survive THAT degree of damage...not to mention the infection. They die before anyone can get them to me. Normally, when I get them, they're still bleeding. The fresher the better when you're dealing with this stuff. Again, great job Ratz!

Ohhh ok so now I get what you were saying about the Easterns. I'm too am amazed, truly amazed that he was able to survive that much damage.
He's the reason why I had such high hopes that the hit by car turtle I took in Sept. would make it but she was quite a bit smaller than he is & we have no idea how long she'd been sitting injured somewhere when that man found her & took her to the vets who don't know how to treat turtles.

Another thing that amazes me about Chip & how tough he is that telazol knocked him out completely for a couple of days last year. He had the tube in him so I just kept feeding & watering him. There was one morning when I thought he was dead but even though he was out I could still get reflex responses from him so I just kept up with hydrating him then he came out of it.
He's going to be tough to handle when they put the new acrylic on this week because after that happened she won't use telazol on him again & ketamine makes him groggy but it doesn't knock him all the way out.
He wanted to live, he's a strong willed little guy.
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PHRatz

A couple of DAYS!! Good gracious, Ratz, you sure have some stories. I was almost brought to tears when a huge male EBT took nearly 8 hours to wake up. It was just a simple abscess Sx. I couldn't imagine waiting for days! You must have been a wreck.

For the reasons you mentioned, my Vet and I started using Propofol exclusively. It's expensive, but they handle it so much better. The difference is very noticeable. It's labeled for one-time use, but I must confess that we froze it immediately after drawing and re-used it several times. Maybe your Vet would consider keeping a bottle frozen for rescues. The concern is apparently that needle insertion introduces bacteria and that Propofol actually supports bacterial growth. That was the information we were given via V.I.N. Liberal alcohol scrubbing of the stopper before drawing and freezing afterwards were our attempts to curb the growth.

P.s. They still fall asleep front to back and wake up back to front.

Ever try to box one down? I did it once. I used up an entire bottle of ISO. The Vet was NOT HAPPY to say the least. I can't remember how long it took, but it was hours.

>>Propofol exclusively.

I'll mention this to her & see what she says & YES I was a wreck when he was out like a light! LOL

>>Ever try to box one down? I did it once. I used up an entire bottle of ISO. The Vet was NOT HAPPY to say the least. I can't remember how long it took, but it was hours.

Oh my gosh ROFL!!! YES I've been there but it was my mud turtle, not a box turtle. It was actually the very first time I met my current vet back in 1998. She was fresh out of vet school & was an intern for a country vet in a tiny town 45 miles or so from here. I'd been working for the only so called herp vet in this town but I quit because the man was a lunatic, a drug addicted alcoholic lunatic who for obvious reasons is not here today.

I needed a herp vet, a student in the vet-tech program told me about this new doctor being in that little town so we packed up the turtle & went to see her... this was unusual, it had actually snowed here so off we go in the snow.
She wanted to run blood tests on him but a nail clip didn't get us anywhere so she said let's mask him down. They didn't have a box where she was working. Half an hour later when we were giggling our heads off smelling that nasty ISO, there's Scooter sitting there looking at us like what is WRONG with you people? "Mr.I'm Gonna Hold My Breath All Day" wasn't fazed at all.
Her boss was not happy at all either LOL!

Without blood tests, with her being fresh out of vet school.. she cured my turtle. I was sold on her long before she moved to this town. Scooter the mud had had some stones in his urinary tract, she cured him with medication that she'd called in at my local Walmart pharmacy. The pharmacist laughed at her when she ordered it but I had the last laugh. I made it a point to tell him that what he'd mixed cured my turtle.
His jaw was on the floor! lol
Keeping turtles is never dull!
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PHRatz

That's hilarious, Ratz! You made my morning. I felt like I was actually there. Great story!

P.s. What is it about ISO that turns people into Beavis and Butthead? "Huh huh, that turtle's nose is big." "Heh heh, yeah, big nose, big nose!". I could swear that, by the end of the day, I'd be hung over from breathing that stuff.

>>That's hilarious, Ratz! You made my morning. I felt like I was actually there. Great story!
>>
LOL Glad I could make your morning!

>>P.s. What is it about ISO that turns people into Beavis and Butthead? "Huh huh, that turtle's nose is big." "Heh heh, yeah, big nose, big nose!". I could swear that, by the end of the day, I'd be hung over from breathing that stuff.

Oh heck I forgot to mention this- she'd injected him with ketamine before trying to mask him down & it had zero affect on him. Of course she couldn't inject another drug after that so.. lol
heh heh heh you said hung over heh heh heh heh heh
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PHRatz

>>A couple of DAYS!! Good gracious, Ratz, you sure have some stories. I was almost brought to tears when a huge male EBT took nearly 8 hours to wake up. It was just a simple abscess Sx. I couldn't imagine waiting for days! You must have been a wreck.
>>

I had a large snapping turtle with a crushed skull knocked out on ketamine for over 2 days before he finally came around. I was without sleep literally that entire time as I had to keep misting him as his eyes were stuck in the open position lol.
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PHWyvern

Yikes! Someone get this person some Puralube. You just gob it in the eyes, and you're good to go.

I admire your patience, and dedication! How did the turtle fare? In my experience, a snapping turtle can survive nearly anything as long as the lungs are intact.

>>Yikes! Someone get this person some Puralube. You just gob it in the eyes, and you're good to go.

Now that is a better plan!

>>
>>I admire your patience, and dedication! How did the turtle fare? In my experience, a snapping turtle can survive nearly anything as long as the lungs are intact.

Me too, I wonder how did the turtle fare?
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PHRatz

>>>>Yikes! Someone get this person some Puralube. You just gob it in the eyes, and you're good to go.
>>
>>Now that is a better plan!
>>
>>>>
>>>>I admire your patience, and dedication! How did the turtle fare? In my experience, a snapping turtle can survive nearly anything as long as the lungs are intact.
>>
>> Me too, I wonder how did the turtle fare?
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>>PHRatz

This occured several years ago. I don't think puralube existed back then as I've never heard of it lol.

The turtle had been deliberately run over. The skull was broken in several places and part of his upper jaw was broken and there was a 6-7 inch length of the carapce from right behind the neck split in half down along middle of his back. I spent little over a year rehabbing him before he was fit to be released back into the wild.

Funniest of all things it was my vet who brought him to me!
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PHWyvern

That's really admirable. I know how difficult snappers are to work with. You must have had a heck of a time. Kudos!

It's funny how you become marked when someone knows that you'll take injured creatures. At an apartment complex where I lived a bunch of years back, the word got out. I'd come down in the morning for work and find all sorts of carnage in the back of my truck! I'm talking everything from mange-infested puppies to dead female opossum with little babies crawling all over the place. My Vet had to institute a policy...if Ken brings it in, he pays for it. It's a good thing I moved!

>>It's funny how you become marked when someone knows that you'll take injured creatures. At an apartment complex where I lived a bunch of years back, the word got out. I'd come down in the morning for work and find all sorts of carnage in the back of my truck! I'm talking everything from mange-infested puppies to dead female opossum with little babies crawling all over the place. My Vet had to institute a policy...if Ken brings it in, he pays for it. It's a good thing I moved!

YIKES!
I think that's a common problem.. I know someone involved with a golden retriever rescue who told me once that if you file papers, apply for permits & get them, then you're name is out there- look out. People will dump all over you until you can't take any more in.
Right now that's what's happened to my vet. Every time I go there (which is pretty often,) she's got something new. The other day it was a Savana moniter who's owner said "I didn't think it would get that big."
I'll bet Wyvern knows a little something about that kind of thing.
Wyvern does such a good job saving so many though.
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PHRatz

Yeah, the word does get out! I'm fostering a baby eastern box turtle for a wildlife animal hospital....they do a great job with medical issues but longer term care can become problematic for them.
A little ironic but true.

>>I had a large snapping turtle with a crushed skull knocked out on ketamine for over 2 days before he finally came around. I was without sleep literally that entire time as I had to keep misting him as his eyes were stuck in the open position lol.
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Holy cow! That's one I would've set up next to my bed with a spray bottle so I wouldn't have to get up to spray. Just set the alarm every 2 hours & spritz LOL!
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PHRatz