Urgent Care :: Kermie is acting very strange !!! Please help !!!

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Post Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2005 7:53 pm   Kermie is acting very strange !!! Please help !!!

Hi guys !
I just went over to feed kermie and I noticed he didnt come swimming over right away or follow me like he usually does. When I put the food in he was like searching for it, it is like all the sudden he can not see. His eyes dont look swollen to me and i dont notice anything differnt he just acts like he cant see. can anyone explain or come up with anything for this behavior and I am thinking I need to take him to the vet ? help what do you guys think?
michele,
mother of matthew, howie doo our dog and kermie our baby res.
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3walcks
 
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Post Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2005 7:55 pm   

I am not to sure but I think they kind of look cloudy. i even went to try and hand feed him like i do and he didnt even look up or act like it was there
michele,
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3walcks
 
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Post Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2005 10:37 pm   

I found another problem. I was looking in his tank and I had noticed these green things floating in the water wich i thought was from the water cabbage that i had in there not to long ago. Kermie loved the water cabbage he loved to eat it, i thought they were only to eat the roots but kermie ate the leaves in all and it was his favorite spot to just hang out. He would always be either laying on it or just hanging on with his front feet and floating around. At the local pet shop when they took all the plants out I had seen that they had a fake water cabbage for in the ponds and stuff so i asked them if it would be safe to put that in with kermie because i wasnt sure about the styrafoam that was on it. under the styrafoam it had a plastic disk so that the strafoam was kind of protected. Well they preceeded to tell me oh ya no problem i could put it in it with him and it would not cause any problem . well now I just noticed that kermie has been eating the styrafoam !!! now I aint no turtle expert but i would be pretty sure that it can not be good for him. Now what to do? could that be making him sick to where he is kind of out of it and that is why he is not coming around and not right? OK let me know what you guys think.. thanks.
michele,
mother of matthew, howie doo our dog and kermie our baby res.
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3walcks
 
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Post Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2005 11:00 pm   

I think it would cause that. To me it's kinda like him eating a rock, plus it might have toxic materials in it that the turtle shouldn't eat. I'd take that out right away. I don't know about what else to do but removing that would be a good idea. And cleaing the water too would be good to get rid of all the excess little pieces that might be left that the filter might not catch.
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daredevilgirl013
 
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Post Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2005 11:12 pm   

If his condition doesn't change soon, I'd see about getting him to a vet asap. I'm sure that eating styrofoam isn't a good thing for him and if it's created any sort of problems, like impaction or something it could get serious very quickly. Has he eaten at all?
Carol
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cam722
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Post Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2005 7:49 am   

I looked up styrofoam and it's toxity and this is what I found on one site but it was more talking towards cats and dogs ingesting it:

Styrofoam- Low toxicity; can cause choking from mechanical obstruction...


and here's what another site had to say
Fireplace colors and salts, Styrofoam, tinsel, angel hair and other tree decorations can also be toxic if ingested, cause skin or eye irritation, or cause intestinal obstructions.


A vet trip definitly sounds in order and imo, don't listen to pet store people. I say 9/10 really don't know what they are talking about.
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Post Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2005 4:17 pm   

If your turtle is eating anything, is he pooping at all?
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Post Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2005 5:19 pm   

OK. here is what is going on so far. First thing this morning I went straight over to see how he was doing. He came right over to me. He followed me around and when I fed him he went straight to the food no searching for it. He is swimming around alot it is like he got better over night.
I called the vet and told them what had happened and they told me to get a hold of the company who made the product and ask for what all is used to make them plants. They want to know everything that is put in it. They told me that it was a very good sign that he is acting normal today that it probly was that he was sick from the styrafoam.
I am to watch him at all times and make sure he keeps on eatting and if he is going to the bathroom.
I think that is going to be the hard part. he is so tiny and in a 55 gal. i think it is going to be hard to see if he went or not. The company called me back and so far all they can tell us is that the styrafoam is made out of expandable polystirien. and as for the coating on that they will be getting back to me as soon as they find out what it is.
Valuable lesson learned here !! no matter how much you think you know the people in a pet store i guess they dont know about everything!
I never realized how close I am to kermie and I was so upset last night. Me the one at first not to sure about this turtle thing , I have actually fallen in love with my little buddy and so has he I think.
Who knew !!
I will let you guys in on what is happening so talk in a bit when I hear from them. THANK YOU !!!!
michele,
mother of matthew, howie doo our dog and kermie our baby res.
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3walcks
 
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