Baskden a warm den for reptile folk · baskden.com African Sideneck Turtle — Vet-Prep Sheet
🔍 Find a reptile / exotics vet — before you need one
- Search the ARAV Find-a-Vet directory (the Association of Reptilian & Amphibian Veterinarians), or in the UK the RCVS Find-a-Vet — or search "reptile / exotics vet near me".
- Call ahead and ask the key question: "Do you see reptiles?" Not every practice does.
- Ask the exam fee when you call. Knowing the cost up front removes the money-panic in a crisis.
- Find and save one now, while things are calm — not in the middle of an emergency.
📇 Fill this in now — before the crisis
Two minutes now saves ten in a panic. Print it and keep it with your care notes.
🚨 Is this an emergency now?
See a reptile vet promptly if you notice any of these:
- Swollen, puffy, or sunken eyes, or eyes crusted shut — see an exotics vet.
- Soft, pyramided, or misshapen shell, or a flaky/discolored patch that spreads — possible metabolic bone disease or shell infection (shell rot); get it checked.
- Open-mouth breathing, wheezing, bubbles from the nose/mouth, or floating lopsided/unable to dive evenly — possible respiratory infection, an emergency for a semi-aquatic turtle.
- Refusing food for an extended stretch, unusual lethargy, or not basking at all despite correct temps.
- Straining or unable to pass eggs (gravid female), or any visible injury/bite wound.
- Any of these warrant an appointment with a reptile/exotics vet — this record is for triage, not diagnosis.
When in doubt, a vet call is never wrong — most issues are reversible if caught early.
🚗 On the way / while you wait
✅ Do
- Keep it warm at a safe transport temperature — a cold reptile crashes fast (a warm car or a covered container with a warm, not hot, pack helps).
- Keep it calm, dark and quiet in a secure, ventilated container — stress makes almost everything worse.
- Bring it in its own container so the vet sees it as it lives.
⛔ Don't
- Don’t offer food, or any OTC, aquarium-shop or online-forum remedy — many are useless or harmful and can mask the signs.
- Don’t let it get cold on the way in.
- Don’t handle it more than you must.
🎒 What to bring
- A short video and a couple of clear photos of the behaviour or sign — it may not show it in the clinic.
- A note of your setup (basking, cool-side and night temperatures, UVB, humidity, substrate) and exactly what — and how often — you feed.
- A recent water-test result — water quality is a direct cause of shell, skin and eye problems in aquatic reptiles, and a good vet will ask about it.
- Your reptile, transported safely in its own secure, ventilated container — kept warm (see below), not in a cold car.
🗣️ What to tell the vet
A general vet may not know this species. Come ready to explain its correct care:
- Temperature
- A dry, stable dock (haul-out platform or floating basking area at least as big as the turtle) kept warm by an overhead basking bulb, with the basking surface at around 95°F (35°C). It must be genuinely dry so the shell can fully dry out between swims. Lights and basking heat off at night is fine as long as the room (and therefore the water) doesn't drop below the low 70s°F. Keep water no cooler than about 70°F (21°C) at any time.
- Water temperature
- 75–80°F (24–27°C) for adults; keep it no cooler than 70°F and under 85°F. Hatchlings and juveniles do best a touch warmer, around 80–85°F.
- Water depth
- Deep enough to swim freely — a good rule is no deeper than about 1.5× the turtle's shell length, so an adult wants roughly a foot or more of water. They're strong swimmers, so more depth (with easy access to the surface and the dock) is better than a shallow puddle.
- UVB & lighting
- A linear UVB tube over the basking dock — Zoo Med ReptiSun T5 HO 5.0 or Arcadia Forest 6% — in a reflector, mounted roughly 13–14 inches above the basking platform. Run ~12 hours a day and replace the bulb every 12 months (UVB output fades long before the light looks dim).
- Enclosure
- Minimum 90–110 gallons of water for one adult. A single juvenile can start smaller, but budget for the full-size tank — a 4-foot-plus footprint that holds 90+ gallons — because they grow into it fast and never stop needing the swim room. One turtle per enclosure is safest.
- Substrate
- Bare-bottom is easiest to keep clean and safest (no impaction risk). If you want a planted, natural look, use large river rocks too big to swallow or a fine sand bed; avoid gravel small enough to be eaten.
- Diet
- Omnivore, and in the wild an opportunistic one — aquatic insects, crustaceans, snails, small fish, plus some plant matter. In captivity, feed a quality aquatic-turtle pellet as the base plus protein (earthworms, insects, occasional whole small fish) and leafy greens/aquatic plants. Young turtles (under ~1 year) run about 50% protein / 50% plants; adults shift to roughly 25% protein / 75% plants, with the protein offered only 1–2 times a week.
- Supplements
- Dust food with a calcium (D3-free) supplement regularly, plus a reptile multivitamin occasionally. A cuttlebone floated in the tank gives a handy free-choice calcium source and helps keep the beak worn. Proper UVB does most of the D3 heavy lifting, so don't rely on supplements to replace the bulb.
⚕️ Reptiles are ectotherms kept at species-specific temperatures — a cold reptile can’t metabolise medicines properly, so tell the vet your exact temperatures and keep it warm for transport. Reptiles are prey animals and hide illness until it is advanced, so early changes matter. Mention your UVB/lighting and any supplements or remedies you’ve already used, and ask for reptile-safe products and doses.
Then note which of the warning signs (above) you are seeing, when they started, and whether they are getting worse.
❓ Questions to ask
- Do you routinely see reptiles? If not, can you refer me to a vet who does?
- What are the likely causes — and could my setup or diet be contributing?
- What is the treatment plan, the likely cost, and what should I watch for at home?
- How do I prevent this from happening again?