Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My mother has an Alligator Snapper. He washed up on our porch in Macks Creek about a year ago, during a flood. We do not know much about turtles, so we didn’t really know how to care for him. We have been feeding him earthworms, which he seems to enjoy, and he hasn’t been having any problems until yesterday morning. We are not sure what it is, but we are guessing it is gas. He cannot keep his poor little bum out of the air. We normally keep him in three to four inches of water, but we had to lower the water level for fear he might drown. When he comes up to breathe, he has to brace his hind legs on the side of the tank to keep his head above the water. It’s horribly sad, and my mother is afraid it could be serious. Even though it only started yesterday, I really didn’t want to wait until last minute to find out what is wrong with him.

Go to the local petstore/ fishstore and buy some rosie reds, or frozen silversides, buy some beefheart and chicken livers. A good supply will cost you 15 bucks for all 3. Feed him a lil of each every other day along with the earthworms. If you can't get turtle feed like Mizuna, you can substitute IAMS puppy food. It has close to the same contents as turtle food.
But cut down on the amt of dry because it has a lil more fat than the turtle food.
It very well could be gas, Give him something to climb on, or at least anchor on like a large rock, that way he can grab on to breath. 4 inches of water should be deep enough. They won't drown in that much.
My two snaps had that problem after my wife fed them a bunch of goldfish when I was out of town. She fed each of them about 15 goldfish, and they were only 3 inches, they gorged and gorged, and then started the buttfloat.
But if it lasts any longer than a few days, take him to a vet.
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Coastal Carpet Python 0.1 (Lillith)
Albino Burm 0.1 (Kimba)
Columbian RedTail 0.1 (Squishy)
Kenyan Sand Boa 1.0 (Shai'hulud)
Common Snapping Turtle 1.1 (Sherman and Abrahms)
RES 1.0 (speedy)

oh man my Ali snapper is doing that now too. gotta get him checked out.

justin,
Its not usually normal for long periods of time... Turtles can get gassy too... As long as its not to one side, that indicated a different problem, and make sure they arent using their legs to hold themselves up...mine do that all the time
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Coastal Carpet Python 0.1 (Lillith)
Albino Burm 0.1 (Kimba)
Columbian RedTail 0.1 (Squishy)
Kenyan Sand Boa 1.0 (Shai'hulud)
Common Snapping Turtle 1.1 (Sherman and Abrahms)
RES 1.0 (speedy)