My turtle swallowed gravel rocks.. Help!?
Hi… My red ear slider baby turtle (about 1 year old) swalled some gravel rock that I bought from the pet shop for aquariums. I brought him to a vet for x-rays, and he has a ton of rocks in his tummy. about 7-8 rocks.. the vet gave me 2 fluids for him; Metacam twice a day and Chlor Palm Susp once a day.. Along with Metamucil twice a day.. I have been following that prescription for 1 week now.. the turtle is still feeling down, not eating and barely moving around. I have a live feeder in the aquarium and I put in pellets everyday hoping he will eat something, and he never does… it’s been a little over a week he hasn’t eaten anything. Money is no issue.. I really want it to live, and stop it’s suffering. any advice or specialist I can visit would greatly help. I am in Montreal, Quebec. Please give me your input. Thank you
no those should help him get the rocks out they will pass and it they dont with in the next week take him to a vet he/she might need to have surgary
Take him to a different vet and tell them about him being treated and it not working…once you tell them that money is no object they will do anything you want them to. Best wishes
Take it to the vet and have them removed? or else take it out by the tool shed. Next time get medium sized rocks to put in it’s tank.
Call your Vet and tell him and let him decide what to do – don’t let the poor little thing suffer.
That seems fairly appropriate, but please call your vet with your concerns. I am a vet and I would prefer my clients ask me than random joe-schmo on the internet.
Next step would be surgical removal.
Just a thought,
-a DVM
Please understand, turtles are tough pets, and babys are tougher than adults. Also please understand that the biggest problems we face are providing the right basic care.
‘Live feeder’? I don;t know for sure what you mean by this, but if it is the dissolving block of food, please remove it. They are not really a good idea.
I suggest checking out the basic care issues- things like tank size, temps, lighting needs, diet.
Fix any glitches you find. One glitch will be getting rid of the small stones.
While the turtle is ill, boost temps about 5 degrees and minimize stress (noise, light, handling, etc.). Keep the tank EXTRA clean (good luck doing this without bothering the turtle!). Keep your eye on behaviors- if it hugs the warm areas, boost temps a little more. if it hugs the shade, dim the lights, etc.
Check the site below for more info.
Hello… I am in the Outaouais.
Anyway, swallowing a few rocks is not a problem. Swallowing a lot is and will caus eimpaction. 7-8 rocks is nothing. I once recued two 6-7″ RES and they pooped out over a 100 pieces. It goes right through.
Remove the rocks/gravel and it will be fine. Stop giving it all that medicine. That is stressing the turtle out.
Increase the basking temp to over 30C by using a stronger bulb or move it closer to the basking area and increase water temp to 26C with a water heater.
The increased temp will help with the immune system and make it stronger. Turtles don’t need to eat everyday. In fact, I feed my RES pellets twice a week and veggies the rest of the time.
I have kept and bred over 75 turtles and tortoises. If your turtle can make it out of this groggy state and stress, it will poop out the rocks. I gaurantee it.
Feel free to email me if you have further questions or concerns. Good luck with your little guy. S/he will be fine.
Hi,
I Also Have a RES About 4″ long is there anyway to tell if hes eating rocks? might take him in to get an x-ray. and any solutions if he is eating rocks? I Heard Give them a dab of vaseline will help but im insure. i have many pebbles in my tank 2mm-50mm i think he may be eating the smaller ones so i might get rid of them. please help, thanks alot