Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hopefully someone can help me out here....
Recently a guy sent me a baby diamondback terrapin that is suffering from a large number of problems. First off, the little guy was kept with turtles twice his size and they really did a number on him. He is covered in bite marks and the side of his face was severely damaged! Well, if that wasn't enough, he's got a bad resp. infection.

He's been to the vet and was put on baytril which I was having to inject daily. I really hated the idea of giving him shots because he's so tiny, so the vet switched him to the oral form. Big problem, he spits it back up! I've tried holding his mouth shut, but he squirts it out of his nostrils.

Should I have him switched back to the injections or does anyone know of a way I can make him keep it down without hurting him? I really hate to put him through the pain of being stuck with a needle every day so if anyone out there has any input, please share! Also, say a turtle prayer for this little guy and his recovery, he's a special little guy! ~Christy

You have to be able to tube feed not just squirt into the turtle's mouth. This is a little risky if you are not experienced with it.

I know that injections seem so painful (they are especially Baytril) but it is the only way to guarantee the right dose gets into your turtle.

Injecting the right dose of oral med into a shrimp or some other meat that the turtle will eat might be another method but frankly there is no guarantee that the turtle will get the full dose.

I have an DBT that was pulled from a Chinatown meat market. She had so many bacterial problems and such that she was on mega doses of injectible baytril every other day for three weeks. I cringed everytime I injected her but it ended up saving her life.

With all your poor turtle has been through a few painfully jabs might be worth it if you can restore its health.

Will he eat mealworms? If so, you could inject the Baytril into a mealworm and feed the mealworm to the turtle.

Katrina