Urgent Care :: My turtled drowned but came to... now it swims funny

[stordock]

Our RES is about 2 inches long. My son found it in the water today unconsciousness. He took it out of the tank and put it in the table. After he was finished crying I came out and found that the RES was alive. I gently tapped on it's shell and moved its members in and out of its shell and it spat out more water. We then put in back in the tank and observed it carefully. It went back into the water but could not swim down. It came back up up-side-down. The problem seems to be that the turtle can not balance the air right for it to swim correctly. Any advice?

[imderanged]

It sounds like he may still have some water in his lungs. It could turn into pnemonia. I would maybe turn up the heater in the tank for now and make sure there are places (like plastic plants or soap dishes) for him to rest when he's swimming, because he will probably get tired more easily. If he's still having trouble in a couple days I would take him to the vet, to make sure it doesn't turn into an infection.
Actually maybe it would be a good idea to dry dock him for a bit too. maybe another member will weigh in on that.

[SpotsMama]

I agree with imderanged - sounds like water (or fluid) in the lungs.

Was he stuck in something that prevented him from getting air? Or was he just floating when your son found him?

[TheComputerGremlin]

I've read that turtles can get bubbles trapped throughout their bodies, often relating to near-drowning experiences. You will generally see it when the turtle appears to be swimming lopsided. Supposingly (as I have no experience myself with this) that the air will slowly dissipate and the turtle should swim normally after a week or two.

I would moreso investigate how your turtle ended up nearly drowning in the first place. Did he get caught in something, under something? Is the water too deep? Are there adequate resting places in the tank? Did the suction from the filter get him caught against it? Do you have multiple turtles and one tried to kill the other?

[marisa]

Welcome.

Keep your turtle a bit warmer than usual and watch out for any signs of respiratory illness. I don't know how deep the water in the tank is, but if it was deep, you might want to keep it on the shallower side for a while (about shell length) so the turtle doesn't have expend a lot of energy swimming.