Hopefully the vet will be able to give your turtle some vitamin and antibiotic injections to help save the leg. But I agree it looks infected now. Best of luck with your RES!
HELP my RES got it arm tied up in string and is swolen!
- Thread starter NOLAGT
- Start date
Did I wait too long...I am going to feel like poop if I made her loose the leg. It just wasn't all open like this a day and a half ago...didn't look that bad and she was using it more and more so I thought it would get better over time. Then pop its all open and nasty looking.....
Don't be so hard on yourself, stuff like this happens to the best of us. It's a learning experience to say the least. But you are doing the right thing by taking your RES to the vet. Some people would have just turned their back on it. I hope everything works out for you and your turtle. Keep us updated!
Ok wife just left the vet. He said its no wear near needing to be cut off as of now...and he doesn't feel it will get to that point. He said it will take several months for the dead skin to pretty much rot off and heal. Gave us a topicle cream to apply twice a day...put it on...leave the turtle out for an hour and then back in the pond. Thing that worries me is its starting to get cool outside...I hope its healed up before it gets real cold....pond temps have dip to 70 at night already.
Vicious_Fish;2266685; said:
Yeah I know im hard on myself right now...its just that this gal has been with us since hatchling about 6-7 years ago and been through so much drama. And now looking back on it...duh...fishing line...that stuff kills fish and animals in the wild when its all bunched up and tangled around them. One of those things I should have known....but I do now!
The wife and I were dating when we got 2 babies...and she was excited cuz I said we can put it in our pond when we get one. So she hears we are going to get married one day lol...wemon. So sure enough we did and we got a pond for the 2...but one went MIA after Katrina hit our area so I really dont want anything to happen to this one.
I understand. Seeing how you're very attached to this turtle I would recommend keeping it indoors in a rubbermaid tub (if you don't have a big aquarium) so you can easily observe how it's healing. It's pretty risky to let a sick or injured turtle heal it's self in cold weather seeing how they are coldblooded and heal much faster when kept warm. It's even riskier to let a sick or injured turtle go into hibernation.
I agree, I'd just plan on keeping it indoors for the winter...as it gets cool the turtle's system is going to start slowing down, too much possibility for infection IMO with a recent injury.
captive turts usually don't hibernate and temps between 50*f and 70*f are sometimes called the "death zone" i.e. it's too warm to hibernate and too cool to survive in a healthy manner. If you temp drops below 70 much I would pull it inside.
I agree with the rubbermaid idea. A lot of outdoor pond owners I know reserve a big stock tub to put the turtle in for the winter.
I agree with the rubbermaid idea. A lot of outdoor pond owners I know reserve a big stock tub to put the turtle in for the winter.
I have had this one out in a pond through the winter before...it has been indoors and outdoors a few times through different things. But the time she was out in the pond for winter it was a in-ground pond but much smaller and shallower. I never heard about the death zone temps...I have had many RES out in a pond through winter with out doing anything special for them with no problems. Now ya got me worried...i'll have to think of how I can house her inside for this winter if need be. Would it be too much to have her indoors untill she is healed and then back out in the pond that might be cold for winter or is that to big of a shock yall think.
