Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hi,
I am new here, and was just given an eastern and a 3- toed box turtle. the eastern is sick and may have a Vit a. defficency.
i know a fair amount about keeping easterns outside, but this is my first sick turt.(they are being kept inside)

I dont have a reptile vet, so i realy need some help.

It is blowing bubbles out of its nose and only opens its eyes for short perieds of time. the lady that gave it to me said it got the cold after being out side on a cool breezy day.
i have eye drops and cod fish oil for it. how much should i give to it without giving too much? and how should i give it? should i put it on its food?
i should up the temps,& put in in a dark place and give it a bath in gatoraid?

thanks,
geofri

Your turtle may also have a bacterial infection and need antibiotics. Not all respiratory distress is a result of vitamin A deficiency.
Where are you located? There may be a reptile vet closer to you than you think.
What kind of set up do you have for your turtles? Can you boost the heat at one end so your sick guy can bask there?
Stephanie

im pretty near to pittsburgh, and i found a vet that is about 1-2 hrs away on herpvetconnection.com.

they are in a 50 gal, with fake plants, and news paper for a substrate. i have been misting them 2 times a day. the basking spot is 80-87F.
do you think warm soaks would help,in either water or gatoraid???

thanks,

geofri

PS, what substrate do you prefer to use for your turts?

Check the list on this link, too. I don't know how up-to-date the list is.
Link

hey, geofri.
I believe I referred you here from the repticzone site. you never stated anything before about bubbles blowing from the nose, but that's why I grilled you on this lady's assessment that it was a vitamin A deficiency and dropping it off to you with insufficient knowledge. it needs to go to a vet no question. both of them should to be safe.
I also gave you links to Melissa Kaplan and Tess Cook's care sites...did you look at those?

Mick
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"A man that should call every thing by it's right name, would hardly pass the streets without being knocked down as a common enemy."

The Complete Works of Goerge Savile, First Marquess of Halifax, 1912.

It didnt start to blow bubbles untill the second day that i had it which is why i didnt mention it. and thanks, i did look at the sites you gave me, but malissa's page didn't have any specific info on sickness.

geofri(tiliquachub)

sorry, you just have to look for it. some of it is under chelonians, but most of the stuff is generalized and applicable to all reptiles.

Mick

www.anapsid.org/box.html
www.anapsid.org/rti.html
www.anapsid.org/signs2.html
www.anapsid.org/boxheal.html
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"A man that should call every thing by it's right name, would hardly pass the streets without being knocked down as a common enemy."

The Complete Works of Goerge Savile, First Marquess of Halifax, 1912.

Blowing bubbles isn't a good sign. Have you called all the vets near you to find out if someone would be willing to try treating this? Have you checked the list that was posted with the state by state herp vet listings?
Any vet can treat this problem even if they aren't herp vets, it's just a matter of are they willing to try it or not. If they don't normally treat turtles they can pick up a phone & call a herp or exotics vet to consult. Most vet schools have an exotics vet they could call. There are several online vet only message boards such as VIN & the AVMA where they can "talk" with other vets about it too.
The problem is like Steph said it could already be an infection that needs antibiotics & you'd need a diagnosis to know what meds are needed but there aren't any antibiotics you can get without a prescription that will work.
Try really hard to find a vet because with the right treatment turtles usually recover very quickly & very well from this type of problem. Good luck & let us know what happens.

PHRatz

thanks guys, I just called the lady that gave them to me, but she wasn't home. She knows a lot about them and I think she figgured that i new more than i did, so I will see what she says,and if she knows of a vet, if not i will call a vet that is in the northhills of pittsburgh(which is supposed to bo good with turts)

i'll let you know what happens,

geofri

Because a vitamin A deficiency can precipitate many health problems in turtles, many people are ready to attribute many (or any) health problems to a deficiency.
Didn't the woman also say that it had 'caught a cold'? It doesn't sound to me as though she really knows what's wrong with it, and is just guessing.
Get it to a vet if you :
a) want to keep it alive and healthy by giving it proper treatment.
b) want to know what's really ailing it.
Good luck with it.
Stephanie

he did state on the other forum that she said that it had caught the "sniffles", but her impression was that it was just a vit A deficiency and gave him some vit A drops.

Mick
-----
"A man that should call every thing by it's right name, would hardly pass the streets without being knocked down as a common enemy."

The Complete Works of Goerge Savile, First Marquess of Halifax, 1912.

hey guys,

I took the boxie to the vet today.
he was looking a lot better yesterday and today!his eyes are open the bubbles stoped coming out of his nose, and he is very active.
it only cost me $10. for the vet trip!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

the vet gave hime a vit A shot, and a few eye drops.

the reson it took so long to get to the vet, was that he is the only herp vet around, and he was out of town.

thank you all for the great help untill I could get him to the vet!

Andy

Glad to hear your turtle is doing better...I like hearing about happy endings.
Stephanie

I'm so glad to hear that he's doing better. You might want to ask the vet who you could go to in an emergency if he's not available.