Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have five spotted turtles in a Waterland tub. They have been thriving, but I noticed yesterday that one apparently has pneumonia, i.e. floating and tilting in the water. I am taking her to the vet today.

I have read that one of the causes is cold temperatures. I have been keeping water at 72 degrees because I have been told spotteds like it cool. I also have basking site with UVA/UVB/heat lamp. Is this too cool? Any other suggestions to prevent pneumonia? Is pneumonia contagious?

Paul, man, you have the worst luck! I'm sorry to hear about this.

Some have theorized that a problem can occur when ammonia is present in the water. The ammonia leads to the growth of certain harmful types of bacteria, which can lead to respiratory infections. It is also theorized that forcing more oxygen in the water will help to combat both the ammonia and dangerous bacteria. Apparently, having a pond pump drop a stream of water, which creates turbulence, has been helpful for some people.

I'm merely passing this on. I don't know if I agree with it or not. Some people have claimed that doing this reduced or eliminated respiratory infections in their Spotteds. I tried to post a link to an entire thread on the topic, but when I previewed the post it had a "url block". I'm not sure why.

Good luck Paul!

Oh, and yes! Respiratory infections can be contagious!

My snapper has had this twice and all I did was raise the water temp up to about 78 and made sure the tank wasnt around any drafts. Be sure the air temp is also as warm or warmer than the water temp. I placed a piece of plexi glass over the tank to hold heat in. Worked for me... He was fine within a few days.

Good Luck,
Chris
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Currently in the US Navy so I have sold off my collection. But over the years I have had dozens of turtles, fish, geckos, and other lizards. Cant wait to get back in the hobby once im out though!

Just to add to what Chrysemys said, you've gotta be sure to keep the air at a decent temp as well as the water--I learned that last year when one of my spotters was bubbling at the nose despite a water temp in the low 80's. The air in my house is more like in the 40's, but after I got back from the vet's I threw a cover on the enclosure and started putting blankets over the set-up at night, when indoor temps drop into the 30's.

But if you've already got the air reasonably warm in your set-up, I don't know what other advice to give you.

I had this happen to my male spotted turtle two years ago. I had the water temp in the low 70's thinking that spotteds like cool water. I never took him to a vet, but healed him up by placing him in a sterile aquarium with heat lamps over top of him. Within a week he was back to normal. I now keep my two spotted enclosure's heated at around 78 degrees. I have had no problem since. Also I'm not sure how big your enclosure is but five may be too many turtles in there. With five turtles stress levels will be higher, and everyone knows that stress weakens a immune system. As for spotteds liking cool temps I'm begginning to debunk this idea. I think spotteds in the wild are assumed to like colder temps because they are first out of hibernation. However, I think this has more to do with some sort of survival instinct. Also they hibernate in shallow vernal pools or ponds that adjust to warm ups quicker then large lakes or bigger streams and ponds. Also as far as them not liking warm water and weather in the wild, I have seen them just as active in the months of june and july as march, april and may. These are just my observations of wild spotted turtles I could be wrong.