sick turtle? please help!!

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armandoarturo

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Hey everyone!
Im having an issue in here, maybe you guys could help me.
A friend of a friend, knew about me and my love and care for tortoises.
So she got my email adress and sent me an email asking me for help with her injured tortoise.
I told her to send me pictures and tell me everything about the care they get.
So, she sent me the pictures, but the bad thing is that it looks like a sort of a box turtle for me... and I barely know something about them!
I just know about Desert Tortoises, and Texas Tortoises. But nothing about this turtles :s
I was hoping someone would help me identify the little one, and give me some advice for her.
She doesnt knows how to speak english, thats why I didnt invite her to join the forum.
This is what she says in her email:

"She usually eats iceberg lettuce, but not everyday. sometimes I have to force her to eat, and after a little while she starts eating by herself. They both get natural sunlight for about an hour or hour and half everyday, their enclosure its located in my backyard.
Sometimes her brother tries to mate her and he bites and scratches her, so sometimes I separate them. Sometimes they get some water, because we water the plants of the enclosure.
The male eats everything! even what he isnt supposed to. but she would only eat lettuce and watermelon.
She has been two weeks with her back left leg swollen :S
A vet in the zoo told me to put some aloe in her leg and wrap a stick to the leg. Please help me, I really love my little turtules"

Well... thats what she says...
Please If you have any advice, and If you guys could help me out of this, I would really really appreciate it.
Thanks a lot once more forum members!

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dmarcus

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It is a box turtle and like you I have no experience with them, but it looks like the shell has some issues..
 

Laura

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first off Id tell her to keep them seperate.
needs a better diet..
and not sure about the shell and leg.. hopefully someone will know more.
 

dmmj

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They either need more space or separation, it sounds like the male is sexually bullying and or bullying the female, plus their diet could use some refinement. Males of all tortoise and turtle species love to mate and when there is a female nearby, they mate mate mate and then mate some more.
 

Neal

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The best thing, as has been said, would be to separate the two. Box turtles can be very aggressive.

Don't know what to say about the shell or leg. The shells look like they have shell rot maybe? I would say from looking at the female that the shell issue might be related to the male mating her so much, but it looks like the male has the same issue on his.
 

HLogic

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I concur, they are box turtles and would separate them. Adjust the diet to include various vegetables, leafy greens, crickets and for a short while low-fat 'diet' cat or dog chow. Crickets and earthworms as well as Opuntia (nopal) cactus pads & fruit can be added to the diet. Provide water at all times in a shallow pan - clay flower pot saucers work well.

With regard to the carapace scute (shell) issues, it appears to be resultant from burns or freezing - not uncommon with those species. On the female it has been exacerbated by breeding attempts by the male, thus the concentration of damage in the posterior region. All of the damage appears to be old injury and should not affect the turtles. If any is actually new, antibiotic ointment should be applied. This type of damage will take years to heal, if at all.

The swelling of the hind legs of the female could be caused by several things, among them being imbalanced diet, lack of water or possibly egg-binding. A definitive diagnosis would need to be made by a qualified veterinarian.

HTH
 

armandoarturo

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alright..
and what should she do with the leg?
anyone guess what it could be and how can be treated?
 
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Maggie Cummings

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My guess would be egg binding. She's skinny as heck because there is no nutrition in the food she is getting. They need to be separated, and kept separated. She needs some area of soft dirt so maybe she can lay her eggs, if indeed that is her problem. My guess is that an egg is pressing on a ligament or something like that. She's being bullied by the male I hope you can make your friend understand that they need to be separated before the female dies...
 

armandoarturo

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Thats true maggie!
The tortoise might be egg binding!
She isnt eating, and has some egg binding symptoms..
I told her to separate them, how to feed them correctly, about calcium, humidity and the luke warm watter soakings for the female... and lots of attention to her behaviour...
I will keep an eye on her, and keep you guys updated!
Thanks your all your help, as allways I really appreciate it!!
 
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