Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey,

The new hatchling painted turtle I received yesterday seemed to be unable to coordinate its movements. It swam rapidly in random directions for a while, then sank to the bottom and stopped moving. I quarantined him and kept him under heat because he started having spasms and jerking his arms and legs. Now he's sort of running around in circles and brushing his left eye as if ther's something irritating him. All he does is turn his head to the left..never to the right. All the other aquatic turtles are fine and have normal typical turtle behaviors. Is this some sort of neurodegenerative disease that I should look out for? I'm afraid he's not going to last very long...hasn't been eating yet either. Anyone else seen this problem with their hatchlings before? Thanks.

Johnny

Just more observations:

He's also biting randomly to his left and scratching himself. Basically just turning counterclockwise circles. But his right eye "seems" fine...the pupils move, it blinks if i touch it, etc. Any advice? Thanks.

Johnny

n/m

Vet? heh..no kidding. I was actually thinking about returning him back to the dealer instead because I feel I got jipped.

I was wondering if anyone else knows of this problem and could suggest a home remedy. If the little guy's got a tumor, obviously I'd need to get him some professional help...but I JUST received him yesterday so I'm a bit annoyed at that.

And finally, what does n/m....n/p mean? Stupid question, but I see it all the time on these forums. Thanks

Johnny

n/m means no additional message.

As far as returning him to the dealer it sounds as if you
have made up your mind that you were jipped! What ever is
going on may or may not be a true problem but we are not
vets and cannot be giving that kind of advice. Bad advice
is worse than none at all.

If it were me I would find out if I could help this little
turtle, but that is just the way I am.

Good luck!

Well, the dealer told me that the little guy might be exhibiting hibernation behaviors as if it was trying to hibernate but couldn't since the temperature was so warm....=/ That sounds strange considering the symptoms. My friend said he wouldn't even flip himself over when he sank into the aquarium bottom on his back.

But anyway, before I can even consider a vet..i just got home today, saw the little guy twitch his last time, and just keeled over. I'm calling the dealer right now to work something out--the body is in the freezer rite now. Thanks for the help, though.

Johnny

Hahhaa...can you believe this dealer said "i insulted him" by claiming his turtle was ill? Then he gave a whole tirade on how much experience he's had and he's only lost one turtle.

Then he tried to guilt trip me saying he sold me one of his map turtles from his personal collection and that "i better damn well like it."

This is the kind of business that a customer and turtle lover wants to deal with, right?

Johnny

Well, this is sad that the dealer treats people like this!
I would let people know the dealings with this person. I feel
so bad for your little turtle though. It almost sounds to
me like it had some kind of neurological problem which did
not happen overnight.

Sorry for your loss

Linda

Thanks Linda for all your support. =)

I have seen turtles die before and it's not pretty, but it was more traumatic for my girlfriend, who hasn't. He did look like he had some neurological disease (unbalanced coordination) and I thought it may be due to being incubated on high temperatures to speed up the hatching process.

Just wondering, do you (or anyone else) know if painted turtle babies grow relatively rapidly their first few months of life or do they stay around quarter size? I always thought they, reptiles for that matter, grew really quickly and never stop but slow down their growth rates as they get older. Because the lil guy was still only a quarter size (with scrawny limbs) when I got him and the dealer said he's been living "healthily" for a month in his tank with no malnourishment. To me he almost looks like he just absorbed his yolk sac a day before he was shipped...poor baby. Thanks again.

some reptiles like Iguanas grow very rapidly but turtles
because of their very long life span should grow slowly.
An example, my Painted turtles were already grown when I
got them but my hatchlings Red Eared Sliders are 4 years old
and are 4.5-5" long. They are already the size of my
Painted turtles and already outweigh them.

The seller may have lied to you about the age of the little
turt.

Linda

my baby that I got early this year was the size of a quarter and has grown very fast. At first I believe I was feeding him too much, but now he shares a tank with other animals- fish, crayfish, and he eats their food, and even them sometimes. He has a voracious appetite, so ive been cutting back big time on his food. Also, his water temp stays pretty warm around 77-79. I believe I picked him up in about April, and now he is straight line shell length, 4.25 inches. I believe turtles in the wild would grow just as fast if food was so readily available, but if there was that much food, it would attract other animals which would in turn eat the babies. My turtle isnt the only one doing so well in the tank. My largemouth bass which was about 2" long when I got it, is now over 6" long. I have bluegills that have doubled in size and sunfish that have tripled.

I believe the warm water is partly to blame, but my tank helps to heat the house in the winter, gas prices went way up this year. My 120 gal tank at 79F keeps the rather large room its in at 63F by itself when outside temp is 35F. It really helps supplement my home heating, I just have to add about 4 gallons of water each day.
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How many different turtles did you get in this shipment and what species? What do you keep them in, and how did you quarantine the defective one?
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Hi,

I received a shipment of 5 hatchlings: western painted, Mississippi map, Texas map, Florida Softshell. they were placed in an aquarium with dechlorinated water, basking spot, hiding places, and water around 80 degrees.

After seeing the painted turtle exhibit his weird symptoms, I removed him and placed him in a rubbermaid container of his own with just a thin layer of water (enough to swim, but not to dive deeply). The reason I did this was because the next morning after I received him, I found him all the way at the bottom of the tank with his head bowed and legs all sprawled out. I thought the water was too deep for him. He wasn't moving so I took him out for quarantine.

After heating him up underneath a bask lamp, he started to move, but that's when he started doing his freaky motions...biting at his left side, scratching his left eye, swimming in counterclockwise direction, and twitching his legs. My friend put him back in the aquarium around noon to see if he'd adjust slowly (the dealer said he just needed to adjust to not hibernating). By the afternoon, when i got back from work,he had sunk to the bottom upside down and wasn't making an effort to flip himself over. I removed him and placed him back into the rubbermaid container. That's when he twitched a few more times and then died.

Sorry this was so long but I wanted to describe the scenario as it is so my dealer doesn't think I'm trying to blame him purposely. I've never seen turtles do this. What do you guys think? Thanks

Johnny

Oh yea..and Red-bellied cooter. Forgot bout that guy.

All the other hatchlings are eating well and doing fine.

Johnny