Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all, I have a 9 month old 3-toed that has me a little concerned.. For the last week he has been staying in his water bowl around the clock.. Sleeping/hiding in bowl. AND not comming out to eat. He has been doing great up until now.. Has been feeding good, and soaking normal, but all of a sudden he
has become a water turte. BUT he just soaks, not plays. I have started to take the water bowl out at night, but I replace it in morning..

The temps are ok 75-80 , and humidity is around 50%. I spray the tank twice a day. LOTS of bugs and hiding places. So, WHat is up with this little guy??? The only thing that has changed, is I cleaned his tank 2 weeks ago..replaced substrate(bed-a-beast/cypress mulch mix) I also gave him a bigger hide, and
smaller crickets to hunt..

Anyone have thoughts on what might be the problem?

thanks,

Harpy

Did you moisten the bed a beast?
If you used it dry or nearly dry it will soak up any mosture that it comes in contact with, even pulling it out of your turtles skin! Increase the humidity to 80 percent and make sure the bedding is moist, not damp, but moist. It sounds like he is somehow getting dehydrated. Is he eating normally? What it the temp of the water he's soaking in? I'd warm him up to 85 degrees on the basking side of the tank. Make sure you keep checking his humidity level if you warm it up some more. What type of UV lighting do you have and how old is it?

I've noticed herps gravitating towards water whenever they're sick. It could be anything, even an injury. For some reason, they always seem to go for water. The humidity could be an issue. I personally prefer near 75% humidity. Though, I let the enclosures dry out occasionally to retard fungal growth and fruit flies.

I suspect something else. Are there any other symptoms? Puffy eyes, wheezing, soft shell, weakness? Crickets are ok to feed, but do you offer other things? Crickets need to be dusted with calcium powder nearly every time they're fed. When you don't dust with calcium, you should dust with multivitamin powder. Do you have UVA/UVB light on this little one? Also, crickets are very fast and often need to be maimed in order for a baby box to catch them. Has your little turtle grown much? I'm sorry for all of the questions, but it's difficult to pinpoint problems over the net. Please consider taking him/her to a vet.

Hello, thanks for the reply. The UV bulb is new, only been used for about a month. It is a 2.0 not the recommended 5.0 and it is about 10 inches from turtle. The reason I do not have the watt rating is I was told babies can not always deal with the high UV output as adults can.

The temps are 80-85, the mulch was a bit dry, that has been redone.. The little turtle did eat a piece of tomato the other day, and also managed to "attack" a waxworm. Normally, it eats different fruits, greens, and bits of egg, earthworms, organic snails(yes, I raise my own) and even a few turtle pellets once in a while..

I looked it over and no sign of bubbles in nose, or runny eyes. But it did keep opening the mouth while I was handling it.. don't know if it had trouble breathing or was trying to eat ME..lol. Bad part, there is NO vet in area I would trust with a turtle. I will be keeping extra eye on this little guy..my first baby..

Question.. What is good why of keeping humidity up when using a fishtank type enclosure???

Harpy

I'd say that substrate is the key. I prefer sphagnum moss for baby T.c. ssp. I use aspen bedding for T.o. ssp. Monitor the humidity daily and mist as needed. I had a friend that used a little fern as an indicator of proper humidity. He'd grow it in the humid area of his tank. If the fern started to fold, he knew that it was time to water/mist. If he started to get fruit flies, he'd back off a little on the moisture. This is a very unscientific method, but maybe you could set up some kind of indicator.

I'd really like to hear your snail raising technique. I'd love to do that for my little guys. I can catch as many snails as my heart desires during only the wetest spring and fall months. It would be nice to have access to them all year.