Eye infection, red slider tortoise

[P Harsha]

Hi

I want your help as my Red eared slider tortoise is suffering with Eye infection and refusing to eat for a very long period of time.

She's been under medication for the past 20 days, but there's no improvement.



Can you PLEASE HELP ME

 

[Tim Carlisle]

Pics of your RES and her enclosure would be appreciated. Also would be nice to know her air temp, basking temp, and water temp as well as what her typical diet consists of.

 

[P Harsha]

Hello Tim,

Thank you for responding.

She usually stays in water during feeding time, then sleeps, swims for a while, and afterwards prefers to stay on land.

We’re feeding her Taiyo Turtle Feed (Green Pellets), occasionally with potato, carrot, and tomato.

She’s not eating since 65 days.

Here’s the medication we r following: (Dr.suggested)
- Morning sunlight for 1 hour
- Boric acid eye wash
- Metrogyl syrup soak
- Initially, we used a carrot water soak, but later switched to a multivitamin soak based on the doctor’s suggestion

- Taiyo Turtle eye drops

And nowadays she's not comfortable in stating in water and she's being comfortable without water.
But still due to the soaking and baths we r making her to stay in the water.

But still , we haven't seen any improvement. Please help.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

@Markw84

 

[P Harsha]

Thanks a lot thankyou !!

 

[P Harsha]

Hi

I want your help as my Red eared slider tortoise is suffering with Eye infection and refusing to eat for a very long period of time.

She's been under medication for the past 20 days, but there's no improvement.



Can you PLEASE HELP ME

 

[TammyJ]

Thanks for posting the pictures. I am sure the expert who was called will be coming along soon with the advice you need. The specific lighting and temperatures that you are providing for the turtle will be required so please detail those for us.

 

[Tim Carlisle]

So sorry for the late reply. Work got hectic and OF COURSE I'd have to get stuck in traffic coming home. Ugh

Did your vet do any bloodwork at all? Test for vitamin A deficiency? I can tell by the pics the poor thing isn't feeling good.

 

[P Harsha]

Hey ! Tim
Thanks again for responding!!

We live in Visakhapatnam, India. The most unfortunate thing is that Here no vets are ready to treat turtles. I inquired all the sources.

So consulted an online vet, where she gave her medications and even after 20 days , there's no improvement. So the vet asked me to get the blood test reports at any cost.

So I'm curious to know, as the vets here are clearly stating that they are not sure that they can treat a tortoise. Will they be able to do the blood test (like taking the blood) accurately?

 

[mark1]

my opinion..... that turtle is pretty far along with whatever problem/disease he has....... i'd put him on injectable antibiotics (ceftazidime) ....personally i'd have done that a month ago,,,,,,, i'd use terramycin ointment on his eyes, or something better......... i'm sure my vet would give him a vitamin ADE injection along with vitamin b....... keep him in a damp environment , wet sphagnum moss works for me, and 29-30C degrees 24/7, he looks past the point of thermo-regulating himself......metronidazole (metrogyl) has been shown to be an appetite stimulant, i doubt soaking is a good way to administer it ....... i'd probably use ceftazidime and not metronidazole......jmo

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

my opinion..... that turtle is pretty far along with whatever problem/disease he has....... i'd put him on injectable antibiotics (ceftazidime) ....personally i'd have done that a month ago,,,,,,, i'd use terramycin ointment on his eyes, or something better......... i'm sure my vet would give him a vitamin ADE injection along with vitamin b....... keep him in a damp environment , wet sphagnum moss works for me, and 29-30C degrees 24/7, he looks past the point of thermo-regulating himself......metronidazole (metrogyl) has been shown to be an appetite stimulant, i doubt soaking is a good way to administer it ....... i'd probably use ceftazidime and not metronidazole......jmo

Would you recommend using baby food soaks or betadine soaks just to get some nutrition and hydration?

 

[P Harsha]

my opinion..... that turtle is pretty far along with whatever problem/disease he has....... i'd put him on injectable antibiotics (ceftazidime) ....personally i'd have done that a month ago,,,,,,, i'd use terramycin ointment on his eyes, or something better......... i'm sure my vet would give him a vitamin ADE injection along with vitamin b....... keep him in a damp environment , wet sphagnum moss works for me, and 29-30C degrees 24/7, he looks past the point of thermo-regulating himself......metronidazole (metrogyl) has been shown to be an appetite stimulant, i doubt soaking is a good way to administer it ....... i'd probably use ceftazidime and not metronidazole......jmo

Mark
Thanks a lot for your response.
Means a lot to me... Thankyou !!

 

[mark1]

Would you recommend using baby food soaks or betadine soaks just to get some nutrition and hydration?

i'd consider syringe feed him some baby food with a catheter, but when to and how to do that takes a little bit of experience so as to not be stressful or dangerous......i think he may be past baby food soaks, i've seen sick turtles dehydrated sitting next to a pond....... betadine soaks? never heard of that , i've used betadine as a topical, shell rot, injuries.......

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

i'd consider syringe feed him some baby food with a catheter, but when to and how to do that takes a little bit of experience so as to not be stressful or dangerous......i think he may be past baby food soaks, i've seen sick turtles dehydrated sitting next to a pond....... betadine soaks? never heard of that , i've used betadine as a topical, shell rot, injuries.......

I have to check, I might be wrong...

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

i'd consider syringe feed him some baby food with a catheter, but when to and how to do that takes a little bit of experience so as to not be stressful or dangerous......i think he may be past baby food soaks, i've seen sick turtles dehydrated sitting next to a pond....... betadine soaks? never heard of that , i've used betadine as a topical, shell rot, injuries.......

Sorry, I was wrong. I was thinking of piedialyte

 

[mark1]

Mark
Thanks a lot for your response.
Means a lot to me... Thankyou !!

if you find a vet not experienced with reptiles, make sure they get the dosages right, vitamin injection can be toxic when dosed improperly....... antibiotics actually have a wider margin of error.....

 

[P Harsha]

Sure Mark
I'll take care of the medications as uve mentioned.
Thanks again !!