Calcified unfertilized egg not coming out

[danduc]

Good day all. First post.

To make a long story short:

I got my female red-foot in 1978 ( I was 16 ). She was almost fully grown at the time so we think she is close to 50 years old.

Never had a health issue until this month. Back in 2004, she had 2 eggs in her enclosure (inside). Both were calcified and oblong (not round). I went to the vet, got an xray and the vet confirmed there was still 2 eggs inside. Fast forward to 2005 went she finally got 2 more eggs, one calcified and the other with the yolk (she broke the egg while walking about the enclosure). She did had a hard time expelling the eggs (kept going in and out - poor tort)

Feb. 2013: We noticed that she was acting strangly, trying to dig in her enclosure (firm surface) with her back legs. I did not think she was trying to lay eggs again. Now, being worried that she did not pooped for the last 1 1/2 week, I decided to go to the vet today, thinking she needed some meds for the constipation. GUESS WHAT? She has 5 calcified eggs inside, all oblong shape (not round). Vet think that it is creating a blockage preventing bowel movement. Turtle acting otherwise fine and walking about. Gave her a long bath tonight and noticed that she drank a lot.

Vet suggestion: Give her some calcium injection, then oxytocin and wait. A few things can happen
1. she lays the eggs fine
2. Eggs get stuck in the duct because of the oblong shape (what then?)
3. Tearing of tissue (major blood loss)

Closest exotic animal specialist are at the St-Hyacinthe Vet School near Montréal. Cost to operate are in the $1000-$1500 with mixed result apparently.

What are your experience with this? I will monitor this site for the next 36 hours before making a decision.

thanks for helping

 

[Laura]

get some mineral oil... and check with someone here about using that to help her pass them....

 

[danduc]

get some mineral oil... and check with someone here about using that to help her pass them....

That was one suggestion from the vet. But, would that help only for the bowel movement? And how do you give it to her? I'm affraid of hurting her trying to open her jaw.

 

[tortadise]

One thing you can do for her. Is when she is trying to lay the eggs you can pinch them as she tries to lay them. This will break the eggs but release the issue of being egg bound/impacted. Many experianced vets tend to utilize this method before choosing to anesthetize the animal. Good luck.

 

[wellington]

If emysemys does not post here, send her a pm. She can help you with the oil. Good luck, sure hope everything turns out okay. Please keep us posted.

 

[danduc]

If emysemys does not post here, send her a pm. She can help you with the oil. Good luck, sure hope everything turns out okay. Please keep us posted.

Thank you all. I will keep you posted. We've had her more than 30 years. We would not want her to be in pain for long. We,ll cross our fingers.

 

[sibi]

I don't have a redfoot, but I did have a similar experience with an aquatic turtle. 15 years ago, my turtle one day laid an egg which was as you described. The oblong shape told me she had a hard time passing the egg. She was acting so spastic before she passed it, I became annoyed with her. Then, when she laid the egg, i felt bad. The egg was infertile, of course. Later that day, my husband noticed this "thing" coming out of her. I flipped out! She had a prolapse and I needed to find a vet asap. I had to drive 170 miles to another city across the state. The vet said she needed surgery to remove some of the dead tissue that resulted from waiting to get her to the specialist. On top of that, the first attempt didn't work with a stitch to hold the tubular tissue (prolapsed part) in place. Everytime she tried to pass poop, it would come back out. Finally, after a third attempt, it stayed and she recovered. My expenses then was $1000+. A few years ago, she laid another dead egg, same shape, but didn't have an issue. With impacted eggs that's already giving her trouble, I recommend the surgery before she tries to lay the eggs and possibly have a prolapse doing so. The thing about the prolapse is the dead tissue that she may have. The tissue exposed needs to be keep moist all of the time until it can be pushed back in. If a couple of days go by without keeping it moist, it begins to die and infection can set in. That could be deadly. That was my experience. Glad I never had to go through that again. Btw, she's now 25 years old. Also, the idea of using mineral is a good one. If my turtle didn't already have the prolapse, I would've tried that first. Your call.

Good day all. First post.

To make a long story short:

I got my female red-foot in 1978 ( I was 16 ). She was almost fully grown at the time so we think she is close to 50 years old.

Never had a health issue until this month. Back in 2004, she had 2 eggs in her enclosure (inside). Both were calcified and oblong (not round). I went to the vet, got an xray and the vet confirmed there was still 2 eggs inside. Fast forward to 2005 went she finally got 2 more eggs, one calcified and the other with the yolk (she broke the egg while walking about the enclosure). She did had a hard time expelling the eggs (kept going in and out - poor tort)

Feb. 2013: We noticed that she was acting strangly, trying to dig in her enclosure (firm surface) with her back legs. I did not think she was trying to lay eggs again. Now, being worried that she did not pooped for the last 1 1/2 week, I decided to go to the vet today, thinking she needed some meds for the constipation. GUESS WHAT? She has 5 calcified eggs inside, all oblong shape (not round). Vet think that it is creating a blockage preventing bowel movement. Turtle acting otherwise fine and walking about. Gave her a long bath tonight and noticed that she drank a lot.

Vet suggestion: Give her some calcium injection, then oxytocin and wait. A few things can happen
1. she lays the eggs fine
2. Eggs get stuck in the duct because of the oblong shape (what then?)
3. Tearing of tissue (major blood loss)

Closest exotic animal specialist are at the St-Hyacinthe Vet School near Montréal. Cost to operate are in the $1000-$1500 with mixed result apparently.

What are your experience with this? I will monitor this site for the next 36 hours before making a decision.

thanks for helping

 

[Laura]

If she is constipated feeding it to her would help,,, but if its eggs... then that is a different area... you would syringe the mineral oil up into her cloaca..
Find a vet or someone near you who has some experience with such things...
Where are you located?

 

[danduc]

If she is constipated feeding it to her would help,,, but if its eggs... then that is a different area... you would syringe the mineral oil up into her cloaca..
Find a vet or someone near you who has some experience with such things...
Where are you located?

Located near Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

I really think that she does not lay eggs because there never was a suitable substrate to dig in. She just keep them in, until, of course, they calcify. Thanks

 

[Laura]

Having a place for to lay is very important.. Are you offering that now> ?

 

[danduc]

Having a place for to lay is very important.. Are you offering that now> ?

Got a bag of potting soil and a bag of Mulch. Still lots of snow here so can put her outside until April (only in the afternoon when air temps is above 15C.). Wil see.

 

[Laura]

get a large container, kiddie pool etc.. fill it with the soil, put a heat lamp over it, place her in it and let her dig.. but she might need the mineral oil to help lube them up and get them out..

 

[danduc]

get a large container, kiddie pool etc.. fill it with the soil, put a heat lamp over it, place her in it and let her dig.. but she might need the mineral oil to help lube them up and get them out..

Will do tonight. Got an appt. with the vet. tomorrow night.
Thanks

 

[danduc]

So far so good.

The vet gave her a Calcium injection on Wednesday. I gave her long bath for the last 3 days (in the shower). She drank a lot.

This afternoon I returned to the Vet and they gave her at 13h30 another injection of Calcium and 2 injections of oxytocin spaced 1 hour apart (I will ask the dosage later).

I brought back the turtoise home at 16h, put her in her enclosure* and she started to lay the first egg at 16h30. I had to pinch her tail to help her get it out (no sweat). At 17h she layed the second and at 17h10 another one. 2 more to go........

More news later tonight

* I put some potting soil in her enclosure and used mineral oil to lubricate her opening.

 

[danduc]

She finally layed 4 out of the 5 eggs. Total elapsed time is 1h20 for the 4. What about the last one? How long should I wait before going again to the vet for another injection?

1h30 after the 4th egg, she started to walk about her enclosure and did not show any more contractions. We gave her a bath and some food (1/2 kiwi)

She is now asleep and I did raisethe temp. a bit for the night.

Thanks to all for your timely advice.

dan