Just devistated...female Russian is dead

[jacqturtle]

I hope the vet is correct, I don't fully agree with him, but hey he's the vet.

[mom2twinsplus2]

What don't you agree with Jacq? I didn't fully agree with my last reptile vet so this guy was a switch to a new reptile vet who is highly regarded from what I can tell locally at least. What concerns do you have about what I have posted?

Alison

[jacqturtle]

Okay I see nothing either of you is doing/or have done as "wrong".

RI usually has more signs it's happening, so far you said the female only was a little less active and eating less then to start with ot then the male does correct? I just don't see that as an RI sick animal. Normally your looking at no activity, no eating, swollen eyes, bubbled nose or mouth, and even a wheezing sound. Not having one or two of these symptoms is normal too, but Mindy really sounded like no signs...until she was dead.

Mork only has an eye issue. You touched on one good thought yourself...maybe an eye irritation from bedding. Could the bedding be too dusty? Could it be too dry? Did he only rub it wrong?
Those would be my thoughts, since otherwise he is still normal acting, correct?

Your temp is fine at night. Now it won't hurt (and might help) to keep it up a bit like the Dr suggested while he is being treated, but it is an okay night time temp to start with. Sounds like Mork is smart enough (and healthy enough) that he is moving himself around to get what he needs for his temps.

The vet giving the shots won't hurt, I am just one of those who prefers to hold off on the "heavy meds" until I know what I am dealing with. I might have started with just eye meds myself. What kind of meds? Asking because if Baytril (most common)can cause them to stop eating. What injection sites did he show you to use?

[geckodogtuker]

I am very sorry for your loss...I don't know anything about turtles, so I will hold off on advice...except one thing.

I agree with jacq about heavy meds unless really called for...but this situation sounds a bit on the "could go either way"...

I wish you luck...and again...I am so sorry about the loss of your new girl.

[mom2twinsplus2]

Thanks for the feedback Jacq...

I am not really sure what to think now I guess.

Mindy was eating absolutely normally when I got her...both were very enthusiastic eaters to say the least. I started noticing a few days before she died that significantly less food was being eaten but I thought maybe they were just normalizing a bit cause there were eating really, really a lot before that. I started offering less and less and still there were left overs. Both torts were eating though until the day before Mindy died so I didn't realize that the decrease in food consumption was probably almost all from her. I should have watched more carefully while they ate but I wasn't concerned about the decrease at the time...just something I noted. The activity level was the same thing...when we took them out to explore, normally both were all over the place but the day before Mindy died, she just took a few steps and stayed where she was while Mork was everywhere (he goes in pursuit of food...he takes a little bite at everything he can find, it seems...it is like baby proofing all over again-LOL). She did not have any breathing issues or discharge...I am not sure if I would have noticed her eyes being off or not...I really didn't study her looking for issues..just played with her, KWIM?

Mork, on the other hand, has been studied by me with a fine tooth comb. He doesn't have any breathing issues and his activity and eating seem OK to me...but his eye really looks bad. Sometimes it seems to hardly open at all and other times it opens some but not a lot. His bedding doesn't seem really dusty to me and the eye does not look irritated like I would think from bedding. I have wiped it down a few times and I will try to do it a few more times so if it is something like that, maybe it will help. I think I will try him on aspen next and see if I like it better than this...this stuff is a mess to clean up when he pees...he goes right through the bedding to the base of the cage so spot cleaning is not really possible. YUCK. He does move around his cage and I find him in different spots...Mindy liked the cool side/moist hide much more than Mork seems to...he seems to mostly hang on the warm side. He likes to go into the bedding next to the basking tile a whole lot. He spend last night there at least when I checked on him so I guess he likes his new night light.

I guess except for his eye he is acting normal....but Mindy wasn't so far off from normal either.

One think you mentioned...too dry bedding...can you explain that to me? I didn't know that was possible. With this weird winter weather we are having, the room is quite dry where he is at. I have the cage set up with the coconut husk bedding all across it...I have it about 3-4 inches deep across the whole cage....with a much deeper spot on the cold side that is about 8 inches deep and is moistened. Since Mork is spending so much time in the bedding on the warm side, I added a bit of extra bedding there so it is probably 5 inches deep or so there. There are hides on both sides as well. Could it all be too dry for him? It is absolutely not moistened at all...just out of the bag, except for the spot deep moist hide spot. I thought Russians really needed very little moisture. He does not have any water in there either...I have just been doing a once a week soak for him.

Oh, as for the shot, I am doing it on the outside of the front leg..he told me he prefers it done on the front of the animal and I find it easier to do it on the side of the leg rather than in front of the leg...he said either spot was OK. I feel so bad doing it...I hope it is not totally overkill or worse and that Mork will be OK. His eye is not looking any better at all...

Alison