My eastern mud turtle has quite unexpectedly developed what appears to be total body edema. She is at the exotic vet for the coming week or so, while they try to figure out what's wrong.
PREQUEL: Jacques, a 4-year old mud turtle, had a near-drowning experience 14 months ago. She was resuscitated, but gradually developed aspiration pneumonia which required several hospitalizations and several different antibiotics. In the past 8 months or so, she has had 2 bouts of unidentified illness, apparently infections of unidentified location. Each time, she quit eating and totally withdrew into her cave. Each time, she was found to have an elevated white blood cell count and was treated with antibiotics. Each time her blood count normalized.
CURRENT TIMELINE: On Saturday (2/16/19) I found her in the open area of her tank near where I feed her in the classic "dead animal position": ON HER BACK, all 4 legs sticking up and out, her neck fully extended, which tilted her slightly back. I really thought she was dead. But when i picked her up, she moved very feebly and looked at me. Her whole body was terribly swollen and bulging out from her shell. She looked like the Michelin man of turtles. We rushed her to the exotic vet, which was a 45 min drive- and she hardly moved. She was so swollen that several attempts by the experienced reptile vet to draw blood were unsuccessful.
Since they were not able to get blood from her just then, of course there was little they could tell me.
His best guess is renal failure or liver failure, but at this point anything goes.
I don't expect to hear much for a few days since they may have to send whatever fluid samples they CAN get off to a specialty lab.
THE PREVIOUS WEEKS: She had only been eating so-so for the past month, but that was eating one or 2 good mouthfuls of food about once or twice a week. I figured this was OK for the winter time. Although she was in her cave during the day, she was out at night, regularly rearranging the plants and things in her tank, as per usual. She was not trying to bask, and not hanging out over her heater or floating lop-sided.
I was totally shocked to find her this way.
I will keep this post updated as things develop and new information comes in.
PREQUEL: Jacques, a 4-year old mud turtle, had a near-drowning experience 14 months ago. She was resuscitated, but gradually developed aspiration pneumonia which required several hospitalizations and several different antibiotics. In the past 8 months or so, she has had 2 bouts of unidentified illness, apparently infections of unidentified location. Each time, she quit eating and totally withdrew into her cave. Each time, she was found to have an elevated white blood cell count and was treated with antibiotics. Each time her blood count normalized.
CURRENT TIMELINE: On Saturday (2/16/19) I found her in the open area of her tank near where I feed her in the classic "dead animal position": ON HER BACK, all 4 legs sticking up and out, her neck fully extended, which tilted her slightly back. I really thought she was dead. But when i picked her up, she moved very feebly and looked at me. Her whole body was terribly swollen and bulging out from her shell. She looked like the Michelin man of turtles. We rushed her to the exotic vet, which was a 45 min drive- and she hardly moved. She was so swollen that several attempts by the experienced reptile vet to draw blood were unsuccessful.
Since they were not able to get blood from her just then, of course there was little they could tell me.
His best guess is renal failure or liver failure, but at this point anything goes.
I don't expect to hear much for a few days since they may have to send whatever fluid samples they CAN get off to a specialty lab.
THE PREVIOUS WEEKS: She had only been eating so-so for the past month, but that was eating one or 2 good mouthfuls of food about once or twice a week. I figured this was OK for the winter time. Although she was in her cave during the day, she was out at night, regularly rearranging the plants and things in her tank, as per usual. She was not trying to bask, and not hanging out over her heater or floating lop-sided.
I was totally shocked to find her this way.
I will keep this post updated as things develop and new information comes in.
