Reptile & Amphibian Forums

A student brought in a wild caught box turtle w/ an inner ear infection. Should I lance it and treat it or just rerelease it? (re-release is the goal) Will it get well on its own or will it eventually kill the turtle w/out treatment? I want to do whats best.

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You can disregard the silly experimental anaesthesia part and just have a look at the reply string initiated by kensopher--there is some good info in there.

Thanks, I definitely would not try anesthesia, but I still feel conflicted. Will it heal on its own or does it need to be lanced.

I don't think you understood my post. Disregard the anaesthesia part and read kensopher's reply. I'll direct link to his replies:
Reply 1
Reply 2
The reason I linked to the original post was so you can read everything in context.
Good luck!

It's possible we'll see more wild box turtles with ear infections due chemical pollutants that affect metabolism or utilization of vitamin A. Some of these turtles may not make a full recovery unless lancing is done. I saw an abstract of a study on wild box turtles with ear infections -a couple of dozen were collected and a few were in poor health-that could meant they would have continued to decline and die.

If this is a wild caught turtle it should be given to a wildlife rehabber and vet- they should make the call whether the abscess should be lanced. All box turtles should get expert attention whether they are wild or pets.
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Tess Cook
www.boxturtlesite.info