Reptile & Amphibian Forums

first of all, the man at the pet store lied to me in telling me what type of turtle "bear" is. he said that he was a painted but he's really a slider... BUT anyways, Bear is very sick, in the last few days i have fixed his water temperature and he should be eating again and basking again soon. He has some open wounds on his back that arent terribly deep, i have antibiotic on it and i'm hoping that he wont hurt himself anymore and cause it to bleed again. everytime i pick him up to put more medicine on him he panicks and starts thrashing and eventually when he relaxes he will play with me but he seems to HATE being out of the water at all even under his basking lamp. i hope that he starts to feel better. he was in the pet shop for 3 weeks before i could bring him home and every time i went in to see him he was sitting in the corner staring at the back wall all tucked in his shell... does this mean the water there was too cold too? what happens if he doesnt start eating soon, is there any way that i can force feed him... or get him to eat? is there anything else that i can do for his shell? (hopefully i will have pictures to put in here soon of his shell)
Thank you VERY MUCH
-Ellie-

Have you taken it to a vet?

Linda

i havent taken him yet but he is actually doing much better already. i kept him out of the water for an hour yesterday and he's MUCH more comfortable around me now . i cleaned out his cuts and found that the two big ones are healing pretty nicely all though i think that i should let them air out possibly at least once a day. i think that he wasnt eating or basking before because the water was too cold. now i have it higher around 78-80 and yesterday i was worried that it wasnt going to help but this morning when my fiance went into his room/the living room he scampered off of the rock. when he told me i ran in and there was bear, having gone off the side of the rock towards the wall laying on his side half on the rock half off face mashed against the wall butt sticking up in the air... so i turned him around and helped him back on top of the rock then turning him towards the water he went off the steepest part of the rock sailing into the water and frantically swimming towards the regular wall... SO that means that
1. He was basking (at night after his light was out... weird)
2. he's not just swimming frantically at the corner any more
3. i watched him for a while last night and he would come up by the rocks and then swim away and while i was watching he was scratchig at his face which makes me think that he stared into the light and hurt his eyes (but i'm not sure... why else would he scratch his face with his hands)
4. i noticed at one point that he shook his hind legs and it looked really silly

!! i have been assuming that this next thing was just turtle "poop" but i'm not sure... there have been white slimey balls in the bottom of his tank mornings and it looks like a cross between frogs eggs and snot but its all together in a small clump w/ only 3 or 4 little balls all together... this morning there was some brownish-black clumps which made me think that he ate something that i fed him... if this isnt "poop" is it bad?? !!

OH YEA... i think that he's a boy but i'm not sure, right now i just want to make sure that he's going to continue to be my cuddle monster

thank you again
Ellie

If it is shell rot which what it sounds "dry docking" him is the best. Because when he is in the water his shell does not dry and doesn't allow the wounds to breathe or heal. Some people keep their turtle in dock for four or five hours a day. The longer out of the water the better. Yes they are an aquatic but can live without water for a long while. So just try to keep he out of the water for several hours a day and keep put the meds you are using.When dry docking him make sure it is the same temp at the basking area. Take care Shannon

when i "dry dock" him, should i take the ointment off, i know it keeps the wound clean but it also sortof keeps it wet too. i now have pix of his shell and the funky white stuff but i'm not sure how to put them on here... monday, i'll put them on my website and put a link on here... thank you so much for everything

Yes continue to put the ontiment on it. The fungus thrives on being wet and warm which is what he would have swimming around in tank. Just keep up the good work. Shannon

Thank you... i've had the water warmer for about 5 days now and he seems to be doing a lot better. I think that he is eating now though he does it when i'm gone in the mornings. I have been "dry docking" him durring the day to help his shell which seams to be doing MUCH better, all though it's pretty stinky Because i have been taking him out of the water and sortof playing with him he is a lot more comfortable around me and doesnt jump as much when i come toward the tank. He still jumps and ducks but when i touch him he doesnt fight me anymore. Last night he was staring at the lamp again after i put him back after drying him out and i went over, turned off the light, and placed him on the rock. He stayed there and started to sleep untill i turned off the living room overhead light b/c i was going to bed, when rather than scampering into the side of the tub and hitting his head again he slowly slid into the water... When i first take him out to help him dry off he will open his mouth ALL the way and stare at me but after i tell him to "shh" he'll put his nose out for me to touch he usually runs in my hands (from one to the other) and sometimes depending on the time that i take him out he crawls down into my lap and under the side of the cloth that i use to help with his medicine (its clean) he'll sleep... i havent found any big nasty white/green clumpy things in his tank the last 2 days and i think thats good...

Thank you!!

PS how do i put up picutres?

i would not use the ointment...it slows healing by blocking air from getting to the wound. Can you get Nolvasan? If not hydrogen peroxide is better than nothing. Some vets suggest a water-bleach solution with 5 percent bleach 96 percent water to clean. Seems less destructive to new cell growth then betadine.

Keep the dry dock place warm but not above 82 or so....He will dehydrate quickly. Small turtles seem to lose water faster as well so i wouldn't dry dock him over night like peopel do with adults...maybe 4 - 6 hours.

You should start looking for a reptile vet near you because even if it heals the infection may becomes sytemic and he could die from complications.

For food try smelly things like canned fish (packaged in water, not oil or juices or sauces) boiled chicken or fresh fish
or live things like crickets and blackworms or pre-killed minnows, guppies or platies or mollies.

Change the water completely everyday. This will help enormously in keeping infection down.
Every few days wash the container with a weak bleach solution (allow it to sit for a half hour) and use no soap. Rinse many, many times after bleaching. Then rinse some more.

Good luck.