DonnaM

Sometimes the antibiotics can make them feel a bit yuk as well. Sounds Ok to dry dock her like that over nite, but she really needs to be swimming around and trying to access good food as often as poss as well. She may take along time to find it and you may want to leave her on her own when feeding to give her a chance. If she had any pneumonia or anything the Abs would probably have dealt to that. May just be still due to the blindness. I'd try and normalise as much as poss with having her in warm tank, feeding plenty etc. and just dry dock at nite if you want to. I didnt dry dock Georgia for very long as she was better in the tank and would find the ramp and rest on it. Vit A deficiency isnt contagious either. Definately need to get Vit A into her ASAP tho. And be patient. It can take 2 -4 weeks to notice any change at all. Some info I have from a vet book on Vit A deficiency says symptoms may include lethargy, anorexia, weight loss and nasal or occular discharge. Chronic blepharedema (swollen eyes) can also see solid whitish-yellow cellular debris underneath the eyelids. May be one or both eyes affected. As shes had it awhile she will need a bit of time to get over it. The book also talks about fat soluble vit A is better then water soluble. A subcutaneous inj. of 500 to 5000 IU/Kg of Vit A for one or two treatments 2 weeks apart. May take up to 4 weeks to rectify. Hope that helps...

Welcome to the forum John and good luck with getting a tortoise. What type did you have in the UK? Are they still readily available there?

Yep thats exactly what Georgias looked like. Its a vit A deficiency and is usually misdiagnosed and treated with ABs which wont work. Needs a good dose of Vit A by injection. If the vet needs to know dosages they could email Ross at [email protected] Pm me if they want his ph number Diet is crucial to prevent it happening again. Georgia had been living on those dried shrimps and little else...which is like a toddler living on ice-cream. Try and introduce plenty of good quality turtle food...a mix of wet and dry, along with the good old Ox heart and veges. It is completely reversible if treated with Vit A I believe. Hope that helps.

Yes I agree....I keep looking at the catfish in the photos and saw no apparent signs of movement, (well blurry tail or something)...so am convincing myself it was already dead!

Thats some pretty amazing videoing Well done

Yes they're feet...but flipper sounded cute ....

Today I spent a couple of hours videoing a funeral of a woman who was 85 when she died.... she was an amazing woman who did all those things you've quoted and that was clearly evident by the amount of people who got up and shared what she had meant to them and how generous and loving she was. And I have a friend whose 3 yr old daughter has just been diagnosed with cancer.....its true we need to treasure each and every moment and share whats precious in our minds and hearts.

Thanks Zev, Livingart...no more emails from me asking you to post a photo! :bounce: (Thanks heaps karznkats for coming over and showing me which buttons to push! :lol: ) I dont think the fused toes have grown back that way after a bite as shes too young to have had it 'heal' and just looks too 'genetic' really. :-? Doesnt seem to affect her too much. Tho she/hes pretty shy and spends plenty of time hiding under the plecostomos' tail :roll:

Hi livingart, no I didnt see the parents. In another city. The first baby has the main deformity on that flipper, but other 3 flippers also seem not 'quite right'. Toe nails very tiny/short and some in slightly different directions, but not fused like the one in photo. Its quite a little turtle and not much of an eater. I'll have to wait and see how it goes. Yes, I'm pretty sure the 2nd photo is of 'nibbled' toes too :roll:

Sorry photo not so clear, but you can see the alternate toes are missing.

Goodness, I think I've managed to post a photo in a thread!!!!! Anyway, I got this wee fella and his/her sibling last month from some people who stated their relative was a RES breeder...and this breeder is who the 2 babies came from. Is this kind of deformity common in RES? The other baby is missing toes as well, but I"m not sure if its a deformity or bitten off by a bigger turtle? Maybe I'll try to post a photo of it too!! I'm just interested if people have seen this before and what may have caused it?

...and the humidity can cause the 'skin' over the 'bone' (which is what their shell is) to rot off leaving the bone exposed. (Check out photo of BOY 2 in sick turtle thread....sorry I cant post photos on the forum yet :roll: ) Also leads to respiratory problems like pneumonia. So a tank with no lids or minimal lid over a small area is needed along with the lights And lights must be direct on turtle, not filtered thru glass, perspex or anything else.

Hi Vee, no idea if this is any use with your blue tongues, but I had to worm "speedy" (sick turtle thread) three times with oxfendazole drench 50/50. 0.1mls once a week. I can give you the vets email if you want as he specialises in turtles/ reptiles and may have an idea or two??

Yep completely agree with Mincie. Initial cost of light a bit expensive, but suss out a local 'electrical /supply /warehouse' type place and get bulbs way cheaper. Even get a plain fleuro light, then get the UVA/UVB bulb from a wholesaler. I use "lamp specialists" here in CHCH and pay $25.00 each for most of my bulbs. (was $20, but gone up recently). really important...I've seen way too many turtles with 'white shell disease' or soft shell disease with out correct lighting. :-?

I was all set to go to the mtg....had my subs ready...but unfortunately something came up at work and I had to go into work Sat evening so missed the mtg Hope it all went well. Also, I don't know who to ask...but for the expo, do you guys want the full 4.8 mtrs? I could take the .8 off you and make my display .8 wider? Which would mean having our dividing wall moved over a bit? I have a pond I can use which is approx 2.5 x 2 mtres (possibly bigger), and so could happily have a little more space? But also not a problem at all if you have filled the 4.8 mtres Just a thought. Cheers :bounce:

Such great photos Vee! Awesome bluetongues too!

So sorry to hear about that Livingart...just awful to find all those dead birds Will you put it on display as a 'predator' once its stuffed? At the Ellerslie flower show this year they had an area with stuffed weasles , rabbits etc in various poses of eating/ destroying native birds/eggs etc to illustrate the devastation these 'cute' looking animals cause. Was quite a thought provoking way to educate I thought....tho by the time I was in that particular tent there was so much dust over everything it made them look a bit tatty..... :-?

When I had a turtle tank crack, insurance covered the carpet people...with their big drying machines that had to be on for a week...they paid for the lights, plugs and adapters that were on the floor as all the water poured straight into them, paid for new tank, paid for new table top...as water seeped into wood and caused irreversible damage. And even the sheet that got filled with glass. Tho mine was caused by me having tank proped up at one end by the sheet, getting distracted as tank filling so it filled WAYYYY higher then ramp and I only had wanted a bit to swish around the side panels. Then I knocked bottom of tank with syphon and the whole bottom opened up with several pieces of glass in all directions. So was seen as an accident causing damage, so insurance covered. But in past I had a pond with plug in it in the conservatory. Turtle knocked out plug and insurance paid for the pump and heaters that burnt out...and new pond liner etc, so they do cover such things. Worth a try anyway. Also I've used bath for turts with no problem. There is a new 'natural' product (Green Works) that I've used to clean bath as no chemicals and works really well. Dry docking is Ok, but it could slow them down a bit as its getting colder. Bath or Mystics container would be fine. Maybe day in bath and eve/night dry docked? Put a cover on your heater in bath or tub too Good luck

Or a slice of courgette, and then cut it in half so she can get to the fleshy bit. They do eat the skin, but if not used to it, prefer to go for the flesh first. Also frozen peas...defrosted.

Yep... I hadnt thought it may be outside :roll: :oops: Is your turtle in a tank or outside?

Do a water change and put your temp up to about 26 (not higher) and see if that helps. And yes as LA said, try the ox heart. Cut off any fat and cut into wee bits...not too big so it can easily swallow if its feeling a bit off colour. If you only feed your turtle fish thats been frozen its important to balance it out with turtle pellets and/or purina one cat biscuits. Once fish is frozen it apparently contains an enzyme that destroys the essential vitamin thiamine...not a problem if they are getting thiamine in their pellets/ biscuits every other day tho Also it may just be related to cooler temps and a healthy turtle can slow down and go for ages without eating, but unless you're going to hibernate her properly, best to keep her warm and hungry over winter. Hope thats some help.

8.7 is my guess

or "lamov" for short! :lol:

Awwww sooo cute Congrats! :bounce: Well worth all your 16 yrs of selective breeding.

LOL yes I know all about that one - we put guppies and convict babies in with Mr Turtle and they don't get eaten so they end up getting scooped back out when it's tank cleaning day :roll: