3949. Oxytocin injections to induce non-obstructive egg laying in red-eared sliders

2 Jan 2021.

Agnes

1. Edit video

https://youtu.be/-3zfw0oh99M

1.  HOOK

Handphone video from the owner shows a 10-year-old red-eared slider, 860 g digging the soil to lay eggs for two hours. approx 0:00 to 1:58

NARRATE the following using the above footage which should include some of the owner's voices too:

Female red-eared slider, 10 years old, 860 g. Soil digging. 

For the past 7 days, the slider dug the apartment floor with her back legs as if she wanted to lay eggs. She lost appetite and was restless. The owner brought her to a garden area. She dug holes but could not lay the eggs. On the 7th day, she failed again to lay eggs. The lady owner brought her to Toa Payoh Vets.

2. BE KIND TO PETS IMAGE.

3. TITLE. How to treat a red-eared slider that had difficulty laying eggs? 

4. SINGAPORE SETTING
Around 80% of the residents in Singapore live in apartments (IMAGES, videos). This owner is one of them. Her red-eared slider wanted to lay eggs in the soil, but she did not have a garden for the slider to lay eggs which may take several hours or days. She brought the slider down for short hours, but there were no eggs laid. The slider's agitated digging behaviour at night affected the family members as they could not sleep.

What is the solution to her problem?

5. TREATMENT AT TOA PAYOH VETS. The standard operating procedures are:

1. History taking. The onset and duration of egg laying behaviour. 

2. Physical examination. General examination. Examination of the cloacal area to check whether the egg is stuck in that area. If it is, this is a case of OBSTRUCTIVE EGG RETENTION. The egg will be taken out manually. Oxytocin injections will not be effective and will not be given.

3. X-rays confirm NON-OBSTRUCTIVE EGG RETENTION as in this case. 

4. Oxytocin injection. 1 or 2 injections (use images of oxytocin bottle below).

4.1  One injection of oxytocin IM or SC is given. If all 3 eggs are laid within 24 hours, there will be no need for a second injection.  All 3 eggs were laid. Two are normal and the third egg was cracked.

4.2  If no eggs are laid after the second injection, chances are that the owner had delayed seeking veterinary treatment for over 7 days. The owner is advised to wait and see.   

4. The red-eared slider goes home. 

CREDITS (CLIP FROM THE ORIGINAL VIDEO. Add one image with your name (see Stefanie's image and videos). 

    
The video should be 2 to 10 minutes.  

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SECOND VIDEO BELOW.

HOOK

Use another video footage from several of my Youtube videos. I will not be spoon-feeding.

BKTP IMAGES ETC. FOLLOW FORMAT AS IN FIRST VIDEO

SUMMARY OF CASES IN THIS VIDEO

EGG LAYING DIFFICULTIES IN RED-EARED SLIDERS IN SINGAPORE

1. Obstructive egg retention - 1 case

2. Non-obstructive egg retention - 7 cases (SEE BELOW AND VERIFY NUMBER OF CASES)

3. X-rays needed.



SOIL

Singapore apartments - No soil. Box of sand and soil not practical.

Oxytocin injection 2 I U/kg. 7 DAYS OF EGG RETENTION. Took a longer time to lay eggs. 

3 HOURS GAVE OXYTOCIN 2 I U/KG 3 HOURS AGO --- alL  eggs laid

 

Oxytocin is effective in inducing egg laying in red-eared sliders with non-obstructive egg retention.
10 I U/kg is best.
IM or SC
Muscles or skin near the tail end

LAID EGGS NATURALLY AFTER X RAY BUT BEFORE OXYTOCIN INJECTION

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INSTAGRAM POSTINGS DONE

31 Dec 2020. HOW TO TREAT RED-EARED SLIDERS THAT HAVE DIFFICULTY LAYING EGGS? IMAGE 1/12

Dr Sing Kong Yuen, BVMS (Glasgow).

Toa Payoh Vets has been getting several egg binding/retention red-eared sliders from the internet for the past 5 years.

Although the number of cases treated are less than 100 to come to a statistically significant finding, my cases show that oxytocin injections, IM or SC or both can be effective in getting red-eared sliders to lay all eggs, in cases of NON-OBSTRUCTIVE egg retention. Sometimes, two injections 24-48 hours apart are needed to ensure 100% success rate.

The vet must ensure that the slider has NO obstruction of the egg, for example, an egg is stuck near the cloaca, obstructing other eggs from being laid. Otherwise, oxytocin use will be ineffective and risky to the life of the slider.  

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Edit Video footage - use some footage to show that this is a case of OBSTRUCTION OF THE EGG.
Treatment is by manual removal of the egg. Do not use oxytocin as it will not be effective. 

https://youtu.be/9-S1L3CiJCM

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X-rays are recommended to differentiate the two types of egg retention. The following cases are sliders treated from 2017 to 2020. They are cases of NON-obstructive egg retention. Oxytocin injection in one or two doses effectively passed out all eggs.

(NARRATE CASES OF X RAYS AS SHOWN BELOW)

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Two injections of oxytocin 24-48 hours apart may be needed to achieve 100% success. If the owner has had delayed seeking veterinary treatment for more than 10 days of digging/egg laying behaviour, oxytocin injections may not be effective.   

The Covid-19 pandemic adversely affected at least one egg-laying 
red-eared slider called Kame. She used to lay eggs in the soil in
the gardens of a condominum. The management sealed off the 

access to all residents. This included Kame. The owner had to go to
Toa Payoh Vets for the oxytocin injection to help her lay eggs.   

PHOTO OF KAME

https://youtu.be/ZJLCrXfNyTc
use some footage for the 20-year-old slider to make the video more interesting
otherwise, just showing slides of X-rays can be quite boring and sleepy 

The following is Kame having to come for oxytocin injection on  Christmas Eve.
The owner said that the soil in the condo garden is very dirty as there are debri and dust
from the construction of a new condo next door.