Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My baby RES had a respiratory infection a month ago, but I nursed him back to health. The only thing is he still leans a little to the side when he swims. Besides this, he basks all the time and has a healthy appetite. What can I do to "upright" this problem for good?

Also, my other turtle has grown a lot, but this baby seems to be more frail than him. Are there any factors besides food, warmth, and UVB that could be stunting his growth?

Maybe its you are seeing your RES swim near the glass? I noticed when my turltes swim nose first into the glass they tend to lean to one side. I think your turtle is healthy... you can probably tell if your tank is deep enough.. when your turtle swims towards the bottom and then goes up to get air (not near the glass) then you can see if its swimming normal. If its acting normally then I think it should be alright

No, I wish it was that simple =( He's got a definite tilt to his swimming..

It sounds like he still has fluid on one lung from pneumonia. I don't know if it's an artifact from the previous infection that will eventually go away, or it it's a different infection. An x-ray might be able to show if he has something going on. If he's basking and eating normally, then you might want to give him some time for his body to correct it. A vet once told me it takes longer for fluid to be removed from a turtle's lung than from a mammal lung.

Was he on any antibiotic while he was sick?

Katrina

Yeah, I thought it was some left-over fluid from his sickness because he's been acting pretty normal. And no, he wasn't on anti-biotics when he was sick.