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Old 27-12-2013, 01:46 AM   #1
amony
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Default Tommetta the terrapin! help!

Hi there, amon here ! I am making a post for my gf, who's 15 year old terrapin isn't too well, here are some of the details:
*Tommetta is 15 years old, she has been pretty healthy for most of her 15 years, she had small problems with her shell due to lack of a light and calcium but that cleared up pretty fast with help from the vet.

She has had some swollen legs recently and lack of appetite. This lack of appetite is nothing new however as every winter she eats less, there were however up until now, no signs of her swollen legs and after winter passed she would regain her appetite, vets would tell us it was just the weather and it seemed like that,until this winter when she appeared to have pink swollen legs that when she was walkin about and drying off, didnt seem so pink anymore but still pretty bloated. My gf noticed this and ofc took her to the vet, the vet said she had swollen liver/inflamed liver, gave her an injection and antibiotic to take home, she is still due another visit to see any progress, her appetite has not returned however and she has had this medacine for under or only just a week. She is difficult to give medacine to however my gf manages to give her it by making her open her mouth by taping her face with the seringe( plastic medacine seringe, dont panic) so she receives medacine and eats very little, she does eat tiny bits of fresh prawns but does not eat her dry food or anything else..
My gf feels like she isnt handling this as well as she could be, is there any tips that could help her to nurse her tommetta back to health inbetween visits to the vets? Here are some extra info. I will post a picture soon. of Tommetta healthy, and tommetta right now.

*She usually eats a varied diet of meal worms, dried terrapin food, fresh prawns, crab sticks and mussels occasionaly and sometimes she even eats lettuce, cucumber and spinach!

For years tommetta didn't have a light or filter as my gf was unaware that terrapins needed this, do not think bad of her please as she loves her tommetta very dearly, she has had her since she has been 5 years old, she is now 20. She now has a uvb light for terrapins above her basking rock, she loves to use this rock to sit apon and bask, even before she had her light, she loved this rock. My gf was also scared of when tommetta slashing water into the light as when its egg season tommetta has had problems with laying eggs , this is a seperate problem that is being solved atm however. My gf was frightened that tommetta would slash water into the lightbulbs and make them explode..harming her terrapin... but she has a light now and my gf will be getting her a filter and a underwater heater as she thinks the waters too cold.
any advice i can give please? please be nice.
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Old 27-12-2013, 02:10 AM   #2
egyptiandan64
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Has the vet done an x-ray on her? It sounds more like she might have retained eggs that has set-up and infection.

More heat and an x-ray as soon as possible will go a long way to helping and figuring out the problem.

Danny
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Old 27-12-2013, 03:31 AM   #3
ClareandCo
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Retained eggs could certainly be the problem.

What size tank is she is? Does she now have a filter on the tank? At that age room temperature water is fine 20c with a basking spot 10c warmer.

She is on a fairly high protein diet. Reptomin and wheatgerm pellets with duckweed, pondweed, Romaine lettuce, clean dandelion leaves would be good.

Photos would certainly be of help and interest.
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Old 27-12-2013, 05:34 PM   #4
amony
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Default info on tommetta

Hey,
she got an x-ray and the vet said her liver was inflamed, no more eggs atm, they usually take xrays when she is in egg season as she has problemds laying them,,but no eggs atm.
She dosnt have filter atm because we fear she may climb on it...yes she likes to climb...in her old tank she would try to climb out (no lid)but this one is big enough that she cant climb out i reckon. As to the size of tank...erm i dont remember, my gf had it custom made for her however and she will measure it to tell me later, she will also post some pictures. I have one of her on her basking rock atm, but its bad quality.

She is going bk to the vet soon dont worry! she will most likely have another xray and before they mentioned an ultra sound, but because she is so powerful and big, they would have to put her asleep, its a wonder how they even manage to xray her every year at egg season..she dosnt bite but her nails are pretty damn dangerous!!! thankyou for all your replies, ill keep you up to date
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Old 28-12-2013, 09:42 AM   #5
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She really needs a filter - it is quite detrimental to her not to have good quality water. She needs an external one such as an Eheim 2213, 2215, 2217 which would be impossible for her to climb on as this is literally tubing with an "end bit". An internal filter, which presumably is what she has had, will not cope.

You must be forever changing the water in her tank.

The lack of uv and the diet she has been fed will have contributed to her poorly health.

Does she have a laying area? Females do become egg bound if there is nowhere for them to lay. She needs a dry box with earth/garden compost/moss to support her weight so that she can deposit the eggs and then cover them up.

Does she have an outdoor pond setup for the summer so she can bask in natural sunlight? Ours are never taken out of the water to walk around - they do this in their basking area, but never on the carpet, floor or lawn.

Her claws as a female should not be particularly long. Males have very long front ones - I presume she is definitely female!
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Old 29-12-2013, 05:30 PM   #6
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Hi,
She does has an swimming pool for in the summer! she is often outside for a few hours under supervision in the summer in a pool and then walking around the garden, she enjoys to bask in the sun! She also had in her old plastic tank, she had sand for laying eggs, when she seemed to be trying to lay the eggs i would lift her from her tank and sit her in her sand box for a while...but she did not lay eggs ever in the box of wet sand! she just layed them in her tank, where we would put warmer water in for her at that moment, she used to get lots of injections and liquid calcium which she is to take even in the winter to see if it helps at all!

She now has a uvb light which is 9 inches from her shell and the light, on the back of the box it says she received the 2nd best quality of uvb light for the distance between her shell and the light. She has an heater coming for her, that will keep the water at room temperature! I hope this will help her and keep her happy =]

Tommetta has very long nails for a female!... the vet said so and a long tail also! I did not know if this was bad or good, the vet never really mentioned... thankyou for recomending a filter ,she has a large tank! 3 feet by 1 foot and half... funny thing is, my gf and her family thought she was a boy for 13 years and they were leaving to go on holiday ( her sister was stayin to study and look after the dog the rabbit and tommetta) and she suddently laid an egg! everyone thought it was a joke!...so then onwards she has had attention from the vet helping her to lay her eggs=] she had some strange and rather large and difficult eggs to pass but passed them and must have been such a releif ! My gf is trying very hard to give her tommetta everything she needs and hopes to make her feel better. I will post pics when the gf has sent me a recent one, as i only have pics of her in her pool ( a sand box filled with water in the garden,a childrens sand box/pool... she loves it..) and being held by myself!
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Old 31-12-2013, 09:18 AM   #7
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I would be very interested to see some photos. As a mature female she could be 12" or so, but certainly 8"+ so needs a much bigger tank than a 3' one.

Lifting her out to lay eggs won't really help and probably cause her undue stress. They only lay in the box when happy and comfortable. Our Musks spent ages getting completely comfortable in garden centre compost, and it took several attempts for us to find the right thing for them. The first batch was laid in the water, and the second female also laid her one and only batch in the water (both housed in their own tanks).
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