Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My poor tortugita is lazy and wont eat, but hes not gasping, and when he does swim he is fine in terms of balance etc. I dont know what is going on in this tank!! I'm getting so frustrated. Their arent any reptile vets in my area... My dog's vet said, from what he remembers about turtles from school, hes too small for any treatment regardless, Hes only about the size a quarter, maybe a little bigger. I've getting very depressed. HELP give me suggestions please. Someone mentioned that their might be a problem in his cage but i cant find any info online about that. Hes been in this set up since february or so and all three- i'm down to one- were the happiest turtle i'd ever seen. I am very disturbed by this and completly perplexed/

Hi,

Do you mean 2 of the turtles have died? If so and this
was is acting sick it very well could be your set-up.
Please describe the set-up(including lights, temps, etc.)
Also what are you feeding him?

Linda

try setting your water in the 75-80 range, maybe a tad higher, put in plenty of floating plants, provide TWO basking spots, one in the high 80s and one in the 90s, so it can choose. Make sure it knows both are there. Make sure the water is completely clean (test kits for ammonia and nitrates). And start from there. Make sure as well that you have uvb lighting.

my thoughts:

linda is right, a description of your set up would help immensely.

I also agree with nathana those are bare minima for a healthy hatchling painted and you really must have them.

The vet is right. Its very hard to treat turtles under about two inches long.

so you will want to do everything you can to keep him interested,
I'd start by COMPLETELY cleaning the cage.
empty all water
bleach the tank
RINSE RINSE RINSE RINSE.
wash (with water only) all rocks logs etc...

then restore normal conditions (as nathana described)

then get some LIVE foods (not frozen freeze dried or dead) like blackworms, bloodworms small crickets and small mealworms.
Try these along with bits of cooked fish and boiled chicken.
see if any of these items get him interested.

and by all means, get a water test kit and a good thermometer (not a stick-on-glass one, as those are almost useless)
where do you live?....there may be a reptile vet you don't know about, we can try t help you find one

I have a 30 gallon square tank with about 20 gallons of water in it. I have an in-tank thermometer that stays between 75-80 never varying more than within those 5 degress. I have two Whisper filters, the ones that stick on to the glass and are ideal for turtle tanks. The basking spot is large, i'm not sure the temperature though. Theres gravel on the bottom, and some 'river stones' that i bought from the store, basically large polished rocks, and an undergravel filter base below -no actual pumping going through there though, i didnt know how to set it up. I got the tank used from my favorite pet store. It is a oceanic tank with the black box in the corner for saltwater filtration but i'm not sure if that is connected/connectable to the undergravel. Within the tank i have guppies and rosey reds and a chinese alge eater. I have anachris floating and corkscrews planted, but they arent very big. I havent tested my water because i dont have a test kit, i use to have my store test it because they had a really nice kit, but they recently closed and i havent gotten one yet, regardless, the levels were normall even when the turtles were showing illness. I've feed him reptomin and i am now switching to flukers water turtle. I I have a lighting fixture focused on the basking spot, but not too close, i have a normal bulb for now, my reptile one burned out, and i havent gotten another one yet. The set up has been the same since february, when i got the new tank. It wasnt until late april that i noticed any thing weird at all. I did remove the first turtle to act weird and put him in another tank ut there was no change, or rather, he only got worse.

The Fish:
All of my fish are fine, they guppies are of course breeding, but even the rosey's laid a clutch of eggs. I"m so perplexed