Help for my lethargic box turtle

[mooncake001]

Dear all,

My box turtle just came out of hibernation one week ago. I gave her a water bath every other day, however, she seems very inactive without any appetite. I tried papaya, cucumber and earthworm, which she used to eat, but she showed no interest at all, She had her eyes shut/swollen most of the time and I found some sticky white things around her eyes. She seems even more lethargic compared to when she just waked up last week. This was her third hibernation (indoor) at my house, and she became fully active and started to eat within two days after last two hibernation. What can I do to help her? Any suggestions are appreciated!

 

[ZenHerper]

Welcome!

Here is a great treatment for turtles with this problem:

Gerber Carrot Baby Food Soaks

This "trick" is only for turtles and tortoises that aren't eating and have swollen shut eyes. It's not a cure-all, and unless you fix the reason why the eyes swelled shut in the first place, they're just going to swell shut again after the soaks. Using a bowl with tall sides (so the animal...

www.tortoiseforum.org

Brumating (especially indoors) can be very dehydrating. Do a warm water soak twice daily, in addition to the carrot soak treatment.

Let us know how things come along.

 

[ZenHerper]

Please show us a clear photo of her enclosure.

What temperature range do you keep?

What kind of substrate do you use?

How do you keep her air humid?

 

[mark1]

a vet ...... i couldn't imagine that turtle is not sick ...... a vet would probably put her through a round of antibiotics , maybe give her fluids , an ADE injection , and a B complex injection ........you'd need to make her environmental conditions optimal ...........

 

[mooncake001]

Hello ZenHerper, thanks a lot for your recommendation. I bought Gerber baby food with carrot, apple and kale mix (cannot find pure carrot) and mixed it 1:1 with warm water. My box turtle opened her eyes and moved around within 10 mins into the soak. I soaked her around 1 hour, and she seems much more active with both eyes open and alert. The only thing I concerned a bit was that some baby food mix came out of her nose, while I did not notice whether she put her head down to the soak. After that, I gave her two additional warm water bath for around 1 hour in total. She did not move a lot, but her eyes are open and alert as well. After I moved her out of water, she stayed still for roughly 20 mins with one eye closed (left eye, with more white sticky thing) under the light and moved into the cave herself. By the way, she did not touch papaya, kale or earthworm still, even though her energy seems improved after the carrot soak. I attached pictures for her eye before and after soak.

Please see the pictures for her enclosure and closer look inside. I use white light bulb and UVB lamp to keep the temperature around 72-75F. I use coco liner sheet as her bedding. As you can see, I keep a water pan inside and will use water sprayer if necessary. The humidity meter shows it is around 30-50%, but most of time I would say it shows ~35%. For hibernation, she was moved to the basement, and I gave her dry SuperMoss on top of the coco liner sheet. She actually stayed underneath the sheet for the whole winter. I sprayed water onto moss once a week during her hibernation. The temp was around 55F and humidity was around 50%.

I will continue carrot soak and water both for her in the following days. And go to vet if she did not show improvement.

Thank you! Please let me know if you have more suggestions.

 

[ZenHerper]

Thanks for the update!

So the coir mats are convenient for us, but unnatural for turtles. They need a substrate that will hold moisture (35% humidity is way too low) and that they can burrow in. Fine fir bark mixed with coir shavings (the bricks) or moss is more healthful. A moist (not muddy) substrate is especially important with open-top enclosures under heat lamps. In the wild, box turtles spend most of their time under a forest canopy where the ground is loamy and damp.

Brumating indoors is ultra-dehydrating, and indoor-winter turtles should be soaked every 2-3 weeks to allow them to drink or absorb water through the vent. No food at all, just water. Supervise closely to prevent drowning.

The coil uvb radiation bulbs sold with the deep dome lamps are known to cause corneal burns in turtles and tortoises. The long-style tubes are more reliable in their radiation output and don't concentrate radiation in a laser-like point. While she is having trouble with the eyes, take out the coil bulb and use heat only. See if you can get her temps up closer to 80*F while she is not feeling well. She need more humidity - like 60%.

**************

OK, so she drank some carrot soup and spit it out her nose. Couple of things:
*she drank too much too fast
*she was too sleepy and wasn't expecting it (confused breathing and swallowing)
*she has some kind of respiratory/ear infection messing with her sinuses (and breathing-&-swallowing are difficult to coordinate)

An hour may be too long for her to maintain her bearings...try 30 minutes.

I'd say if the left eye does not come clear tomorrow, time to have her medically evaluated. Most dog-and-cat practitioners don't know how to treat (and not treat) turtles...you want a dedicated reptile practice, or an office that routinely sees wildlife.

 

[mooncake001]

Hi all, a bit update on my box turtle. I have been giving her the "carrot soak" every day since. She seems to enjoy it and sometimes dipped her head into the the soap for a while (as in the picture). She seems to get her energy back, will come out for sun bath in the morning and go back to her cave at night. The eyes already looked normal back on March 16th. The concern I still have is that she still did not eat anything and no pup except some viscous mass in the soak.

ps. I am replacing coco liner sheet with coco coir shavings and got a humidifier for her. My question is how to avoid the growth of fungi and others in this warm and humid setting?

Thanks.