Baby Rescue Turtle with Crushed Shell

[d_virginiana]

Well, interesting pickup for Derpy today... He's doing much better, and the shell injury has been filled up with thick skin which is normal during healing. I'll put pictures up later.

He drank some water and is very alert. One thing that worries me, is that when we offered him a blueberry after getting home (mostly to see what he would do) he did the normal turtle "I am Not Amused" gesture of turning around, but his left front and back legs were very odd, and the whole 'turning around' process took about three minutes, even though he was trying hard the whole time. The front leg kept not hitting the ground when he moved it, and when it did, it was almost like he was walking on the back of his foot. The back left leg just ended up stretched out and dragged behind him...

He does have full mobility of all the legs, but if this keeps happening between now and this weekend (release time) I'm going to video it and contact the rescue again...

[EKS56]

[guidofatherof5]

Could be neurological repairs under way. Maybe his brain is rewiring to compensate for the injury. Just a thought.

[d_virginiana]

Could be neurological repairs under way. Maybe his brain is rewiring to compensate for the injury. Just a thought.

Definitely a possibility... Thing is, they said he was releasable. But I just feel like something is still wrong; it took him about three minutes of constant effort to turn 180 degrees. Then this morning I was letting him soak in chin-height water and he stuck his head under to drink, but then started shaking and holding his mouth wide open under the water. I took him out, and he calmed down after a few minutes, but it was just bizarre...

[guidofatherof5]

A little Lora recovery/TLC time might be needed.

[d_virginiana]

Good news and bad news for the baby turtle... The puffiness around his head and legs has gone way down, and his swollen eye is at least cracked open most of the time now. On the other hand, he's started spitting up water, and I believe he may have aspirated some. I'm not yet sure whether spitting up the water was due to some sort of internal issue, or just going overboard (unless they were soaking him instead of leaving him to get his own, I'm not sure how much water he was drinking there).
But regardless, now I'm cleaning off gunk from his mouth and nose regularly. If I do that while annoying him enough to move around, it seems to clear up his system for awhile. I'm debating whether or not I should send a message to the Rescue, because there is no way this turtle should be released right now...

[guidofatherof5]

I would send a message and see what they think. If it's nothing then no harm done.

[d_virginiana]

I think I figured out why he hasn't been eating: Yesterday he ate a nightcrawler chunk and promptly vomited it back up, but then vomited up a HUGE chunk of mucous. It had to be the size of his whole stomach! Afterward he managed to keep down a tiny piece of worm. He hasn't been heaving for breath every little bit since that either; I believe it was putting pressure on his lungs. Then, this morning he had peed for the first time since I picked him up. The edema that had surrounded his legs and neck up till this point (which the rescue told me was 'puffing up from being angry') was completely gone.

Hopefully this will be a turning point. He's still acting sickly and spitting up a small amount of mucous every now and then, but not near what he was. Hopefully without that giant chunk blocking his system, he'll start improving.

[Mommy2many]

Fingers crossed for him!