I'm thinking it's time for a visit to the vet office:/

[mcory]

Penelope is still not eating and just sleeping all the time the runny nose is clear but her lack of appetite for 2 wks now has me very worried! I am giving her less attention to help with lowering stress but still doing daily soaks. Today I decided to do a baby food soak ( carrots) just to help me feel better. I know when I got her from the pet store she was already sick with the runny nose but got better after a few weeks but now back too not doing well I'm a little freaked about losing her. How long can a tort go with out eating? Sad for her

 

[julietteq]

Can you take her to the vet? Also is she warm enough?

 

[mcory]

I bumped up her temps by 5 degrees so 95 now and taking her to vet tomorrow am so we can fix her up... Hopefully! Everyone send Penelope your good vibes an healing energy! Just want to get this girl on the right track after a rough start in her life!

 

[wellington]

I. AY have asked this before, and sorry if I did. But, are you reading the temps with good quality gauges? Not the cheap disc type things the pet stores sell.
If your sure the temps are accurate, then a vet visit would be the next best step. Glad your getting her in. Good luck, hope all is well and fingers crossed for the both of you. Please let us know.

 

[TortieLuver]

Thinking good thoughts to getting you healthy Penelope. Please let us know what your vet says tomorrow...I hope you have a herp vet.

 

[mcory]

I have an amazing vet who is exotic specialist whom I use to work for so I am very lucky Wellington I am going to go buy a fancy gun thermometer tomorrow just to double check the temps !!! I thank you for the well wishes! And will keep you all posted!

 

[Laura]

Id bump it up more... cover the enclosure to keep the warmth in. make sure she can get away from if she wants to.

 

[mcory]

Penelope has a uri:/ she is on oral antibiotics every 48 hrs. Her eyes look better today but she is still resting a lot more than usual. How warm should I keep her enclosure why she fights this infection? It's 80 in the cool areas and 95 in warm area with basking spot of 100...and yes I went out and bought a fancy infrared temp gun and digital humidity/temp reader!!!

 

[ascott]

I would be certain to offer up warm daily soaks during the entire time you are administering antibiotics...they are hard on a torts kidneys...minimum temps should be 80-85 and a basking spot still for the tort to go to if need to...

Curious? Did the vet do a true diagnosis by test or did the vet simply do a visual and diagnose a UR?

 

[mcory]

Sadly I do not have the funds to do much more than a visual at this point. I'm going back in a week, and after payday , for a follow up. If no improvement than we will test to find out what we are dealing with...so it's the lack of funds not the vet that I couldn't do more:/( my grandma was in icu a few weeks back so I had to spend a fortune to fly home for her)

 

[ascott]

I was simply asking out of curiosity...we all have lean times. I hope your Grandmother is doing better....

I have found that it is quickly listed as UR by more vets because the visit goes something like this....

Tort acting out of sorts
Tort has a bubble or two
Tort is brought to vet, who looks at it, asks person what the see
the tort doing, diagnose UR automatically, prescribe rounds of
antibiotics.....

Here is why I ask, if a test is not done, then the vet is guessing--now, if the vet is highly experienced they would know to guess is not correct, I can say they suspect, but unless they test they don't know. Bubbles can mean parasites, stress, dry environment, something lodged in the throat/nostril area, or a genuine UR--but there are different behaviors for each and while some of those can overlap one another there is no way to know for sure without test.....so, my question was simply out of curiosity is all

If an antibiotic is given it can sometimes mask a real issue by giving the appearance of getting better...but then if the diagnosis is incorrect the tort resumes lack luster behavior and is then in worse condition because the ailment has not be dealt with but the kidneys are now affected by the meds and the meds can also kill off good productive bacteria in their system.....

If it were me, I would be sure to have a regular routine, lights on, soak, food offering, set in basking spot.....if you are able to and are home, if it were me I would do the soak and set in basking spot a couple times each day....and if you go by the enclosure during the day and see the tort has left the basking spot, I would gently place him back in the basking spot and go away....you are doing to things here, waking up the tort and also placing him into warmth...which requires the tort to move away from the heat when he is warmed up...so he is moving as well....(unless a tort is so very ill that it can not get up and move itself, then basking spot should be part of a supervised routine)....

Also, you don't know the extreme stress this tort went through in route to a pet shop.....you don't know if the tort was wild/captive/sick/healthy/parasite loaded, etc. It is a hard place to be in along with the tort....I really do hope all goes well for the tort and you...

 

[mcory]

Ascott...no worries yes with just a quick visit we are treating what is common. She did say her mouth looks good after looking in there...not sure what ailments would effect inside mouth? I am very happy to report that Penelope is much more active already today she has spent sometime exploring her newly sprouted grass this afternoon!!! I feel she has never truly been 100% since I bought her from the pet store so I hope we can get her fixed up. She is now living in a proper home for a leo...humid and warm. The darn pet store had her in a dry enclosure with a box tort and a Russian:/ geesh but I'm grateful I found her even if she had a rough start!

 

[mcory]

I see no improvement with Penelope stopped antibiotics and going back to vet on Monday ! Starting to wonder if she will be able to get better. It breaks my heart but at least she is no longer at the reptile store that did not have her properly housed and she is getting vet care! Please send all the healing energy her way!

 

[Laura]

don't stop the meds.. it can take several weeks to work

 

[mcory]

I'm stopping the meds because my vet is concerned the meds are causing a bad reaction... It's baytril and some Leo torts have bad reactions to it. After she would get it she would seem worse off , not moving at all , so going back on Monday to vet. I can now afford to do more test and hopefully get my baby on a nice healthy life for once!

 

[katrvt]

Yes, some leos don't handle baytril well. My doc's favorite in these guys is ceftazidime. Works Great most of the time.