Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This is a pretty long post but please bare with me...

I have had my malaysian boxie for almost six years now, last year i found out that a litter box with a cut-out section and an inch of water, turtle pellets and feeder fish once every week for food would not be suitable for my turtle, as told to do by the guy who worked at the pet shop i got him at. Also when i got him I found nothing on an asian box turtle, which was under the name he was advertised with. After finally finishing fixing his new set up my turtle pepped up almost imidiatly and often went for swims in the water. Of all the pictures i've seen of a Malaysian box turtle (including the one at the top of the Asian turtle forum home) they seemed to be able to go under water and swim under water.

My turtle floated...

I should also point out that his shell is almost constantly flaking,it slowed dramticaly when i changed the set up, his shell is covered in scars which are now little white ridges. Only one of these scars happened since i had him, which was caused by my dog bitting the shell. And his toenails fall off, and then stop gwoing or curl upwards

Also a couple weeks before i changed his set up he started pooping out little white-stringy-jelly like poo. A little while later i found out it might becaused by worms, while looking for a cure i came across a page telling to feed malaysian box turtles lots of plants and feeder fish as treats About once every other month. Finally after giving up on finding a local vet that treats turtles, i was looking on a page about fish and heard that worms found in fish HATE garlic. So i took some chopped up garlic(that i had in a jar i bought at a store with olive oil) and put it on a carrot, after week of doing this regular orange(from the carrots) poo!!!

Now my latest problem with my turtle is eye gunk, and his inablity to open his eyes freely. He has to be put in the water so at least one eye will open (with alot of him pusing his eyelids down, and if he is very lucky both. But when he does open his yes the is a kind of clearish-flim on his eye that usually fall off and come back the next day.

Question time!
1.How can i stop the flaking of my turtles shell?
2.The scars from his cuts are white, is this good, bad, or even worse, bone?
3.Why is my turtle floating, i know for a fact he is a Cuora Amboneisis, shoulden't they be able to swim under water?
4.Should i continue the garlic and carrot anti-worm treatment?
5. Why can't he open his eyes freely?
6. What is causing the eye gunk?
7. What wrong with my turtle toenails?

please go this website. this will tell you what kind of diet and habitat your turtle needs which will help make him healthier right off. he needs to be warm and moist, but it's also true you need to treat his shell, eyes, and treat for parasites. to treat the shell-keeping him warm and wet (in water) is very necessary, but in his condition it should very shallow, it should just cover the top of shell. keep it warm with a water heater. the moisture will help stop the flaking of the shell and help it heal, but also add a doctor turtle block from tetra to the water, and get either a shell spray or cream to help kill any bacteria or fungi. a bath once a week in a 5 gallon tank half full with warm water, two tablespoons of iodine, two tablespoons of salt, and two tablets of clout (a fish parasite medicine) will help kill fungus and bacteria, heal the skin and toenails, and kill internal parasites. iodine mixed with water also makes a good spray. i left the turtles i've had problems with in the bath for a day, then put them in the sun or under a heat lamp for an hour after spraying them with either iodine wash or the vita shell spray. diet is very important, check the website. mostly veggies like salad greens, dandelion greens, clover, fruit like apples, grapes, cantalope, berries, have a cuttlefish bone for calcium, and once a week trout chow or repto min. trout chow comes from the nyytts. good luck.
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