Puffy Diamondback
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I have an adult female diamondback terrapin who seems to have puffed up overnight. When I got her 6 months ago, she was a normal weight. Now, though she eats very well and is very active, she appears to be fat. The thing I do not get is that she is in no way overfed and is given a healthy turtle diet of reptomin, cuddle bone, and collard greens (when she agrees to eat them). I am concerned that she is ill. Are there any illnesses in which this is a symptom? Could it be kidney or liver failure? Or can a turtle get fat although they don’t seem to be eating a whole lot? I did do a “test” today someone told me to do and I am not sure what to think. I tilted her forward, and I could see the puffiness receding in the hind legs and slowly moving to the front, and vice versa. This occurred as quickly as my movements. Not good, is it? Any ideas? Thanks for your advice. I am very worried! Kara
I’ve had this happen in wcs I’m acclimating. Seems like it can happen very quickly to a turtle that seemed otherwise fine. I’ve had some return to normal just as quickly with no further problems noticed and have wondered what the puffiness really was ? Fluid they can somehow regulate (crazy as that sounds)? I’ve had it happen when no environmental changes occurred. I’ve also had it happen when a change could have stressed them and when shifting from salt water to fresh water or vice versa. That seems to take a while for them to regulate back to “normal” and that seems somewhat explainable by the change in salinity (or maybe not)? A related occurence is when a dbt has puffiness in only one leg (most often a front leg). When that has occurred with mine, it has meant illness and required a antibiotic shot. The leg seems to get more swollen and becomes immobilized in that scenario as opposed to the overall puffiness I think Kara is describing. I had a vet say that a juvenile that had a suddenly swollen front leg was ill due to kidney failure which the vet attributed to a diet of several mixed commerical brands of pellets (one turtle pellet brand was acceptable but somehow offering multiple brands together caused a serious “reaction” according to this vet!). Since the juvenile was water logged by sinking to the bottom of the tank because of the swollen front leg, she died from respiratory problems before any other diagnosis or treatment could be done. Her sister then developed the same symptom of a swollen front leg. I immediately got her to a different vet with turtle experience. Xrays and fluid samples were taken but he could not determine the specific cause without send-out lab work. He prescribed Baytril injections and those cleared up the swollen leg within a couple of days and this dbt remains strong, active and growing a year later. Baytril is pretty powerful stuff for turtles apparently. The second vet thought that there might be a bacterial infection of the thin membrane that covers the leg bones in these two cb juveniles. Sorry to ramble on with no real answers for you, Kara, but I’m hoping someone else can shed some light on these puffiness occurences, too. Todd TurtleLuv
Now that you mention a fluctuation in salinity…I wonder. I had to lower her salinity in order to accommodate a rescue I am housing for a few months. I never gave it a second thought except that I knew the rescue, a cooter, would not tolerate the high salinity in the tank. I lowered it from a 1.017 to a 0.010. I just have to wonder if that may have something to do with it. She has been in this new setup for about 2 months. I have a vet appointment for her on Friday. The vet, who comes highly highly recommended, by the local zoo here, worries me a little in that he is very good with native species but I am not sure of his experience in non-natives. If this is something salinity may affect, I am not sure he would know about that. Though, a vet visit is still in order as he can check for internal parasites and other internal illness. Please keep her in your thoughts. Any additional ideas are also welcome. Thanks, Todd. Kara At 04:42 PM 10/08/2003 -0700, you wrote:
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