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We have a red slider about 1 1/2 pds, about a year old. She has pneumonia and the turtle vet gave her shot of Baytril and liquid for us to give her with syringe. How does one give liquid meds to a red slider? Letty
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Hello and welcome to JA Chat! I'm Dr. Jaime and I'd like to help.
First, you are probably giving a small amount of oral liquid- but it's important to note that turtles readily regurgitate this medication.
Personally, I prefer to only give injectable medications to turtles for this reason; you may always call your vet and ask to switch to injectable medications if the oral medicating is not working.
First, I'd recommend having a helper.
Next, push her back legs gently in. This will start to extend her neck.
Gently grab her head at the jaws and gently extend her neck. Try at first to make her open her mouth by tapping on her nose. After her neck is fully extended insert the syringe as far as you can into her mouth past her glottis (opening on her tongue). If you are using a small 1 cc syringe, it should be easy to get it down her throat. Discharge the contents of the syringe, make sure her body is pointed upward (nose to the sky) and watch for any liquid to come back up out of her throat/nose. If you have difficulty, your veterinarian can administer the treatment for you, or you can request her medication be changed to injectables. Good luck!
Thank you for the info, we will try tomorrow and see if we can give the liquid. If not we will call the vet.
Great, I hope it works well for you. If you have further questions, please click reply. Otherwise please click accept.
Experience: Avian/exotic practice owner, founder of iguana rescue, worked with reptiles for over 10 years.