Hi all I saw a 29 year old male terrapin today who for the last 2 weeks has had

admin

Hi all
I saw a 29 year old male terrapin today who for the last 2 weeks has had episodes of blood from the mouth (owner has seen it and 6 times). No change in appetite or activity levels. No Nasal discharge. No swellings around head or neck. Normal hydration. Normal gait. Gets fed a mix of frozen turtle food, dried turtle food and peas outside of the tank 6 days out of 7.  I attempted to get a photo in his mouth but he was very strong and resorted to a photo from a video so it's not very clear but I have posted below. Tongue looks a bit red and possibly ulcerated?? Owner is getting the tank water tested tomorrow. Does anyone have experience with this? Do I need to cover with anything at all at this stage? Pain relief? Or is further diagnostics required? Basically... help

admin

Further diagnostics required 😉 You need to get the head out and the mouth/ears/choana examined properly, so sedation may be required if you cannot manage to get head out and open the mouth. Remember the muscle that pulls the head back into the shell is the strongest one in the body, BUT it also tires quickly enough, so if you can manage to get your fingers behind the skull /left and right with the spine and neck muscles fixed between your fingers, you can *normally* let a normal sized terrapin dangle, and eventually the head will come out. This in my mind is still better than sedation for a quick inspection.
Remember blood can also come from the throat/inner ear/oesophagus or the lungs. Any possibilty of an angler's hook stuck somewhere? Pneumonia? I would also do x-rays and especially in an old terrapin I would do a full blood/hematocrite/quick diff and leukocytes.
From the photo I can't see much about the tongue.
Doe they feed any locusts or anything that can cause leasions in the mouth?