Urgent Care :: Nemonia??????

[Lizalito]

[b][i]Does any one know if Turtles can get nemonia?? My sons turtle died and when I told someone what was wrong with him they said it sounded like the turtle had nemonia?? He was such a cute turtle I cryed for 20 min. Anyways is it true can they get Nemonia??? [/i][/b]

[sonyj]

Yes, turtles can get pneumonia. Here's a link for you to read: http://www.redearslider.com/index_health_1.html

[cam722]

We usually refer to the pneumonia they get as an RI (respitory infection). It usually starts out simply as an RI and ends up into full blown pneumonia if they aren't taken to a Vet in the early stages.

[marisa]

The RIs that turtles get commonly occur in the upper respiratory tract and if not treated will progress to the lower respiratory tract, where the RI becomes pneumonia. It is important to treat RIs as soon as possible, because if one should develop into pneumonia, the infection is much more difficult to treat and the prognosis is much less certain.

[butterfly]

Are baby turtles more at risk for RI than adult turtles or this something that affects the same at any age?

[marisa]

Baby turts are more sensitive to temps and if really young, don't have fully-developed immune systems. Keeping them at temps that are too cool will often contribute to an RI (temps that are too cool being one, but not the only, cause of RIs). But an older turt can certainly get an RI as well.