Reptile & Amphibian Forums

He will sit on his basking spot with his head sticking up in the air and eyes closed. He will repeatedly open his mouth, as if he is yawning. Every now and then he will let out a fairly loud squeaking noise when he opens. He also makes this squeaking noise when he's in the water and a bunch of air bubbles come up. One of my turtles does this alot and the other doesnt. He hasnt always done it, it just started about 2 weeks ago. They are half dollar size, in a 15 gallon (just for now). The temp of the water is at 75-76. It has a filter, is filled 2/3 of the way up with water. They are eating reptomin sticks and mealworms with an occasional piece of lettuce thrown in that they dont seem to care for. I change the water twice a month. I thought maybe all of this info would help tell if my turtle is sick or not. Thanks for the help.

It sounds like your turtle may have a respiratory infection. You need to seek veterinary assistance as if this is the case he will need antibiotics to combat the condition.

Is a respiratory infection contagious? Thank you for helping.

A RI can be contagious. You should probably seperate it from any other turtles.

Good luck, Nancy

Will I need to empty the tank and clean everything? If I find out for sure its a RI that is. Is it something that can linger in an environment infecting everything? Thank you honuman and nahenne. Youve been very helpful.

A RI can be serious if left unchecked. You have caught it earlier enough that you should be able to cure him with out a trip to the vet. I don't know if you have a submersible heater or not (if not you should get one and will need one for this) but if you do just turn up the water temp. for a week or so. There is no need to seperate the turtle from the other if you take care of it this way, right now. A trip to the vet probably wouldn't hurt though if you can manage since they're just babies.

Causes for RI are drafty and cold conditions unsuitable for the turtles. Your water temp. sounded just fine for normal water temperature but make sure they have a basking area with a heat lamp where they can get out of the water and bask.

Thanks for the info. I dont have a submersible heater but i will definately get one. They have a basking spot that stays at 85 and are on it alot. I have seen the water temp as low as 73 but that isnt often. It is usually right at 75, somtimes just a hair below, sometime just a hair above. I'm thinking i might know the problem. It gets unusually hot in my room at times, so i always have my ceiling fan on. The tank has no cover, it isnt directly under the fan but I can feel the gust from the fan when i put my hand above the tank. If this could be the problem I will keep the fan turned off from now on. Thanks alot for the input untappedpilot2.