Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a small turtle (peninsula cooter), I guess she's about and inch and a half, I've had her for 10 months and she's not grown much. It doesn't bother me that she hasn't grown much, but she is very fat. I do not feed her much, maybe every other day and only in small portions. But no matter how little I feed her, she stays fat- like when she put her head into her shell her skin and "blubber" pop out. She basks all the time and only gets in the water when it's feeding time or when I put her in there to get exercise. So now that I have spent all of that space explaining what's wrong- I want to know if any of you have suggestions for what I can do. Is there perhaps something medical that's wrong with her? Do you think I should just continually putting her in the water to swim? And by the way- I have three perfectly healthy RES's in with her, so I know it's not the water. Thank you- I would appreciate anything!!

There could be any number of problems here, from kidney disease to bacterial infections causing fluid retention. It would be best to get her to a good turtle vet. What is the set-up like?

Katrina

the setup: a 75 gallon tank, with approximately 55 gallons of water in it. the bottom is lined with pavers and there are some plastic plants. the filter is the kind that hangs off the side- it's not powerful enough to produce a strong current. plastic basking "rocks" which suction to side of the tank and a heat/basking bulb and a UV ray light bulb.
tankmates: 4.5" RES, 1.5" RES, and 1.5" unknown (some kind of cooter or slider).
I am going out of town this weekend, but I think when I get back I will get her to the vet. Want me to keep y'all posted?

my guess is you have little to worry about but if you do take it to the vet let us know.