Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey gang, new to the site but not herps. Our recent rescue mission to the local major chain pet store brought an extreamly sick Ornate to our house, not to mention two starving anoles (they are doing better now). We knew it was ill that is why we bought it, my other half took it straight to her work (she is a vet tech and a great clinic and yes they know turtles well) She was given injections of vitamins B, C, D, eyes cleaned up. She has an abscess behind each eye, one in the mouth(huge), shell issues and the runs. Being the major COrporation we saved her from she was in low humidity, eating basically only mealies and who knows how long they had her and where she came from. Anyways, to the point she is set up in a large rubbermaid type container for now with ecobark (deep enough to burrow), large bark pieces to climb under, water dish, uvb lighting, temps ranging from 85/88 to 70/72. She will recieve an outdoor enclosure this spring/summer once the snow leaves and the temps rise and then will be able to hibernate each winter. However due to her condition now is not the time to go in to a deep sleep and since we brought her home 2/23/07 she has wanted nothing to do with food (mango/apple/shredded carrot/shredded broccoli stems/grapes/mealies/waxies/crickets/etc) she just wants to stay burrowed. Any advice????? I have tried soaking her but she just leaves the water and heads back and burrows down. I have tried placing her in warmer locations to stimulate her, but again back to digging.
Sorry for the length of the post but I wanted to include all the info I could
Thanks
Brian

sometimes when turtles that normally hibernate, aren't for various reasons, they have a tendency to go off of food for awhile and generally just slowdown. however box turtles are earth worm fiends, get a wiggly one and put it right in front of her. best of luck.

thanks for the advice, Ill pick some up for today
Brian