Minutus

I use homeopathy for our feline charges, but now I am
having a problem with one of the turtles in one of my
classroom reptile habitats (we have one for amphibians
too). Great care is taken to simulate the natural
environment as closely as possible and we use native
soil, plants and invertebrates, and have full-spectrum
lighting on timers to simulate changes in the amount
of daylight. All of the creatures are thriving except
for one yellow-bellied slider turtle. Unlike the other
turtles, he is very inactive, with his head and limbs
partially pulled in his shell and he is not eating
well. His shell seems a tad soft. I tried tempting him
with a wider variety of food items (sliders are
omnivores), supplements, but nothing seems to help.
I decided to try Calc Phos, and I saw a small degree
of improvement, but not much. Any suggestions?
Thank you,
Dee
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What about Baryta Carb- hiding and not eating. Jean

perhaps something the turtle ate caused the problem. pesticides? if i were the turtle
i would read arsenicum. or soft shell might be an indication for silicia. mike law

KTribe wrote:

Softshell syndrome in young turtles

http://www.micronet.net/users/~turtles/mbd.html

Anthony Gunterman

That's what puzzles me, the other turtles are doing
quite well, including the other yellow-bellied slider.
We actually have three habitats and have all kinds of
turtles -- sliders, map, painted, soft-shell and a
special habitat for our resident snapping turtle,
Oscar the Grouch. My one lab assistant has 5 years
experience with working with aquatic wildlife (I hate
to lose him, he has the NERVE to graduate this
May!)and our resident zoologist advises me as well.
However, unlike the other turtles, the sliders were
not obtained from the wild but are "turtle farm"
rescues. But he is hanging in there, so I will
consider all recommendations carefully.
Thanks!
Dee
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you could set the turtle free. that would be the best any kind of medicine.
sheila
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You may like to consider Calc Carb or even Calc Silicata, but keep it
going animals respond well (well mostly) to low potencies given over a
period of time, in this case 30c daily (or lower) perhaps up to 10 days
and reassess.
Joan Goddard

Dee,

What has this turtle been eating? How long have you had him compared to the
other turtles and is he growing as well as the others?

r swift, dvm

As for the suggestion the turtle be released--

as an environmental biologist who has done some work
in wildlife rehabilitation - I have learned that one
does NOT toss immature, sick animals out into the
wild. They are too sick to seek natural medicines, too
weak to obtain food and easy prey for predators. That
would be cruel.

Dee
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Very little as late. We provide minnows that reproduce
and the turtles usually find them to be very tasty,
especially the tiny newborns. We have a rather wide
variety of native aquatic and streamside
vegetation.There are naturally occuring zooplankton
like hydra and phytoplankton as well. There is an
extensive aqautic area in each habitat with a
"streamside terrestrial" area with everything from
salamanders to arthropods to worms. We use
full-spectrum lighting on timers (I measured the light
intensity to make sure it is adequate).I started
giving turtle vitamin/mineral pellets when I noticed
that this turtle was not doing well.

The yellow-bellied sliders are "turtle farm rescues",
unlike the other turtles which were obtained from the
wild. The other yellow-bellied slider is doing quite
well, ALL the other turles are in fact. They eat well,
are growing like weeds and display normal behavior. My
little sick turtle has never done well, I suspect it
was conditions at the turtle farm that has lead to his
condition, but hey, I still want to try and help the
little guy!
I have seen homeopathy cure many animals, so I will
try, even though he is probably less than 5 cm long
and "just a turtle", he is important to me!
Dee

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