Open mouth, bubbles in nose and mo

Jet

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My 8 yr old got a red ear slider. We got him may 9 he was active at first and eating we notice at times he would have mouth open. Two weeks later he was only basking in light not active and mouth open more. Then last week my son said mom jet has rabies. I notice he had bubbles out of his mouth. He refuse to eat. I took him to the vet this Friday the vet gave him ceftazidime. The vet tech gave us meds said give him shot daily but I notice on bag says one every 72 hrs so now I'm confused. They gave him one shot in vet office. Since got him home he seams have mouth open more making odd noise and is lifeless. I got him a heater for water keeping it at 78.8 degrees. I found out from petco worker that this isn't his first visit to vet in fact the worker said he just finish his meds for same issues having now before they put him out to be sold she said he was having issues before but recover fast. I'm not happy that they sold me a turtle that had been sick now dealing with same illness. Does anyone know how long it take to see improvement in jet? I'm i to give meds what vet tech said do give shot daily or by the liable on bag saying every 72 hrs? I'm so scared of losing him and having see my son be hurt his pet died. It's hurts watching jet suffer so much. Also what temp should his water be is 78.9 degrees ok for him?
 

dmmj

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Sounds like a reciting RI, that never fully treated. It can take awhile to treat, no way to say how long sorry. Try to get hi to eat something
He will only get weaker, even if the RI gets treated
 

Jet

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What food do you suggest or how to get him try to eat? Should I try to mash his food and but in his mouth I know I done that with sick cats before? Thanks for the help
 

Lyn W

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What food do you suggest or how to get him try to eat? Should I try to mash his food and but in his mouth I know I done that with sick cats before? Thanks for the help
Have you tried adding Gerber baby carrot food to his warm shallow soak to get vitamins into him yet? Even of they don't drink it they absorb it. If you do a search on it I'm sure you will find out how to do it and also make sure he is warm enough. There is probably a caresheet that will tell you what his temps should be.
There is also a lot of info on RI so until someone with far more experience comes along search for posts on that too, you may find your answers there.
It would help if you told us about his enclosure, substrate, temps and humidity etc with pics if possible so that folks here can see if there is anything you can change that will help.
 
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Lyn W

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What food do you suggest or how to get him try to eat? Should I try to mash his food and but in his mouth I know I done that with sick cats before? Thanks for the help
I don't think I would try that without expert advice - it could go into his lungs.
 

dmmj

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Live food is your best option. Those black worms for fish brine shrimp. Anything that moves. I would not mash food up and put it in the mouth would probably just Aspirate
 

johnsonnboswell

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Post a picture of his tank & tell us about it so we can suggest improvements. The pet store setup & advice was probably way off.

Do you have a basking light & platform?

The store should not have sold you a sick animal.
 

Tidgy's Dad

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Hello and welcome to Tortoise Forum.
I am very sorry you are in this position due to the pet store selling you a sick tortoise.
As well as the medication you need you need to make sure your enclosure set up is correct to ensure a speedy recovery and that this does not reoccur.
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/threads/respiratory-infections-for-tortoise-keepers.20068/ has some good info on respiratory infections.
Check out you temps and humidity and offer attractive live food as said above.
 

Yvonne G

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Hi, and welcome to the Forum!

The vet tech may have given you the wrong scoop. Call the vet's office and ask them to check with the vet about the frequency of the injections.

When you're trying to get a turtle with a R.I. well, it's a good idea to make it warmer than normal. So, while 78F is ok for a well turtle, you might consider making it a bit warmer for a sick one...maybe between 80 and 85? Rather than heat up the whole aquarium, set him up in a smaller, hospital tank.

You can also get him out into the sun for a little while every day. Real sunshine does wonders for them.
 
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