Angel Carrion
Well-Known Member
I remember telling a few people about Splinter acting strange and appearing sick, so I thought I would make a thread about him and get some thoughts.
I found Splinter on my front step outside my door. It is really high with a lip on it, so there's no way he could have climbed up it. His shell was completely covered in dry paint that matched his orange scales. What made me take him to a vet the first time was the big crack in his shell and the chunk missing from behind his head. The vet told me the damage was old, but she was concerned by the fact that he was overweight yet really malnourished, had very dull pigmentation in some spots, flaky shell with slight pyramiding, etc. and said he was most likely someone's pet that either got out or was released and found his way to me. I'm of the belief someone in my neighborhood heard about my rescue work and decided to put him on my front step because they didn't want him anymore or couldn't take care of him. That's how I got my first Eastern Box Turtle.
I set him up best I could using information I found on various online pages and eventually found my way here. After a month and a half of having him, he started becoming lethargic, progressively weaker and weaker, open mouth breathing, eating less then stopped completely, and soaking in his water dish all day and going back in when I would take him out of it. This happened within the time frame of one week. I didn't like his change in behavior when before he was very energetic, loved to explore, ate well, etc. So I took him to a reptile vet I found online by the name of Dr. Atchel at Exeter Veterinary Hospital in PA. He said it could be an RI and gave me critical care for herbivores and baytril to administer orally at a rate of .15 ML once a day for ten days. He also told me to force feed Splinter 2 tablespoons of hydrated critical care every day, splitting the 2 tablespoons into four meals each day. At first it was easy to open Splinter's mouth and feed him because of how weak me was, but now that he has grown a bit stronger, it's impossible.He still will not eat on his own, though he is now moving around a little more. Still lethargic, still weak, but not as much.
I took him to a different vet in the same office as Dr. Atchel today because he was on vacation. Dr. Siepel said she is glad to see that Splinter is stronger and moving around more, but she and I are worried about his lack of eating on his own and his weight loss of 14 grams (he was 664 but now he's 650) in 20-23 days. At first she wanted to wait and see a little longer to see if he regained more of his strength with me continuing to force feed him and gave me some suggestions on how to get him to eat on his own (all of which I have tried already plus others, but I let her talk) but when she saw him open-mouth breathe, she talked to me about doing another round of Baytril. After I explained how very hard it was for me to get Splinter to swallow the Baytril because of how bad it tastes (I'm assuming) and how hard it is to get him to swallow the meds or the crit care without spitting it back up, she opted to not continue the Baytril because of the stress it would cause him plus him not ever swallowing the full dose. She doesn't want to add on to the stress of me forcing Baytril on him to the stress of force feeding him. But she said to monitor his weight loss and habits etc and bring him back at a later date.
She said if he continues to act this way, she will want to blood work and possibly x-rays at the next follow-up.
When I first realized something wasn't right with Splinter, I made a hospital tank using hydrated peat moss in a rubbermaid container with a wood log hide and small water dish with a Mercury Vapor Bulb to keep him warm but still offer UV lights. While in this, he almost never moved and when he did move, it was maybe half an inch to one side or the other. He never moved himself out of the heat or our of the light. He never tried to go into the shady hide. But when I put him back outside in his enclosure, I get more activity out of him. The hospital tank basking temperature was a little over 90, hot side high 80's (generally between 85-87) cool side fluctuated between 78-75. I measured the humidity levels fluctuating in the high 70's most of the time.
His outside enclosure (which I moved him back into after seeing how well he did when I would put him out there for fresh air and natural UV for a few hours every day) is completely dependent on the weather/heat. Generally high's are mid to high 80's, in the spots that get direct sun for a few hours a day can hit almost 100's on the ground right there (temp gun used). Cool side is mid to high 70's. At night the temperature drops down to somewhere in the 60's. I mist/hose the enclosure at least once a day.
Any thoughts/comments/observations/etc? I'm all ears.
I found Splinter on my front step outside my door. It is really high with a lip on it, so there's no way he could have climbed up it. His shell was completely covered in dry paint that matched his orange scales. What made me take him to a vet the first time was the big crack in his shell and the chunk missing from behind his head. The vet told me the damage was old, but she was concerned by the fact that he was overweight yet really malnourished, had very dull pigmentation in some spots, flaky shell with slight pyramiding, etc. and said he was most likely someone's pet that either got out or was released and found his way to me. I'm of the belief someone in my neighborhood heard about my rescue work and decided to put him on my front step because they didn't want him anymore or couldn't take care of him. That's how I got my first Eastern Box Turtle.
I set him up best I could using information I found on various online pages and eventually found my way here. After a month and a half of having him, he started becoming lethargic, progressively weaker and weaker, open mouth breathing, eating less then stopped completely, and soaking in his water dish all day and going back in when I would take him out of it. This happened within the time frame of one week. I didn't like his change in behavior when before he was very energetic, loved to explore, ate well, etc. So I took him to a reptile vet I found online by the name of Dr. Atchel at Exeter Veterinary Hospital in PA. He said it could be an RI and gave me critical care for herbivores and baytril to administer orally at a rate of .15 ML once a day for ten days. He also told me to force feed Splinter 2 tablespoons of hydrated critical care every day, splitting the 2 tablespoons into four meals each day. At first it was easy to open Splinter's mouth and feed him because of how weak me was, but now that he has grown a bit stronger, it's impossible.He still will not eat on his own, though he is now moving around a little more. Still lethargic, still weak, but not as much.
I took him to a different vet in the same office as Dr. Atchel today because he was on vacation. Dr. Siepel said she is glad to see that Splinter is stronger and moving around more, but she and I are worried about his lack of eating on his own and his weight loss of 14 grams (he was 664 but now he's 650) in 20-23 days. At first she wanted to wait and see a little longer to see if he regained more of his strength with me continuing to force feed him and gave me some suggestions on how to get him to eat on his own (all of which I have tried already plus others, but I let her talk) but when she saw him open-mouth breathe, she talked to me about doing another round of Baytril. After I explained how very hard it was for me to get Splinter to swallow the Baytril because of how bad it tastes (I'm assuming) and how hard it is to get him to swallow the meds or the crit care without spitting it back up, she opted to not continue the Baytril because of the stress it would cause him plus him not ever swallowing the full dose. She doesn't want to add on to the stress of me forcing Baytril on him to the stress of force feeding him. But she said to monitor his weight loss and habits etc and bring him back at a later date.
She said if he continues to act this way, she will want to blood work and possibly x-rays at the next follow-up.
When I first realized something wasn't right with Splinter, I made a hospital tank using hydrated peat moss in a rubbermaid container with a wood log hide and small water dish with a Mercury Vapor Bulb to keep him warm but still offer UV lights. While in this, he almost never moved and when he did move, it was maybe half an inch to one side or the other. He never moved himself out of the heat or our of the light. He never tried to go into the shady hide. But when I put him back outside in his enclosure, I get more activity out of him. The hospital tank basking temperature was a little over 90, hot side high 80's (generally between 85-87) cool side fluctuated between 78-75. I measured the humidity levels fluctuating in the high 70's most of the time.
His outside enclosure (which I moved him back into after seeing how well he did when I would put him out there for fresh air and natural UV for a few hours every day) is completely dependent on the weather/heat. Generally high's are mid to high 80's, in the spots that get direct sun for a few hours a day can hit almost 100's on the ground right there (temp gun used). Cool side is mid to high 70's. At night the temperature drops down to somewhere in the 60's. I mist/hose the enclosure at least once a day.
Any thoughts/comments/observations/etc? I'm all ears.
