Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I know im going to get yelled at for this but please I need help. My baby RES has a nasty upper respiratory infection and I cannot afford to take it to the vet. He is weezing and is not eating please please please soemone help me out with some advice or any home remedies. Does anyone know the name of the medicine they prescribe to them when they have an upper resp infection, I can find a way to get some. ANY help will be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks,Vanessa

i am sure u will get plenty of the "dont get the pet unless u can afford to take care of it in good times as well as bad" so i'll try to stay away from that... but the only 'remedy' (which isnt even really a REMEDY to CURE upper resp. infection) is to increase the temps of the water so that the immunites in the turtle can increase. but i am fraid without the correct antibiotics from a vet... you're turtle will most likely die. especially if it's as bad as u say it is! i know that the vet gives the turtle shots of antibiotics, but i have no clue which antibiotics they are. and no, u cant give your turtle human antibiotics... the only way to cure this turtle is to have a vet take care of it. other than that... i am sorry to say that it will die. maybe increasing the temp of the water will help, but i really doubt this will CURE the turtles illness. i hope this helps, and im sorry to hear about your sickly turtle!
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~ Evie

Pets:
0.1.0 German Shepherd {Dusty}
0.1.0 German Shepherd/Collie mix {Shadoe}
0.0.2 RES turtles {Booger and Snot}
1.0.0 African Clawed Frog {Bingo}
0.0.1 Snail {Gary}

a couple years ago, i got 2 hatchling RES and not more than a month later, one of them got RI. like you, i couldn't afford to take it to a vet and unfortunately, it died. then, my other RES got RI. i tried treating it the same way as the first one. all i did was take it out of the water, put it on a dry towel, and leave it under a lamp to get warm. surprisingly, it got better after a couple days, and is alive and well today. i was very lucky to have my RES survive an RI without a vet visit, as the chances are pretty slim. i guess your best bet is just to do what i did.

I am happy for you that your RES survived but I really wouldn't suggest doing such things to anyone. You can possibly "fry" your turtle to death. This sick RES needs to be seen by a vet.
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~walnut~
Turtle Pics
1 Dog- Mollianna Mae
1 Cat- Macey Montana
2 Red Eared Sliders- Gator and No-No
2 Beta- Swamp and Swims
4 Fish- One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish

Why not? Neosporin would help, (it'd get washed of however) and if you had needles, injecting small amounts of "human antibiotics" could quite possibly work.

Unfortunately without antibiotics (which only a vet can prescribe) there is little hope for your animals if it does indeed have a respiratory infection.

Perhaps there is a turtle rescue or even a rehabber in your area that can help you out.

If not you may want to consider giving the animal up to someone who will be able to take to a vet and get it the proper treatment it needs. This is by no meant to be critical of you or your concern for your turtle. If these expenses are something that you just cannot afford that is understandable. However, if you care for your turtle the most unselfish thing you could do is give it up to someone who can afford the medical care the animal needs.

Have you possibly considered contacting a vet and explaining your situation? Many times they work with you if $$ is a problem for you at the moment.

Good luck and I hope you find a solution to your dilemma.

THANK YOU all for your help, he is doing A LOT better now, he is not weezing and is eating like a little pig. Keeping him warm and using an antibiotic that we had from previous resp. infections from the turtles at my work helped a lot. Thank you all for your advice. Vanessa