Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hi. I AM REALLY WORRIED!!
i have a 3 yr old RES. i think she is a girl (nails haven't gotten long ... ). anyway, she has always been healthy, HUNGRY, active, friendly, ... basking a few hours a day every day. on friday, i noticed that i hadn't seen her basking for a day or two. and on saturday, she stayed in her "hideaway" spot almost the whole day. yesterday she was in her hideaway ALL day long with her eyes closed like she was sleeping. now, today she will hardly even move. i don't know if she is listing b/c she won't even come out. i cleaned her tank today ( it had been 6 months since the last BIG cleaning ... ) and when i put her in the dish pan while i was cleaning, she just sat on the bottom sleeping with her eyes closed. didn't even respond to the lettuce i put in there!! it is the first time i have seen her not eat.

i am really worried. any ideas?

oh, water temp is at 78 (just turned up to 81). basking area temp at 85 with UVA/UVB bulb changed once every 9 months or so. i feed her reptomin and lettuce ... occasionally shrimp. water ph kept low with just a pinch of sea salt in the water.

thanks
crq

It does sound like she is ill. I am confused about the whole
salt thing?? They are freshwater turtles.

Please get her checked out quickly

Linda

Linda -

It's okay to put aquarium salt in the tank when you do a water change. It a good stress reducer and fungus preventative. At a ratio of no more than 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons it is fine. Also for anyone doing this -- only add salt in this proportion to CHANGED water. Another words if you have 20 gallons of water in the tank already and only change 5 gallons you only put in enough salt for the 5 gallons NOT the entire 20. Otherwise, you will end up creating a salt water environment for you turtle which would not be too good an idea with most species.

As for the turtle in this thread -- Agreed with Linda -- you do need to have the animal checked out by a vet.

yeah, i took her to the vet. she laid in my lap the whole way there. the vet gave her a shot ... said she had a bacterial infection. she died on the way home.

i buried her this afternoon. it's a sad day at my house.

i will probably check out adoption ... but the hubby and i will need a while to recoup first.

thanks for the suggestions.

crq

Sorry to hear that. How long was she in this condition you described?

Well -- when you are ready -- Turtlerescues.com. That is our site and if you have the right accomodations we will be more than happy to adopt one to you.

Again Sorry for the loss. We do get very attached to these little guys.

Steve

that is the CRAZY thing about all this. she acted a little sluggish on saturday. i noticed that she was napping in the day ... and that is wierd for her unless she is basking. but she was in her little hideaway sleeping. then sunday she was doing the same thing. on monday afternoon, i realized that this wasn't just a mood swing. there was something wrong. so i called around trying to find a place that would see her this morning. i found a place ... and well, that's the rest of the story.
maybe i should have noticed earlier. i have just never had any "sick" turtle experience, though i have done plenty of reading. i guess i was always expecting a sickness to be more overt. the coughing, wheezing, sneezing, listing, or shell rot kinds of things.

i am really thinking that the shot did it. she went right after that. maybe it was just too much for her. or the stress of the ride and the appointment (i live WAAAAYY out) ... just addded to her sickly condition. she just couldn't take it.

thanks for the kind words, though. it helps to know there are people who understand what she meant to me.

crq

Exactly what did the vet inject it with? Try and find out.
It sounds more like the turtle may have died as a result of organ failure rather than respiratory infection. RI usually doesn't take them that fast.

Can't say for sure of course but sometimes toxins in the tank environment or other factors can cause their organs to shut down.