NOTE: These photos are very graphic and may not be appropriate for more sensitive viewers!!
5 Jun 2005: Red-Eared Slider 8 or Little Dude as he is now called, is a pitiful little creature. We believe he must have been ill before he was found hit by a car on a road. His well meaning rescuers picked him up and placed him in their backyard while trying to contact someone to take him in. Little Dude's plastron injuries from the car accident are not serious but because he was already very dehydrated for some reason, he was weak and unable to escape being attacked by ants. The rescuers discovered the ants and placed the 5 inch slider into some water to get the ants off. Either Little Dude was already sick with a respiratory infection or he aspirated some of the water because he now has pneumonia.
Along with all his other problems Little Dude evidently had his tail bitten off at some time. He also had an area above his tail stump that contained dead tissue. This could have been from some older injury related to the missing tail or from a bot fly larva infestation.
Little Dude's GCTTS rehabber started tubing him an electrolyte solution daily to treat the dehydration. His wounds were cleaned and he was kept well hydrated so antibiolics could be started. The dead tissue in the area above his tail stump was cleaned out. After a few days some of the injured tissues on his front legs became necrotic (died) so these tissues were cleaned off. Most of the front toes died and had to be removed also. It now appears that so much tissue was lost that some of the front leg bones are exposed. He moves very little and just stays in one spot all the time without opening his eyes. Only time will tell how well Little Dude's legs will heal.
One good thing in Little Dude's favor is that he drinks water on his own when he is soaking. We hope he will survive this ordeal and we will keep you posted with updates.
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| Injured Carapace | Injured Legs | Injured Legs | Injured Leg |
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| Injured Plastron | Injured Feet | Missing Tail |
11 Jun 2005: Little Dude's pneumonia is doing about the same. He moved enough to change position last night and his legs are healing some. This new photo shows him with antibiotic ointment on his wounds. He is now starting to pass a small amount of droppings. His digestive system must have been very empty.
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14 Oct 2005: Yes, Little Dude is still hanging in there! After several weeks, he started opening his eyes a little. Towards the end of June he started eating live earthworms on his own. That's all his rehabber could get him to eat for weeks. Little Dude saw a vet for a check up and received a vitamin B complex shot. The vet also cleaned more dead tissues from his front legs. Due to the nutritional imbalance in his diet we think he developed a vitamin A deficiency because his eyes started bulging some. Finally, in September he started eating pinky mice which are more balanced in nutrition than worms.
Little Dude just started eating cut up feeder fish today. Next week he sees the vet again for a probable vitamin A shot. He still acts weak but moves much more and loves to be outside on warm days and bask. His set up is with shallow water due to his weakness. Little Dude will spend this winter indoors. We are very pleased with his progress even though it is slow to come.
30 Oct 2005: Little Dude had some bubbles coming from his nose so he was started on another antibiotic to clear the respiratory infection. He saw the vet and got the vitamin A shot and he's now eating cooked egg with the shell also. See his latest photos. His eyes are a bit bulgy and his beak is eroded some probably also due to nutritional imbalance and/or infection. The vet found gram postitive bacteria in his mouth but no fungus.
Note the healing of his front legs. He seems to have some tendon and/or muscle damage but is still able to use them. There is a suspicious pinkish spot on the front of his plastron that will have to be watched. Little Dude has ups and downs but is gradually getting better.
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19 Feb 2006: This winter indoors has been difficult for Little Dude. A couple months ago his appetite decreased and he has lost weight. He had to be put on two more rounds of antibiotics for respiratory infections. His rehabber was about to start tube feeding him again then after the last round of antibiotics, he ate a few bites of chopped feeder fish. He stayed longer in the water before climbing out to bask. His condition is still very guarded at this time. We're hoping that he will start to thrive when he can go back outside again this Spring.
4 Mar 2006: A couple days this week it was warm enough to put Little Dude outside in the afternoon. He is more active outside and eats better too. Today he ate two Mosquito Fish, two earthworms and a grub! As stated with some other turtles, his rehabber believes some turtles actually get depressed when brought inside for extended periods. One of the other Long Term Care turtles, Winky, had symptons of depression the first fall she had to be brought inside. When some turtles are stressed, from injuries, illness or change in environment, they can easily become depressed. The frequency of warm days will be increasing so Little Dude can start going out more often. We'll keep you posted on his progress.
1 Oct 2006: As much as we hate to say it, Little Dude passed away a few days ago. He had spent all the Summer outside doing very well. A couple of weeks ago he developed some bloating for reasons unknown. He was started on antibiotics and the bloating went down. He continued eating up until a couple of days before he was found one morning nearly dead in the shallow water of his outside setup. His rehabber did emergency rescue procedures for nearly an hour with only a slight response from Little Dude. After that time it was decided to let nature take its course and let Little Dude pass on. In less than an hours time he was gone. Little Dude was a fighter for the 1 year and 3 months he had been in rehab and enjoyed eating and basking. We wish his story could have had a happy ending. He will be missed.