SpiritSerpents
Member
- Joined
- Mar 30, 2015
- Messages
- 11
I work at a humane society and on Friday we discovered a turtle in a cardboard box abandoned outside our door. His right rear leg is edematous and basically non-functional with little to no pain sensation. He's underweight, and currently not eating but I don't know how much of that is due to his leg, his previous circumstances, and/or his currently incredibly inadequate housing. I've offered: various lettuces, strawberries, mushrooms, tofu, night crawlers, wax worms and a dubia roach which he watches with interest but doesn't attempt to eat. He spends most of his time in his water bowl, soaking his leg.
I decided to ask the higher ups if I could take him when the stray hold period was over, so tomorrow the turtle becomes mine. I've already taken him to a reptile vet (none of the vets where I work know much about turtles and/or do not feel capable of adequately providing medical care) where he was put on zosyn injections once a day, and he's been given a single dose of injectable metacam for pain.
I'm trying to set up a good temporary habitat for my new friend that will allow him to be more comfortable. I'm in a condo, but my balcony faces northwest and only gets a couple hours of afternoon sunlight with part of the porch in permanent shade. I also have a 54 gallon opaque plastic tote (~42x21x18h) that I thought I would place in a spot where half of it would get the afternoon sun and the other half would remain permanently in shade as a sort of daytime place for him. I've got eco-earth, sphagnum moss, a hide big enough for him to turn around in, a water dish that he can climb in an out of, and I thought to get him some strawberry plants and a lettuce. I'll bring him inside at night, but he'll have to do with a 31qt plastic bin with a smaller water dish and just sphagnum moss to hide in.
My hope is to be able to get him feeling good enough to amputate that leg; it definitely needs to go. I can't afford to do it right now, but can in a couple weeks, as one of my pet snakes required 2 surgeries back to back just last month and I'm still recovering from that.
So, any advice that you can give me is more than welcome. I want to do what I can for him, but if you think euthanasia is indeed the best option, don't hesitate to say so. I'm a vet tech and while I'm optimistic, I don't want him to needlessly suffer. I just know diddly squat about these guys and would like people with more experience to give their 2 cents.
I decided to ask the higher ups if I could take him when the stray hold period was over, so tomorrow the turtle becomes mine. I've already taken him to a reptile vet (none of the vets where I work know much about turtles and/or do not feel capable of adequately providing medical care) where he was put on zosyn injections once a day, and he's been given a single dose of injectable metacam for pain.
I'm trying to set up a good temporary habitat for my new friend that will allow him to be more comfortable. I'm in a condo, but my balcony faces northwest and only gets a couple hours of afternoon sunlight with part of the porch in permanent shade. I also have a 54 gallon opaque plastic tote (~42x21x18h) that I thought I would place in a spot where half of it would get the afternoon sun and the other half would remain permanently in shade as a sort of daytime place for him. I've got eco-earth, sphagnum moss, a hide big enough for him to turn around in, a water dish that he can climb in an out of, and I thought to get him some strawberry plants and a lettuce. I'll bring him inside at night, but he'll have to do with a 31qt plastic bin with a smaller water dish and just sphagnum moss to hide in.
My hope is to be able to get him feeling good enough to amputate that leg; it definitely needs to go. I can't afford to do it right now, but can in a couple weeks, as one of my pet snakes required 2 surgeries back to back just last month and I'm still recovering from that.
So, any advice that you can give me is more than welcome. I want to do what I can for him, but if you think euthanasia is indeed the best option, don't hesitate to say so. I'm a vet tech and while I'm optimistic, I don't want him to needlessly suffer. I just know diddly squat about these guys and would like people with more experience to give their 2 cents.
sounds like you're doing a wonderful thing for him. 
