Newbie & seems like my tortoise is ill? need help guys..!!

[Tuii]

Hi..!!
I am from india & have a tortoise with me from last 5 years. Still i am totally unaware of its species & gender. Today i noticed that one of his nostrils is blocked from some yellowish & bit liquid like content. He seems to be having trouble since yesterday & isn't eating anything. He is opening his mouth just a bit as if he is trying to sneeze/burp/yawn & seems to be feeling uncomfortable. So got worried & started surfing net & first thing i came across was this wonderful forum. Need some help guys & as tortoise are not allowed here so its not easy to find a vet for same. I am total noob so please bear with me.
Thanks.

 

[wellington]

Hello and WELCOME. . So someone can help you properly, post a picture of your tort. Also give us a run down of the torts home. Temps, humidity, substrate, diet anything like that you can think of to tell us.

 

[ascott]

Welcome and as Wellington requested, may we please see a pic of your tortoise....a picture showing the top shell, the bottom of shell and his face....this will let the folks help you to know what species you have....

 

[Tuii]

Thanks for the warm welcome..!!
Pardon me as these pics are couple of years old. Currently he is is a guinea pig kinda cage with water in it. I let him walk around in house & show him sunlight once in a while as its summers here(very hot). Currently the temperature remains about 38-42C outside. He is very fond of fresh curd cheese & eats only that. I've tried feeding him different things but he just dont like anything. I also feed him turtle feed & he sometimes like to eat that too. Only after coming to this forum i came to know about the enclosures that people have built here & am quite amazed to see them. Would really like to built one for mine but my foremost concern is his blocked nostril.
BTW his name is TUII.

 

[Yvonne G]

Hi Tuii:

Welcome to the Forum!!

Your turtle, Tuii, is a water turtle and would probably benefit from living in a pond or aquarium with a landing area for him to climb out of the water and sit under the light to warm up.

I think if you offer him some live and wiggly bugs or worms, he will eat those.

Get a bulb syringe and flush out the turtle's nose. You can squirt some saline solution directly into the nostril without harming the turtle. If a turtle can't smell, he won't eat, and with a plugged up nose, he can't smell.

More than likely the turtle has a respiratory infection from being kept too cool. He needs to be in water about 75F degrees, but he also needs a light hanging over his docking area where he can warm up to about 85F degrees.

I don't know what kind of water turtle it is, but he needs to be in water.

What would you like us to call you?

 

[Madkins007]

The good folk over at http://www.turtleforums.com can probably help with identification.

 

[dmarcus]

Hello and welcome to the forum...

 

[Tuii]

Welcome to the Forum!!
Thanks..!!
Your turtle, Tuii, is a water turtle and would probably benefit from living in a pond or aquarium with a landing area for him to climb out of the water and sit under the light to warm up.
I dont want to keep him in aquarium but he surely lives in water for most of the time of the day.

Get a bulb syringe and flush out the turtle's nose. You can squirt some saline solution directly into the nostril without harming the turtle.
Can you please elaborate as how to do these procedure? Moreover even i will be scared using syringe being a complete noob & as he keeps moving his neck & goes in the shell. So how to go about using saline solution & wont it hurt him if he has bruised nostril or anything??

If a turtle can't smell, he won't eat, and with a plugged up nose, he can't smell.
When i leave him in the open, he as usual is trying to smell things dont know though how much he is able to smell them.

More than likely the turtle has a respiratory infection from being kept too cool. He needs to be in water about 75F degrees, but he also needs a light hanging over his docking area where he can warm up to about 85F degrees.
He cant be too cool as its damn hot over here. If i translate the surrounding temperature to Fahrenheit it comes out to be about 100F.


What would you like us to call you?
You guys can call me AK.

 

[Nixxy]

Looks like a Pastel RES kinda, mixed with a sideneck...

Could you please upload some side pictures of the face, and one of his underside?

100F is a bit hot for a aquatic turtle, such as that. A general rule of thumb for aquatic turts is a staple of 75F water. Less is too cold, and can lead to infection. And higher, is also just too warm for them.


As for the sickness, it doesn't sound very severe. It is probably the beginning stages of a respiratory illness, and they are easy to treat. I agree with Yvonne, flush his nostrils and make sure he keeps eating.

Has he still been generally active, etc?

The opening of the mouth can be a tell tale sign of respiratory infection.

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Welcome!

 

[TORTOISEMAN1]

Welcome!!

---

Hello and welcome!

 

[kanalomele]

Welcome, I wish I had advice for you but I'm useless with water turtles.

 

[Zamric]

Welcome to the FOrum!

 

[Jacqui]

Hi and welcome! While your air temps may be 100, I would bet the actual water he is kept in is much cooler. You need to try to use a thermometer and get a water temp reading.

 

[Tuii]

Hey guys..!!
Actually i took him to a vet though the vets here are not experienced in reptiles. We were giving him some meds by disolving it in his water & that helped him(atleast it appeared like that) as his blocked nose was no more clogged. But he hasnt been eating for over a month now.
Some creamish stuff comes out of his nose now & then but i clear it up using a cotton. He seems to have lost his buoyancy(am not sure though). More importantly his one eye now has swelling & is shut.I am really worried. The room temperature is around 87-88F. Havent checked the water temperature but it should be around(bit less) this only as its not cold out here. Also forgot to mention that his heads shakes up like crazy whenever he lifts it up.
Now few points that i collected by researching online is-
* He seems to be a indian roofed turtle.
*as per symptons he seems to have pneumonia.
Is the swollen eye because of vitamin a deficiency or respiratory infection.
As baytril seems to be unavailable in india any other med with same salt do?
And it will be of great help if you can tell me step by step procedure for his treatment so that i can guide my vet regarding the same.
Also is there any precautions while giving them injections. Sorry for noob question but is there a specific spot from they need to be injected?
Need helps guys. What should i do?
Would really appreciate all the help i can get from you guys.
Need suggestions urgently as i will be taking him to vet tomorrow morning.

 

[Tuii]

---delete--

 

[Tuii]

Just came back from my turtle's funeral. He was with vet for last 1 week. I saw him 3 days back he was improving & seem to be good but yesterday got the news that his pulse was quite low & in the night he gave up.:'(.I am never gonna get a pet again, you get attached to them so freaking badly. It hurts a lot.:'(. May he rest in peace. God bless his soul. .
Mods please close this thread.

 

[TheMindBuddah]

RE: Newbie & seems like my tortoise is ill? need help guys..!!

So sorry to hear that!!! :-(

 

[pam]

Sorry for your loss

 

[Laurie]

RE: Newbie & seems like my tortoise is ill? need help guys..!!

Sorry for your loss
Give it some time, you will feel better.