strange day with unwanted outcome

[JoesMum]

she seems fine. she gets angry when i have to give her oral meds.

That actually sounds good. If she didn't care about the oral meds, there would be more to worry about. If she is objecting then there's some fight in her

 

[Rue]

I agree. I hope she likes her new digs too! Having better living conditions should help keep her perky and interested in things!

 

[Ferretinmyshoes]

Vet said i can dunk her front half but nothing near the stump. Vet said turtles heal slowly. it seems odd to me, but i am not a turtle vet. I have still heard nothing from Turtle seller. Have emailed him the vet bill and tried to call just now but voicemail was full. Starting to wonder.

4-6 weeks is standard. They heal much slower than mammals where 10-14 days is standard. Two weeks in a reptile will not be healed enough to create a good tissue seal and definitely not enough for suture removal. I don't remove sutures in reptiles until 6 weeks post-op. I usually allow my reptile patients short soaks (10 minutes or so) after the first few weeks if needed. But soaking can break down the sutures or water can seep into the healing wound.

 

[mark1]

the best luck i've had for a turtle that's been through a trauma is to not stress it anymore than necessary , doing as little as possible . it seems to me healthy unstressed turtles kept in proper conditions are pretty resistant to infections ....... 3 legged turtles are pretty common in the wild .... i have one came to me partially healed , he required no care , and i have a wood turtle came to me missing 9 of her toes and definitely infected , she required antibiotics , injectable and topical , i dry docked her a couple hrs a day after applying the topical and just kept her water really clean ....... i read a paper by Harding , where he found 10% of all the wild wood turtles he collected had only 3 legs ........ as far as oral antibiotics , if the turtle's eating i've used them by injecting them into a worm , fish or mice i fed to them ..... if they're not eating it's much better for everyone involved to go with injectables , and the dosing is way more accurate .... i do know of a wild wood turtle brought in to a rescue with a crushed leg , the leg was removed on like the 8th-9th of june and she was ready for release on the 29th of june , she was kept for an additional week because she had 3 eggs remaining in her ..........

 

[ColleenT]

Mark she is not eating yet. i even tried a small bit of banana. i know it's not great for them, but i though maybe it would tempt her. i think the stress is too much. i might try a worm in a few days.

 

[Lyn W]

What a horrible shock for you but I am so glad you are giving Ilene a good home and taking care of her. I hope she makes a good recovery. Maybe you could spray her while she can't soak.
My tort has part of his leg missing too - not as much as poor Ilene - but although he is a bit wonky when he walks he copes well.
.
I have read of people gluing castors under the plastron to help mobility when limbs are missing or attaching fixings for wheels.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2090012.stm

 

[ColleenT]

not going to do that. i feel she will be much more comfortable just being herself. once she heals i am sure she can pretty much whatever she wants.

 

[Lyn W]

not going to do that. i feel she will be much more comfortable just being herself. once she heals i am sure she can pretty much whatever she wants.

I will be considering it with Lola in the future if his lopsided walk starts to put a strain on his good hip, hopefully not for a while though.

 

[jaizei]

I have been searching for a female Three-toed boxie for months online. every time I think i have a lead, it's gone. I finally found a guy who has a lot of animals and he told me he had a female 3 toed. I was thrilled, as you can imagine. Well she arrived this morning and not only is she not a three toed, when she opened up in her soak, i discovered she was missing a leg and had bone showing thru. I freaked out, and i checked the bag she was inside. sure enough, there was dried up leg that looked like beef jerky. I got her to the nearest reptile vet who happens to be a specialist in Box turtles. The turtle needs her leg properly amputated and then she needs to heal. Cost will be probably just over $500. The person i got her from has a 5 star rating, and everyone says he's a great guy to do business with. So i am not going to give out his name, he said he wants to make this right. So now i have a Gulf coast female, which i did not want, and a $500 vet bill, which i also did not want. I am trying to embrace having a new turtle, even tho she is not what i wanted. she can probably live in the outdoor enclosure with the three toeds when she is healed. she will not be able to bury any eggs, but she will still be able to hibernate. I did not want hybrid boxies, anyway. So i am trying to make lemonade out of lemons and thinking i will call her ILENE. She is a pretty gulf coast, and even the vet thought she was sweet and easy to handle for a turtle in distress. They gave her morphine right away and she will be there for a few days.

The problem with these 'great' guys is that no one wants to be the first to say anything. And it isn't an appealing prospect. People circle the wagons and protect their friends. You were sent the wrong animal. So completely ignoring the leg, the transaction was botched. At this point, it's about how he fixes it. Anyone can have a sterling reputation if everything always goes right. It's when there's a problem that matter. It might be judicious to withhold the name now, but ultimately, I hope you give an honest review of your experience. I don't think that should be kept from potential future buyers.

 

[ColleenT]

i am still waiting to hear from the seller. Once i talk to him and we can figure out what he is doing, then i will know what to do. if he can make this right, is willing to pay the vet bill and the cost of selling and shipping, then i will forgive this mistake. Yes it is a big mistake. but i don't think it was done with malice. i believe he wants to make it right, so i am willing to give him a chance to do that.

 

[keepergale]

well, i will say that i think the seller might be overwhelmed and have his hands full. I'm not trying to make excuses, but with the other amazing reviews he got, i don't feel right outing him. at least not at this time. I am guessing she was closed up in her shell when he grabbed her for shipping and didn't notice bc of that. I am trying to give him the benefit of the doubt, since i would not have ordered from him if he did not have stellar reviews to begin with. If she works out with my other 2, then good, but if not, i will try to find her a good home. The vet thinks something like a string or thread might have got tangled around the leg and killed off the blood supply, but the dead leg was keeping the bone protected. Until the shipping. i know the turtle will be ok, she looks very healthy other than this issue, her weight was decent, and she was active, despite this injury. It's just the money i am bummed out about. that and the fact that there seem to be Zero Female Three-toed boxies in the USA for sale. But i'll do my best for ILENE.

I agree with everyone the tortoise is lucky you are the new owner. You are super cool with everything that has happened. Nicer than I would be. At the risk of being a jerk I am going to point out the purpose of the ratings you mentioned are for both good and bad reviews. Ratings aren't worth much without honest appraisals good or bad. Hopefully the seller makes this right. Whether he does or not perhaps future buyers should hear the story and judge for themselves.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

Keep your guy warmer than usual. Feed him daily at the same time, after an hour take it away. Add cherry tomatoes, green peppers and turnip greens radicchio, dandelion greens. If he's not interested remove it. You might try " (cat food) she whispers. " Wet friskies. Good luck. I also have a 3 legged T. ornata

 

[Rue]

I wonder if just having some smooth bearing-thingamajig would be of benefit? Not even a wheel...just something with little friction to help balance?

 

[Yvonne G]

They make furniture slides. It's a shiny plastic in different sizes.

We had a three legged desert tortoise only her missing leg was on the front. When she walked her plastron would get stuck on the grass, so we used a furniture slide and it solved the problem

 

[ColleenT]

she gets around ok with no substrate, just paper. So i am sure when the time comes she will do great in the grasses and the dirt.

 

[Cheryl Hills]

she seems fine. she gets angry when i have to give her oral meds.

She must be feeling better then!

 

[Pearly]

4-6 weeks is standard. They heal much slower than mammals where 10-14 days is standard. Two weeks in a reptile will not be healed enough to create a good tissue seal and definitely not enough for suture removal. I don't remove sutures in reptiles until 6 weeks post-op. I usually allow my reptile patients short soaks (10 minutes or so) after the first few weeks if needed. But soaking can break down the sutures or water can seep into the healing wound.

Thank you for this post! It totally makes sense with the reptiles.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Not a good story. But the outcome may be just great.
Imagine if that poor turtle had gone to another purchaser?
One that didn't care so much.......

 

[Momof4]

What a mess! I still can't believe this happened!
I'm so glad she's on the road to recovery and you, you must have needed a drink after you opened that box! I bet you we just dumbfounded!
I truly hope this breeder makes things right for you!! Sending good vibes your way sweetie!

 

[ColleenT]

What a mess! I still can't believe this happened!
I'm so glad she's on the road to recovery and you, you must have needed a drink after you opened that box! I bet you we just dumbfounded!
I truly hope this breeder makes things right for you!! Sending good vibes your way sweetie!

Honestly i didn't have time to think about it. i knew i had to rush to the vet, b/c i thought the bone was fresh, since it was pink. turned out the bone was dying. But yes that was a shock and a huge disappointment.