Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I had posted here about my tort's problems over the past month and her swelling up. I know now she definately has a vit A overdose. Her vet insisted that she had a defiency and gave her vit A injections. The same day I read about them and how that's a big no-no. The vets at the clinic still wanted to give her injections but I wouldn't let them.
She's more swollen today and her skin is starting to slough off. She's got thin red blotches at the top of her back legs and her front legs.
I called her vet today and he still insist on Vit A inj...think it's time to drive more than 50 miles to a different vet. I did a search online to find out what to do but didn't find anything. Is there anything I need to do for her? She looks pitful.

I would call a different vet and see if there is something
you can give it to counteract the overdose.

I would seriously have a talk to the vet that says she
needs injections. This diagnosis is highly overrated.
If the tortoise has a decent food intake this problem
most likely does not exist.

Good luck
Linda

I would be pretty upset if this is a misdiagnosis...and the result is malpractice. Get a second opinion, and I would try to contact one of the well respected herp vets across the country. So many herp maladies are associated/correllated with husbandry problems, and if the vet does not keep herps his/her self, they may miss solutions. Klingenberg in Colorado, Mader in Marathon, Fla., Frye in Davis, Ca. all have great reputations and might offer consultations. I would discreetly approach your vet (don't embarrass him/her in the waiting room) and request he confer with a vet that you know is one of the best i.e. the above. Just out of curiosity, why would a long term problem like Vit A deficiency be "cured" with a short term solution, injections? How did your vet determine Vit A was deficient? It seems Vit A is rather easily provided, just feed some dandelions, yellow squash or carrots occasionally...Good luck, I hope your tortoise weathers the storm.

Yeah, I'm not happy about it and have talked to the vet over the phone...they know me from other clinics I've worked at. Unfortunately no reptile clinics
He said he'd like to see her back for overdose treatment but I don't think I trust him anymore. I've been out of power since I posted but now that it's back on, I'm going to look up some vets online. If I have to drive to the next state, I will. The vets I work for said they'd take a look at her but they don't do reptiles. Don't want them learning on my baby.
I must say she looks a wee bit better today. Her eyes weren't crusted shut for the first time in a week. She was alert and moving. She was more active once I got some power from my car battery and she had her powersun bulb. She doesn't look as swollen but her poor skin is coming off left and right.
I'm going to contact someone today.

mis diagnosis and and overdose. Her skil also started coming off and she got a secondary skin infection that had to be treated with silver nitrate. I also had to soak her in water that had a blue solution added to it. I can't remember the name. I'll look it up and post it when I get home. Mine wasn't over dosed from an injection though it ws from the advise of splitiing a vit A and adding it to her food daily!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You think I would have had second thoughts about this since that would be a human dose! But NOOOO I just did it and boy was I angery when I had to take her to a REAL rep vet and got everything straightened out. Get the second opinion from a good REP VET that is well know and respected by other herpers. It is well worth the drive and money.

BTW my tort is fine now. That was 2 years ago.
Angela

Your tortoise needs optimum husbandry for healing. A poor time for power problems... I would set up her enclosure some place where this is not a concern.

It is a fact that vet's are not taught much about reptiles. They go on what little information they have in their clinic, which is often not much if they don't see reptiles much. There is a lot available however and this gives an edge to those eager to specialize veterinarians. While vitamin A injections obviously weren't the cure, problems are not common with using them. If your tortoise was the exception, it is hard to tell. It is quite possible that what you are seeing is just an untreated problem getting worse.

Don't hesitate to drive a fair distance to get to an experienced herp vet. Your turtle needs it. Try www.arav.com or the herpvetconnection. Also ask for referals from your local clinics.

Turtles are strong little critters, but problems, if left to worsen, may very well do them in. Good luck, and don't delay!

Ian

During the power outage, I made sure she was set-up I had her along with my reef tank, puffer tank and two freshwater tanks running off my car battery. She had to do without her powersun bulb for the day b/c when it was time to crank the car, I had to turned the power inverter off. She did have her other "cheaper" bulbs running and didn't seem to care.

Thanks for that herp vet link. I'm calling for an appointment tomorrow. In the meantime, I've been soaking her everyday b/c she seems to feel better after it. She looks a bit better after a good soak too. Well today more swelling has gone down and she no longer has a double chin going on. Her skin looks bad in spots but not any worse. To make it even better, she went right for the food dish. That made me feel much better b/c her eating had slacked off alot.

this is more common than most people realize.

TORTS ON A DIET LEAFY GREENS ARE NOT DEFICIENT IN VITAMIN A!

now the problem is stabilization. make sure everything is as clean as possible. i would keep the tortoise on newspaper until the wounds have healed. those open sores are going to be ripe for infection. dehydration is a definite possiblity with the amount of water being lost from the swollen and sloughing skin. increase the soaks, keep the tort warm, and some topical antibiotic ointment on the open sores will help.

someone mentioned the "blue solution" -- probably chlorohexidine. many people use this as a good antiseptic for reptiles.

good luck and keep us posted,

matt

Yes that was it. I added that to each of Gretta's daily soaks. The vet recommended long soaks upto an hour, but I had to supervise her so that she didn't try and drink any of it. I also cleaned her tank regularly with the chlorohexidine, to keep it as clean as possible.