My turtle has an ear abscess :(

[bc008]

well, my baby southern painted turtle has an abscess on the side of its head.

that isnt the sad thing, the real thing that upsets me is the fact he is to small for any vet to touch (nobody within a 2 hour radius will) and one even said if they did they would loose some type of license because he is under 4 inches..

i feel really bad for the little guy.. i am going to have to wait until it ruptures, and keep it really clean. a vet gave me some cortisone under the table to put it on before and after it ruptures

[sktadood13]

awww that is very sad to here......at least one vet is helping you out....hope the little guy makes it threw

[DemonShark]

You can call certain zoos that may look at you turtle for you or give you a directory of a special vet that can look into your turtles problem

[Fishguy2727]

The Federal 4" law states that no turtle can be sold except for scientific, educational, or export purposes in the U.S (not for sale as pets). It is legal to own them as pets and it makes no mention of a vet doing the morally right thing and helping one. Unless there is an additional law where the vet practices he is misunderstanding the law, a lot.

Any pictures?

Sounds like the normal hard swelling on the cheek.

I had this happen once. This may sound a bit extreme, but I treated it myself when one of mine got it. I took nail clippers and clipped away the abscess and then just kept the water clean. I know many couldn't do this to their own little turtle though. In my one single case it healed up fine and did not return. I am not suggesting that anyone do this, just trying to show there are other options besides overpriced vets.