I got this baby North American Wood turtle from my friend that couldnt take care of it anymore.Its sick! Help?

Question

I have another wood turtle, Bud, which I've had for over a year now, and he's perfectly healthy and growing. My friend got 2 baby wood turtles from her bfs mom, one died about 3 months later because she said it wouldnt eat, move, and had one swollen shut eye, and then died. The other one, the size of a quarter, is still living, but pretty sick. So I got the surviving one now, and both of it's eyes were closed completely shut when I got it, it's unbelievably skinny, it won't eat/drink, and hardly moves. So I put it in a very small amount of warm water and placed small drops of water over its eyes, and it also ducked its own head under the water, and when it came back up it opened its eyes, and was later running all around. But this morning, its eyes were closed shut again, and its not moving much at all. And I have a heat lamp, so its been warm. But I wont be able to take it to a vet because all the vets around here dont help turtles. Can anyone PLEASE give me info on how to save him???

Answer 1

Hi there sorry about your turtle! It sounds like he has RI a respiratory infection. Left untreated he will die. I would take him to the vet anyway and ask for Baytril. Even if they don't treat turtles, all vets use Baytril. Just in case here is a link to herp vets maybe there is one in your area! http://www.nytts.org/nytts/helpnet.htm

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vets_for_herps

Also here is some more info on RI for now, you can raise the temperature of the enviroment and see if that helps.

Respiratory infection: Symptoms include difficulty breathing, breathing with the mouth open, discharge or mucus in the nose (bubbles appear in nostrils), frequent sneezing, lethargy, and lack of appetite. Preliminary treatment of these symptoms should be to increase the temperature of the enclosure to at least 85 degrees and eliminate any cold drafts from the room. If this is an aquatic turtle, make sure the water isn't too cold. Check your pet often to see if the symptoms improve over the next couple of days. If they do, continue treatment until the turtle is 100%. If the symptoms do not go away, or get worse, see a vet immediately. Respiratory infections can accelerate to pneumonia quickly, and will usually be fatal.

Swollen/closed eyes: This is often caused by a respiratory or other infection, but may also be due to a lack of nutrition, lack of sunlight, or dehydration. First check for signs of a respiratory infection (below) and treat accordingly as soon as possible. Any kind of discharge from the nose, or other signs of infection should be dealt with by a reptile veterinarian. Otherwise, try soaking the animal in warm water for a few minutes a day to help rinse any pus out of the eye, or soften it if it has hardened. Raise humidity levels by misting the enclosure (a hospital enclosure should probably be used during treatment) and providing an adequately sized water dish. Swollen eyes are also a symptom of a Vitamin A deficiency. If this is a possibility, get a multivitamin supplement with Vitamin A, and include appropriate fruits and vegetables in the diet. Also be sure your pet gets plenty of natural, unfiltered sunlight daily. Injections of Vitamin A can easily overdose and should be used as a last resort.

Also if you have not done so already, please remove the new turtle from your healthy turtle's enviroment.

For more information, please visit me at http://www.turtleexchange.com/forum/index.php Good luck!

Answer 2

Hey there...

poor little turtle!! I have a RES and he's sick right now too, so I can feel your pain dude. :(

It sounds as though your turtle has an infection. A lot of your symptoms.. Swollen eyes, not eating drinking... could mean that your little guy/girl has a Vit A or D deficiency or it has conjunctivitis. Have you been feeding your turtle anything different? I know that it's not been eating, but try to find out what the turtle ate before it was in your care.

Also find out about water quality. I know that turtles generally need at least 50% water change every week and a full tank change every 2 - 3 weeks, and the filter should be changed regulary (they generally last about 3 months). And now, with your turtle being sick, you should be changing the water more frequently anyway. My vet has told me that when my turtle gets sick, that I'm to change the water at least once a week because it could be something in the water. It's like when you get sick at work... if you stay at work, you're going to stay sick longer, but if you stay home for a few days in a clean environment, you get better faster.

Even still, I agree with the response above where you should go to a zoo and ask them because sometimes they know about things that you probably never even would have thought of.

**I'm not sure of where you live, but up here in Canada (Ontario), we have a place called "Reptilia". It is like an indoor zoo for reptiles. When I have had problems with my turtle, I have been able to call them and they have been able to help me figure out most of the issues without me having to go and pay a vet to tell me. If you would like to call them, the number is 1-888-REPTILIA (73784841).**

I have searched for a few good care pages for you... they aren't all specific to Box turtles, but swollen eyes and waning appetite are pretty universal.

Good luck with your turtle!! I hope it gets better soon!!

Answer 3

Since finding a vet for herps is sometimes hard, the best next step for you to do is go to a local pet store (feeders supply, pet smart etc - pending on where you live (those are closest to me)). Most stores will have a herp department and usually will have a specialist or at least somebody who knows half of what they're doing. They sale many medicines and vitamins for turtles and it's problem could range from a simple vitamin deficientcy to something more serious. You should probably take your turtle in and let them look at it as well. Just make sure the pet store looks clean and well kept (not one of those shady places where all the animals are saying "Help!"). I'd also get some deChlor for the water (incase you don't already) Goog Luck.

Answer 4

Sadly, baby turtles are hard to care for- one reason they are illegal to sell in the US. Just FYI, they are also illegal to collect from the wild in most of their range.

You don't say anything about the habitat, cares, or diet of the turtle. Wood turtle basic needs include:
- 70-80 degree tanks, with about 85 in the basking site
- Big swimming space with cool-ish water available at all times, well-filtered.
- Big land space that is easy to climb onto and off of, and easy to keep clean. (This is tough to do for many keepers!)

Woods do best in outdoor pens with ponds. If kept indoors, an adult should be kept in a kiddie pool- anything else is too small.

The baby can be kept in a half-and-half tank with a good UV-B lamp. Note- baby woods NEED UV-B lighting!!!

The diet is very varied- bugs, worms, crayfish, shrimp, baby mice, veggies, fruits, etc.

The eye infection may be due to dirty water, lack of UV-B lighting, poor diet (vit, A deficency), or be a secondary infection.

For good Wood turtle care info, try:
http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/cs-nawood.htm
http://tortoise.org/archives/clemmys.html

Answer 5

Poor lil thing! That's really sad!

When an animal is sick and on the verge of death, you MUST take him to the vet. That is part of the responsibility of being a pet owner.

I wish you all the luck in the world!

Answer 6

SCIENTIFIC NAME


Glyptemys insculpta

ADULT SIZE

Male 7.5 - 8.5” Female 7 - 8.25”

DIET


These turtles will eat anything that is edible. By nature, they are omnivores, consuming both animal and plant matter. However, they tend to be more carnivorous than anything else. In the wild they eat a variety of things. These include worms, crayfish, fish, beetles, ants, and even mice. As far as plant matter goes, their favorite plants are wild blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries. Based on observations in the wild, they eat anything that will fit in their mouth and is edible.

TEMPERATURE RANGE (°F)


Air Temperature: 70 - 80°F

Basking Temperature: 85°F

Water Temperature: 60 - 70°F

HABITAT


In the wild, these turtles seldom leave the vicinity of water. They are mostly found in cold water streams that rarely get above 70*F in the summer. The streams are usually unpolluted and very shaded. These turtles use the streams for mating and hibernation. However, they will leave them in search of food and to lay eggs. Streams that wood turtles inhabit are usually small but at least 2 feet deep for hibernation.

DISTRIBUTION


Found in the Northeast from MD on northward. Most common in Pennsylvania. They are also found in MD, NY, MA, ME, VT, and NH

BEGINNER TURTLE


Yes

CAPTIVE HABITAT


The captive habitat of this species can be either very simple or elaborate. There are a few simple requirements that should be met however. Adults need to have a water area that is 2 feet deep and stays under 70 degrees. If the correct water temp isn’t maintained, these turtles can overheat and die very easily. Also, they should have plenty of shade in order to keep cool. The key with this species, is to keep the temperatures of the habitat cool. Room temperature usually works great as long as there is a basking spot. As far as substrate goes, top soil can be used as a great medium. A UVB light should be used to keep all turtles healthy. There should be a lot of sight barriers in the pen in order to keep adults from fighting/breeding all the time.

RECOMMENDED ENCLOSURE

By far, the best enclosure for a wood turtle is outdoors. A single adult would do fine in a 5 ft x 5 ft enclosure with a pond of at least 2 feet in depth and about half the size of the pen. Multiple adults would do fine with an extra 4 sq. feet of space per adult. If you absolutely must house adults indoors, nothing less than a small kiddy pool should be used. A 50 gallon Rubbermaid is simply too small for an adult wood turtle. With housing indoors, it should only be temporary so that you don’t compromise the health of your turtle. Hatchlings and juvenile wood turtles can be housed indoors until they get to about 5 inches in Straight Carapace Length. After that time, they should be moved to an outdoor enclosure.

CAPTIVE DIET


They will eat anything in captivity. The best thing for them is to keep Hosta plants in the enclosure, they will nibble and eat these plants. As far as animal matter goes, they will eat earthworms, night crawlers, mealworms, crickets, crayfish, and pre killed mice. As far as animal matter goes, they will eat apples, pears, blueberries, strawberries, romaine lettuce, radicchio, carrots, and various non-toxic leafy plants.

COMMUNITY HABITAT


These turtles can be kept together with other wood turtles. NO MORE THAN ONE MALE PER ENCLOSURE!!! Males will fight to the death if kept together. Wood turtles can also be kept with box turtles and sliders/basking turtles. Turtles kept with adult wood turtles should be at least 6 inches long to prevent injuries.

OTHER INFORMATION


Even though these turtles do not have much webbing on their feet, they are very strong swimmers and should be provided with a deep water area. If you plan on breeding these turtles, females MUST have a sandy loam area to lay eggs. This can be made of 40-45% sand and 55-60% top soil. If this isn’t provided, they will simply lay the eggs in water, which could cause embryo death.

Answer 7

there must be someone who treats turtles,do you have a zoo near you where you could ask advise from,sounds like time is of the essence he sounds very sick