My bf brought a box turtle he found in a parking lot that had been hit. If it was me, I would have moved her somewhere grassy but I wasn't with him. I have absoutely no idea where she came from because there are no trees or any wild areas anywhere near this place. Anyways, she's banged up horribly. Before her little hinge part starts (I keep a RES- no hinge thingys lol) there is a huge bloody crack. No meat is coming out or anything but it doesnt seem to be healing. I've got her in the tub with a UVB and heat lamp on her. I'm offering her the same fruits and veggies I give my other babies. Also tried worms and crickets, but I cant tell if she's eating the worms. She hasn't touched the crixs though. She is SO dehydrated and I've only seen her open her eyes twice. I've been misting her a little. I'm taking her to the vet on Thurs. I don't need lectures on taking animals out of the wild, I just need help. Thanks. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v260/Sch...8/tank2blur.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v260/SchismGrl18/tank5.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v260/SchismGrl18/tank4.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v260/SchismGrl18/tank3.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v260/Sch...tankbooboo1.jpg
I've seen box turtles recover from some pretty horrific injuries. If its not actively bleeding or oozing, it should heal up just fine - it doesn't look to me like it should require any kind of treatment aside from keeping it as clean as possible. Which will probably mean keeping her on a dry, clean substrate for a while (newspaper) and rinsing it out with a disinfectant like chlorhexidine daily. An inch deep dish that she can get in and out of for soaking in will help with the hydration issue. Putting her in it a few times a day to make sure she's getting to it may be necessary. Keep up with the worms, crickets, meal worms, dark leafy greens, fruits, cactus pads, and so forth. I'm sure she'll take to something. Another thing to try, and it may not be the best for them, but sometimes a strong smelling fishy cat food gets their attention to eat in dire situations. A good herp vet should be able to give you some better advice though. As for taking from the wild, if there were no 'wild' areas nearby, likely someone else had her and she either escaped from a back yard or was intentionally let go. Box turtles have a very strong homing instinct and cannot be let go outside of their original home range, if they are, they almost always die - victims of cars, predators, or simply starving to death as they keep wandering in an area they're not familiar with. If someone hadn't found her, she'd likely not survive much longer.
Yeah, she may have been a dropped off pet or an escaped vet. If she is dehydrated, you might be able to soak her in some warm shallow water for about 10 min. It will give her a chance to absorb moisture and drink. The best thing you can do is take her to the vet. Good luck!
They have some stuff called jump start that is for reptiles that are not eating. I have used it before and it works well.
She's probably extremely stressed right now so her refusal of food isn't a surprise. Give her a few days before you think about force feeding. Once she's really hungry and more comfortable with her surroundings, she'll come around and eat. You might want to put her in a rubbermaid and covering the top at night. Just cut some holes in the lid for air. She may eat on her own that way since she'll be outof sight of anything moving. Put her ina quiet spot and clean the affected area every day and aply some betadine solution or a 10% povidone iodine solution to the wound. I agree that you should be her dry and on newspaper or paper towel also. Keeping her warm will also help her immune system which means she will heal better so a heat lamp is important, more important than the UV if you are only keeping her until she's healed. I'm not saying to remove the UV, but just make sure she's warm enough. You can provide a water dish for her with some Pedialyte in it, if she drinks any, it'll be better for her than water. But the soaking will be the best thing for her for immediate rehydration.
Thank you guys for all your helpful comments and for not chastising me. I'm on the quest of finding a wild-life rehab. Whenever I bath her, she sticks her neck way out and totally submerges her head. She finally started opening her eyes, but usually only underwater or right after a bath. When her eyes are wet, it looks like there's mucus surrounding the eye, but it goes away when she dries off. ????
Where are you located at? I know a couple good rehab places. If there is mucus around her eye, she may have a respiratory infection. Take her to the vet immediately. That is something that cannot be fixed at home and can get serious pretty quickly. Did you already take her to the vet? If so, how did it go?
The vet told me to find a good wooded place and let her go. She had worms, but he said often, when turtles are given dewormer, it kills them. Also, he said they could do a procedure where they use FIBERGLASS?!?! to connect the shell back together, but he thought over time it would heal himself. I'm not too happy, but at least she'll (hopefully) be more relaxed in the wild. Thanks so much for everything. I really feel like I shouldn't have put her back, and my bf is VERY POed at me (he knows nothing about animals, but got attached to her.) He wants to go find her and pay for the procedures himself. She did seem to be doing a lot better before a let her go - much more active, eyes open, gnawing on fruits. I think I did the wrong thing here... What would you have done, Orchid?
Letting a box turtle go in a place that is not its home range is tantamount to a death sentence. Once taken from the wild, they should never be returned unless they go back -exactly- where they came from. Hopefully that was where she actually came from. Fiberglas is a very old method for fixing turtle injuries, it is quite unnecessary in most cases nowadays. Many vets have actually seen impressive results with a product called Silvadine. Of course, very few vets have any real idea about turtles and only go by ancient vet manuals for their information instead of consulting with another vet who does know.
I have never heard of antiparasitics killing turtles and can't find anything but recommendations on what drugs to use to get rid of parasites. On the other hand, wild reptiles do have larger populations of parasites that captive bred and when brough tinto a captive situation, stress can cause their immune system to weaken and the parasites to increase. I agree that she shouldn't have been released yet. It sounds like your vet lacked some vital knowledge .
I cant believe that vet told you dewormer kills turtles. It does not. I have had 3 of mine on that stuff! I am sure that 2 of mine were WC and it didnt hurt them. Depending on how cold it is where you live, you might want to keep the turtle. They hibernate. I know here that it would be too cold to let them go for the winter, but if it is warmer where you are at she might be ok. It would be very hard though! I am sure you have gotten attached!
If dosed correctly, dewormers should not cause any complications. Panacur (Fenbendazole) and Flagyl (Metronidazole) are probably the most common ones used in reptiles. Sometimes a probiotic maybe administered at the same time, just to prevent loss of gut flora, mainly with Flagyl. Maybe his medical manual just didn't have the proper dosages specific to turtles and he didn't want to risk guessing at it. I really wish vets who were not in the know on a subject would call another vet for a consultation, or better yet, admit they don't know something and refer you to someone who might know better instead of pulling answers out of their butt.
Well, I went back the day after I released him and he was still there. He hadn't moved, which of course concerns me, but since he's been back in his tank, he's been pretty active. I felt so horrible when I went back and he was still there... I'm going to another vet this week. Last chance. Still haven't found any wildlife rehbabs. He sure is diggin' his baths though. I wrote down the names of the dewormers you cited, Ravnos, and will take them with me to the vet. Looks like I'm gonna be keepin this baby. Thank you all again. I really appreciate it.
He should do a fecal test to determine which dewormer is necessary, if any. Each one is for a different specific problem.
