Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have been raising box turtles for several years in our back yard (northern CA) and all has been great - no real problems over the years. Went on a 4 week vac (had a turtle sitter) came back home to find one of our 5 year olds not moving much... watched him and saw that he was NOT using his left rear leg... did our best to figure it out - finally gave up and went to the vet. (this guy is good with reptiles/turtles) anyway,,, really could not find a problem - even exrayed the area - nothing... that has been a few weeks now and its still not using that leg - gets around somewhat and its now time to hybernat... about two weeks ago we found another one doing the SAME thing??? we have about 14 box turtles here and these two are really acting strange... nights are down to 40 days in the low 60's... first guy is in our turtle house seeming to try and hybernate.. other is in a raised bed... I watch and soak him but now have just let him be a turtle... he just sits under a shelf and looks out???????? I thought he had died yesterday but when I picked him up... he was just sleeping...

injury????????? sick???????????????? or just being weird at the start of the cold season here....

All turtles here hybernate each winter... all the rest are getting down for the winter..........

anyone else ever have this strange (not using a rear leg??)

A number of years ago I noticed that one of my turtles was to using a rear leg. I took her to a herp vet, who did blood work on her and found that she had a massive infection, She was treated with antibiotics and recovered nicely.
Have you had blood work done on yours?

No blood work was done - at the time the vet did not feel it was necessary.. I plan to contact him about the other, I will suggest it then. However, because of the time of year, it might be too late - cold has settled in and everyone is going down for the winter. just bad timing this year. We all feel the same about our pets and we do care very much - with that said, it is still hard to justify a Vet bill - blood work and exrays are not cheap - its a very hard decission, esp when we have 15 box turtles. Not being cheap - just the facts...

Trying to understand and think about a massive infection... Does anyone know how a box turtle would get this type of infection?? My two guys are in seperate areas but each did show same signs.. Very strange - it is/was at the time of the year when then start to slow and hibernate - all the other turtles were fine - Vet did a good exam but could not see or feel anything - eye clear turtle seemed alert - three of the legs were strong and pulled back - this one leg just was weaker on the pull back when we did a slight pull on it?? as stated exray was neg...

I think that there is a parasite of some sort that can cause this. A good herp vet would be able to check for it.

Really, no responsible person would try to make a diagnosis via the web.

In the future you should probably start a veterinary expense savings account so that you can finance trips to the vet.

A wise person once told me: "If you can't afford the Vet, you can't afford the pet."

Trust me I would NOT just use the internet to 'treat' a box turtle - The internet is a great place to gather ideas and suggestions - often issues have been delt with - like yours. I also feel some people run to the doctor/Vet for the littlest of things and this is why the Dr's drive very nice cars, lol. Sometimes we just have to let turtles be turtles and let nature take its course. I have had turtles in our back yard now for right at 20 years and our luck has been very good - both with babies and adults - I have lost a few but none due to neglect. The last visit to the vet was $90 for a exam and Exray and nothing was found. I have emailed my Vet with your story and I just got an email back saying "its not a bad idea - best case it will help the turtle and if that is not it - it won't hurt. I just called his office and reminded him that both these guys are just about into hybernation - can the shots still be given?? Up to this point, we have never lost a turtle during hybernation - we've been lucky... We let our turtles be themselfs year around. our back yard is very safe and its their home - they have a complete run. only the babies are protected from birds. Never a problem with other animals in our yard..

I hope you can find out what the problem is and treat appropriately. Good luck!

Hello, just by chance I had a male eastern have a problem with the left rear leg recently, I noticed the leg was not moving right, after a few days the leg had oedema (bloated) and the vet gave him Cortisone injections (Dexametazone), the leg was back to normal in 2 days.After 2 weeks the problem seems to be coming back.
I live in the Southern hemisphere, so the turtles are active and looking forward to summer.
However, if this were fall for me I would not let a sick turtle hibernate as whatever condition this is,that would make it worse. Even without the benefit of a vet, keeping the turtle inside like a tropical species will help him by boosting its immune system.

Good luck with your turtle!

David

Update.....

I back in Oct, I ended up taking these guys to the Vet... Our Old female got a shot for possible infection... then the other guy started the same problem - took him to the vet and he could not find any reason for the gimppy back leg. even took X-Ray to rule out fx or internal problem... I struggled with letting the hybernate or bring them in... Discussed it at lenght with a very good Turtle gal in Sac Ca.. He response was, sometimes we just have to let turtles be turtles..

fist part of Nov the ole Gal went into hybernation - by that time her leg look to be getting better..

the other guys back leg did NOT show any improvments and he did NOT want to go into hybernation then finally he went down.. Well, its Spring here and everyone is just fine. Our ole gal is up and around and eating fine... The other guy got a new name over the fall and winter - we are calling him "tripod" lol... and he is fine...

Not a clue to what was going on but everyone seems fine.