Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello,

Two days ago I buy a small SS turtle in a local petshop. I put it on a 40 liter tank (sorry, no idea on how many galons are there) together with a 'black' turtle. Both turtles are more or less the same size.

I changed the small rocks in the bottom of the tank for sand from Cancun wich is very soft.

At first it seemed that the turtle was happy and well, but today in the morning I noticed that the turtle had trouble submerging. It seems that she is full of air and even when she tries to go down she pops up to the surface. By the evening she lost some mobility and now (night) she is not moving almost anything, she is just floating aside the basking rock.

In the evening saw her doing pop and I was surprised to see that the excrement floated directly to the surface. When I examined it, I discovered that it was a sort of membrane partially filled with air.

I would appreciate any advice with my turtle, this is my first SS and I dont want her to die.

Best regards and thank you in advance.

I never saw this happen with my softie, but if you feed it live fish, it's possible that the fish's air bladder didn't "pop" when it was consumed and digested.

That's my best guess...but take it to a vet if things don't seem any better after it was passed.

Yes, there are some fish. The turtle improved about a day after I wrote the message. I only raised the temperature a bit and now it looks healthy again.

Than you for your quick response, maybe she really ate a fish and it was a matter of bad digestion

Best regards.
Ixcoatl

turtles that float or have trouble submerging usually have fluid in their lungs from a respitory infection.
this turtle likely needs antibiotics
however if it is a small turtle (and it should be as s 40 liter tank is a very small tank, there are a little bit more than 3.8 liters to each gallon) then it will be hard to prescribe a dosehich is both safe and effective.
it will be good to raise the water temp and keep the water meticulously clean.
try to find a reptile vet nearby.

also what do you mean by "black turtle"
Rhinoclemmys funerea, rhinoclemmys melanosterna?
can you get us a pic of this other turtle?

-rob

The turtle has improoved since wednesday,I raised the temperature as you said to about 30 centigrades (previously it was about 27).

She is eating again and seems to be healthy. The other turtle that shares the tank doesnt seem to like the temp raise because she basks more often than before, I guess that in its original habitat the the water was never to high because its a local species (from Mexico City) and here its never that hot.

I will keep an eye on her during the week.

Thank you for your response!
Ixcoatl