Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have an ornate box turtle I have had for a few months, when I first got her I took her to the vet and they said she was very healthy. now I have noticed that she is not quite as perky as usually and when she first wakes up one of eyes seems like it is stuck together or something like that. She is still eating, she gets, greens, fruit, turtle pellets, occasionally some baby food and she gets crickets, mealworms, superworms, waxworms a real nice variety.
She does have a very large water dish that she soaks in all the time and I ALWAYS change the water. She is even setup with a temperature gradient between 70-90 and a humidity gradient dry repti-bark on one side and cypress mulch with some moss on the other. So I am not quite sure what is going on, my concerns are the lethargy and the swollen eyes. Any suggestions
Thanks
Christina
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1 Russian Tortoise (Willy)
1 Ornate Box Turtle (Lily)
1 Red Eared Slider (Chester)
2 White's Tree Frog (Kermit & Phil)
1 Red eyed Tree Frog (Justin)
2 Big Eyed Tree Frog
2 Bubbling Frog
2 Tiger Leg Tree Frogs (Akari & Shiro)
3 Amazonian Milky Tree Frogs
1 Dwarf Megophrys
1 Rainbow Burrowing Frog??
1 Praire Dog (Timmy)
2 Chinchillas (Layla & Snickers)
4 mice (Gabby and friends)
1 dog (Holly)
2 Cats (Champ & Bear)

Oh and a husband

Christina, there is no need to have any "dry" substrate at all for a box turtle kept indoors under lights. The bedding should be moist for the turtle at all times. From the conditions you list, humidity could be a part as to why she is not as active and has the eye problem. You don't mention UVB lights, do you have them as well?
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Tess
Kingsnake.com Forum Host

Yes I do have uvb reptisun 5.0 and there is a 60 watt basking bulb. I did do a mini-log of temps in her tank and they are a little on the lowe side so I am going to add one of those night glo bulbs another 60 or 75 watts and I will keep it on at all times to maintain a higher temp and then just have the basking and uvb to come on at light to increase it more. The tank currently drops to about 69-70 at night I think it is a little low and although the basking area is warm the rest of the tank is not. I do not like using those ceramic emitters I have just heard and had too much difficulty with them
As for the humidity. I keep hearing conflicting reports on how much humidity an ornate box turtle needs anywhere from 30-60%. The last post I got information from someone who said they did a humidity gradiant similar to a temp gradiant. I have had in her tank repti-bark with jungle mix mixed together. I just recently changed it to half the tank the above mixture and the other half cyrpess mulch. When I came home she was BURIED in the cypress, is that good or what.
Thanks for your help,
I actually have a vet appt for her on MOnday in case it is vitamin a I can get her a shot right away.
Thanks
Christina
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1 Russian Tortoise (Willy)
1 Ornate Box Turtle (Lily)
1 Red Eared Slider (Chester)
2 White's Tree Frog (Kermit & Phil)
1 Red eyed Tree Frog (Justin)
2 Big Eyed Tree Frog
2 Bubbling Frog
2 Tiger Leg Tree Frogs (Akari & Shiro)
3 Amazonian Milky Tree Frogs
1 Dwarf Megophrys
1 Rainbow Burrowing Frog??
1 Praire Dog (Timmy)
2 Chinchillas (Layla & Snickers)
4 mice (Gabby and friends)
1 dog (Holly)
2 Cats (Champ & Bear)

Oh and a husband

I would try adding more Vitamin A rich foods such as sweet potatoes (most box turtles love plain baked sweet potato) and carrots before getting a Vitamin A shot. It's easy to overdose on Vitamin A, and I usually ask a vet to give half of a recommended dose if I do get decide to go through with a dose.

Eye problems can be an early sign of a respiratory illness, so a good herp vet can help make that determination, and decide if antibiotics are needed. Reptiles don't work on the same time frame as mammals, so they often don't show signs of stress, namely infections, for days, weeks, or months after the stressful event(s), so it's not uncommon for a seemingly healhty turtle to become sick weeks or months after purchase.

Rather than a humidity gradient, how about a humid hide box? A Gladware container or small Sterilite container with a hole cut in the side and filled with damp sphagnum moss could work. Box turtles love to dig and hide in the substrate. Although ornates come from dry climates, I would assume they would dig in the soil and possibly use dens of other animals for protection from the heat, and that would create a microclimate more humid than the outside air.

Katrina

thank you so much for your help. I like the idea of a 1/2 dose. she does get carrots but she doesn't eat them, so when i add baby food i try to use carrot. well i take her to tne vet tomorrow i will keep you posted.
thanks again
Christina
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1 Russian Tortoise (Willy)
1 Ornate Box Turtle (Lily)
1 Red Eared Slider (Chester)
2 White's Tree Frog (Kermit & Phil)
1 Red eyed Tree Frog (Justin)
2 Big Eyed Tree Frog
2 Bubbling Frog
2 Tiger Leg Tree Frogs (Akari & Shiro)
3 Amazonian Milky Tree Frogs
1 Dwarf Megophrys
1 Rainbow Burrowing Frog??
1 Praire Dog (Timmy)
2 Chinchillas (Layla & Snickers)
4 mice (Gabby and friends)
1 dog (Holly)
2 Cats (Champ & Bear)

Oh and a husband

"Oh and a husband"

LOL, yeah, gotta include the husband, I supppose. They do take up room.

Katrina

I don't know if I'd even go with a vitamin A shot yet.
Since these symptoms have recently come on, a little
cod liver oil would probably work wonders. I have had this
happen several times with ornates. Their eyes get sticky, they stop eating and sometimes they show symptoms of a mild respiratory infection. I increase the heat and start force feeding baby food chicken with drop or two of cod liver oil, sometimes gatorade or pedialyte and vitamins and calcium.
If she is still eating you could dip the end of a superworm in some cod liver oil. Don't completely coat the superworm as it will kill them almost instantly, and that would be too much oil. They should just get a drop or so over a period of a few days.
Usually they respond within a few days. Are you using a vet that is experienced with reptiles?

now when you say the cod liver oil will kill them you are referring to the superworm and not the turtle correct.
you mentioned your ornates, do you currently house ornates and if you do what is your setup.
She is still eating, she eats like crazy I am SO afraid of overfeeding, can you do that? I truly think she would just keep on eating b/c I hand feed her the live stuff, sometimes I will let a cricket loose she chases it for a few minutes and then she gets it pretty quickly. I actually noticed that her eye looked a little better today. I am going to check it in the morning before my appt and I may or may not bring her. You know what it is, I sometimes get a little bit on the paranoid side.
Thanks again
Christina
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1 Russian Tortoise (Willy)
1 Ornate Box Turtle (Lily)
1 Red Eared Slider (Chester)
2 White's Tree Frog (Kermit & Phil)
1 Red eyed Tree Frog (Justin)
2 Big Eyed Tree Frog
2 Bubbling Frog
2 Tiger Leg Tree Frogs (Akari & Shiro)
3 Amazonian Milky Tree Frogs
1 Dwarf Megophrys
1 Rainbow Burrowing Frog??
1 Praire Dog (Timmy)
2 Chinchillas (Layla & Snickers)
4 mice (Gabby and friends)
1 dog (Holly)
2 Cats (Champ & Bear)

Oh and a husband

The cod liver oil will kill the superworm, at least that is something I have witnessed a couple of times. The fact that she is eating like a pig is great. If the eye doesn't completely clear up, you might try the cod liver oil, and at this point it probably wouldn't take much. Most of my turtles are hibernating (saw one out this week for a short time)but I brought some in right before their first freeze because they weren't buried sufficiently and their eyes seemed puffy and sticky. I initially intended to hibernate them in a rubbermade tub in the garage after I watched them for awhile. They seemed to get worse and I finally took most of them in to a vet for a respiratory infection. I also figured out I didn't have things warm enough for them. So after increasing the heat (100 watt bulbs) and baytril, they are all doing very well. I did have one that I didn't take to the vet because she seemed better, and was eating once I increased the heat. She did, however, start to get sticky eyes, so I gave her a superworm dipped in cod liver oil for 2-3 nights and her eyes got better.
Since these guys weren't in great shape when I brought them in, I don't have a substrate in their tub. They each have their own little soaking container and I change the water at least three times a day and make sure they get in when I change the water. Some will stay in much of the time, some choose not to.
I do have some juvenile 3 toeds and ornates in damp peat moss and some hatchlings on damp bed-a-beast.
Don't worry about being paranoid. Its much easier to pull them out of a very mild slump than a more serious one. I had a hard time with one of my sick ones because I was not able to force feed her babyfood or meds. The vet gave her and my other ornate that was the sickest, injections, but with the others, the vet gave me liquid baytril (I think it was the stuff they use in injections) and had me give it to them by mouth, and they responded very well to this. I was supposed to follow up on the two who received injections with oral baytril but haven't been able to get any in the stubborn three toed. Fortunatly she's started eating and seems better.

Keep us posted on how your turtle is doing!