DonnaM

Thanks Southerrrngirl and Spoon Still don't think I'll try the tropical fish tho! More then enough work with the turtles. But my new pond pump/filtration system is AMAZING! Water pumping thru 3 layers/ sizes of stones in a 1.6 metre stock trough (Theres that spelling thing agin? trof? Nope that looks worse! :roll: ) Its so clean I've turned the UV filter off to see what happens...and I'm only running it 8 hrs a day. Just as well its working so well with all the extra tanks and stuff at the moment. Thought I might try and get to the Totally Tanked mtg on Saturday... have a break from being "Totally turtled!" No hurry with the background Spoon, the frogs wont mind :lol: Speedy ate ox heart out of my hand today...very cool, nearly made me cry! He's still passing lots of pus tho.....

Now theres a thought! Thanks phoenix44, I appreciate the encouragement Check back in the thread Mel... I put something about the worming of him before the pictures...sorry my 'scrolling as I write' wont take me back that far. Basically they can be, but Speedy is the only one I've ever had to worm...I'm making sure he's completely seperate from the others so no worms spread. I need to worm him 3x. Once a week for 3 weeks....mmm due again today actually, so check last Thursdays post! The worms could spread if he was sharing a tank with others...another reason he's on his own in the bath . Just as well I had a seperate shower put in for the 'humans' last year... :lol:

Keeping me VERY busy... just home in my lunch break to try and feed all the sick ones....Speedy has had a very slow couple of days, no food or moving, but today is eating a bit of Ox heart...he was eating a bit of other, more nutritious food, but has gone off that the last while.. Rotting shells are really tricky. Cant do much but provide good environment, dry docking, food and patience. We're not too sure about the one with all the exposed bone. Not sure if all that 'skin' will grow back? Waiting game. I now have 4 young boys with this issue. Mostly caused from those nice new tanks that are being sold with the curved basking area...and a lid so no air circulation and lovely build up of humidity...so shells cant ever get properly dry. The others came from one of those fancy Rimu turtle tank/stands...again with a lid completely over tank... :roll: Girl (Georgia), with eye issues is not so good last two days. Pretty subdued and not eating...she was smelling food and finding it so could eat it, but not interested at the moment. I might see if Zev can post a couple more photos soon. Better run...work beckons. Thanks for the interest. Nice to know people are thinking about these sick turtles

Speedy update...really very little change But thats to be expected I guess. I popped him in a freshly cleaned tank today to see how he'd cope in the deeper water. He just floated there. Didnt attempt to move his front legs which were all tucked in and back legs just hanging there. Tail curled up. Stayed like that until I gave him a little push at which stage he moved one front leg, (doesnt tend to use his right front leg much at all), and that was it. Did eat a little bit of Ox heart in the bath this morning and did a nice poo of pus..... :roll: Better out then in they say

Yep, as Alanmin said, educaton on correct care is vital for the wellbeing of these guys, but sadly lacking in many pet shops etc

mmm I've never called the helpdesk so never thought of that. :roll: And a gmail account...yep, all seems easy enough... I think

I'm not very up on computer stuff, so don't laugh at my question... :roll: But... If I want to have a second email address how do I do that? I've been asked to have a display at the 'Dunkleys Pet Expo' to give out loads of info on turtles and care etc etc, but I don't want my current email address (which contains my last name) to be used. I want people to be able to contact me , but want to have an address specific for the 'turtle' stuff. Mainly I don't want anyone tracking me down and stealing my turtles with being in such a public place!!! Also I don't want to 'change' my current email address as that would just be a ginormous amount of work......... I recently met someone with 20 email addressess....I should have asked Him! :lol: Can someone help?

Thanks for photo offers guys. I'll get sorted soon. Been busy doing new pump/sump system for back pond....and now have to get to work :roll: Speedy eating ox heart as I write

Was it the dead bits moving....or the things living IN the dead bits that were moving...... :roll: Anyway, Speedy having another non-eating, not moving much day today.........I wormed him last nite...easy once I finally got his mouth open :lol: I can post a couple of photos if anyone is interested...but I'd need to email them to someone to post for me :roll: I can't yet work out that "foreign language" of posting photos

Dead bits dont move around the fridge!

My dog chases and eats Bumble bees She licks them to death first.... She also will eat any fruit and vege. Will pick apples off the tree to eat them, and even eats lettuce and cucumber.... Shes also VERY good at helping herself to muffins left on the bench... :roll: And my dogs called Milo!

I should put them in my fridge!!! Feeding out is good...............

Vet visit lunch time today. He was moving a bit and holding head up well, tho still got back toes curled up. Of course he didn't show vet the 'hypersensitivity' I've seen lately :roll: but no matter. We know he's still very sick. He peed on the desk and dip-stick showed it to be very high in blood :-? Not a good sign for his kidneys. Vet able to get enough wee in a syringe and will analyse it later. I saw the chest X.ray. Vet has started doing X.ray end to end thru turtles, not straight over back as previously, so you can actually see the lungs clearly in the top of X.ray. They are very full of fluid still Apparently the lungs of a turtle actually wrap around the kidneys and other organs. Fascinating! I have to try and worm him. 3 doses over 3 weeks. Its called oxfendazole drench. Its diluted 50/50 and he gets 0.1ml each week. Vet has given me extra in case its hard to get into him and I loose some. If that doesn't work, then they will tube him and give it to him that way. I'm currently home from work in my tea break to give him a swim and try a feed. He ate a bit this morning Not showing any interest at all in the whiteworms alanmin, but the Reeves did! (Do I have to put an air hole in the container lid )Yes I managed to pick the worms up in my bare fingers!!! They just look SOOO like thread worms in humans......yuk! Right, better get Speedy out of the water as I need to get back to work soon

yes seems to be 'trade only' for frozen goods. I have sent them an email to ask where they are available. The vet would like to keep a supply too to give to people when they have to give AB's to turtles so I'm trying to sus out where/ price etc. Thanks for the info. people

I have an 'old' bag of frozen turtle treats from biosuppliers that I was given. The Lavae in it are excellent for injecting antibiotics into as they hold the liquid and the turtle gets the whole dose of AB's when they eat the lavae. Does anyone know if there is something like this available with the lavae in it? And where/how to get it? :roll:

mmmm not so bright today. Not eating and not moving much. He peed on me heaps yesterday, but none today. (None when I'm holding/carrying him that is, but no doubt going in the warm water.) Still easy to get antibiotics into, still a bit hypersensitive with touch..... :-? Off to the vet lunch-time tomorrow.

Thanks guys. Yes you can worm turtles if they need it. I'll find out on Wed what to give him, (have put vet apt off till Wed). The amount will depend on weight. I've never had to worm a turtle before. :roll: I guess will be something like you give cats and dogs??? I'll let you know I've just had a friend around looking at doing some kind of 'natural wetlands filtration' for one of my outside ponds.....mmmmmmm I've been looking with interest at the 'natural' pools etc on other thread. Funny how I was trying to find out about doing it on the ponds and then its appeared on a couple of threads. Will be fantastic if we can get it to work.....Maybe speedy will be well enough one day to have a swim in a pond full of clear water from the natural filtration. Right better give him his antibiotics now that hes had some time in the water.

Hes on Baytril. Thats the usual one for turtles. So hes having 0.4mls of baytril 2.5% in 50mls. About twice as much as the doses I've given other turtles with more minor illnesses. Also his poo did contain some parasite eggs apparently, and so when a bit better he'll be wormed as well. I'm making sure hes totally seperate from my lot with towels, water, food etc to prevent any cross infection. Dont want loads of turtles with worms :-? I've just popped him in his shallow water this morning and hes very still, but we'll see. ( I'm going to go with owner to next vet apt. ) At least he's still alive

Awww lovely baby

Thanks Elaine, (and Livingart for the pm )

He looked quite bright today, ate a bit more, pooed, moved around in the water, but I obviously left him a bit too long in the water cos he suddenly got very weak and floppy again. Must have used up too much energy. Also yesterday, I noticed hes developed a bit of 'hypersensitivity'. If you touch his front legs he sort of tremors/over-reacts. Hard to describe. I wonder if his nerve endings are affected by the infections? Or something like that. Hes currently in his 'warm box' holding head up and has turned himself around in box. So, yes a little progress, but also another symptom! :roll: This is going to be a long rehabilitation, but I am now more hopeful he is going to survive.

Thanks Mel! I've just got home and found he's actually moved around in the box too! Turned around completely. All good progress! :bounce:

Well hes survived another night and is able to hold his head up a bit better this morning and is holding front limbs in a more 'normal' position. Hes had his front feet sort of 'curled' around underneath and not moving them before now. Today in the bath he has moved about 40cm! :bounce: I'd put him in one end and he'd moved towards the other. First time hes been able to move at all. Is still easy to get antibiotics into....when he gets difficult then I'll know he's really on the mend! Mind you if he starts eating well, I can inject the ABs into a partly defrosted lava from those 'turtle treats'. They are really good at holding antibiotics.....just a bit of a 'yukky' job....I'm not much good with things like slugs and maggots...give me a snail with a shell anyday! Glad to hear your turtles improved Mincie and fishbreeder. Sounds like an awful environment for the vomiting turtle. No wonder it was so sick. Must admit with all the sick and injured ones I've had, I've never seen one vomiting Still struggling a bit to maintain a good temp in his 'box' this morning. Where he sits the temp goes up alot and he was a bit 'sweaty' underneath his plastron this morning...not good. :-?

Hes eaten! :bounce: About 4 wee pieces of ox heart and half a square of a 'wet' turtle food from a lady selling on another site. I've had trouble getting the temp sorted with the heatpads...initially way too hot with the smaller pad...even with polystyrene and towels on top it quickly crept above 30deg and kept rising. The bigger pad wouldn't fit in my cat box, but it does fit in a thick cardboard box, (thanks Repto), and with towels and overhead light its maintaining a surface and ambient temp of around 26.3 deg. I'm putting him in very shallow water for short periods every couple of hours as worrying he will dehydrate too much..and its great hes eaten something tonite. Was able to move his head down to food and eat it.... which is very impressive given how he's not been able to move more then a few mm the last couple of days. Heres hoping....but still realistic....

Mmmm we've had very little sun since Waitangi WE and have a nice tropical downpour today. :-? I've chatted to vet too and I think at moment I'll keep with the cat bed thingy, pop Alanmins heatpad underneath towel with a thermostat attached and keep lightbulb over him thru the hole in top of box. I'll give him 2 daily swims (or rather rehydration baths...) in clean warm water and keep tempting with food when in water. Vet said he'll give him a tube feed if still not eating in a week. Any more ideas always appreciated. Also the xray showed lungs as white...not whole insides as I'd thought from info given