Help Me Please...Aquatic Turtle dieases

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Rays of Sunshine

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Mar 20, 2010
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Georgia
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I currently have 4 turtles. Since they are from the wild, I am very concerned with diseases. Salmonella, is on of the top on my list.

Have you encountered this? Do you know of a antibiotic, shot, etc...that can be given?

I have worst of thyroid diseases and my medication will lower my immunity against everything. I might have to give up the turtles. Any ideas???:(
 
Well considering the government ordered every commercially available turtle under 4" to be frozen and killed (in my state, anyway), I'm assuming there's nothing you could do if they do have it. I don't know for sure, though. I wouldn't be surprised if the gov't did that just because it's cheaper.

But, you could bring them to the vet to double check. Don't get rid of them until you're positive there's a reason to. There may or may not be preventative measures you can take, but if not, just have them checked regularly. If something comes up, then you take the necessary measures to find them new homes.
 
if you follow appropriate sanitary conditions and keep turtles and objects that have been in contact with the turtles away from your mouth, you'll be fine. i have 8 WC turtles ive had since i was 5.
 
Thank you. I do keep the turtles away from my mouth. However, when I clean the tanks and them, water does splash on me. The water has gotten on my face and mouth too. Of course I wash it off with anti-bacterial soap.

I am not currently on the medication. When I do start, that's when the lowered immunity kicks in. The pill makes my body slow it's attack on my thyroid. To do this, it suppresses my immunity to the strength of a cancer patient, AIDS victim and/or the elderly.
 
Even is you took the animals to the vet and had them checked that would only tell you about that moment in time. Aquatic turtles by their very nature live in water and bacteria can flourish in warm dirty water and one of those bacterias is Salmonella sp. However, the same can be said for a dogs water bowl on a hot summer day. The bacteria is so ubiquitous there is no real good way to eliminate it, but it is quite easy to reduce your chance of infection due to exposure. Always use good hand washing techniques. Never clean the turtles tank or decorations in the kitchen sink. Clean the tanks a little more frequently. Let the tank set for at least 15 minutes with a 5% bleach solution prior to rinsing (this includes all decorations). These are the same recommendations I give to all immuno-suppressed patients, and to date, no one has come down with a serious pet related infection.
 
HPIZZLE;4266093; said:
if you follow appropriate sanitary conditions and keep turtles and objects that have been in contact with the turtles away from your mouth, you'll be fine. i have 8 WC turtles ive had since i was 5.
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i certainly agree, i have kept over 50 turtles in my time and never once have i ever had any issues with diseases. why: because i carefully used hand sanitizer after everytime ii came in contact with them and washed any thing that touched them.
 
I got salmonella once while working with reptiles but it was my fault. I was working at the museum and had contact with at least a dozen animals and only used hand sanitizer in between each one. I then went to lunch and again only used hand sanitizer. I think this is when I got it. If I had just washed my hands, i could have avoided the worst 4 days of my life.

All you have to do is be careful. It is not just wild turtles that carry it but all turtles so you should wash your hands after working with them and cleaning the tank. Also all animals carry salmonella but with aquatic turtles, the bacteria is given a comfortable environment to live... So long as you do not ingest it, you will be fine.
 
My turtles are at a different location than myself. The sink is used by others but not for any food products. I clean the turtles and wood, etc.. in this sink. After the turtle shells are washed(water and towel) and the tank is set back up.

I wash the stand up style sink (sides,legs,underneath), back splash wall and entire area with dial antibacterial soap and Dawn dishwashing liquid. Then I hose the entire area with very hot water. The sink area would not be touched by anyone for 8 or more hours.

Is all of that enough or do I still need to add bleach to the sink area too?
 
why do you have to scrub the turtles? they really dont need that. If you just let them be then you could minimize the contact with them and put less stress on them. Also, I think that what you are doing is plenty fine but why not just use an outdoor hose or a bathtub instead of the sink. If you could do that then all you would have to do is rinse the tub and wipe down the handles and spigot.
 
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