Urgent Care :: Turtle cloaca open?

[VanishingReality]

How big is your turtle? 2.5"
How long have you had it? 10 months

What is the water temperature? 76.3
Did you use a thermometer? Yes
Are you using a water heater? Yes
How much water is in there? 20 gallons
Are you using a water conditioner? Yes
Are you using any filtration? Yes

What is the basking temperature? 85.2
Is there a basking light? Yes
Is there a basking platform that is easy to climb on? Yes
What kind is it or what is it made out of? Turtle ramp, acrylic
Is there a UVB light? Yes

What have you been trying to feed it? Sweet potato, lettuce
When was the last time your turtle ate? Today

How big is the tank/pond/enclosure? 29 gallons
Is the tank near a window? No
Is the tank in a room with a lot of activity? No

Have you read the Basic Care section? Yes
Have you searched the forums for similar situations? Yes

Is there any other unusual activity/symptoms?

Today when we woke up to take the cat to the emergency vet we noticed the turtle's (for lack of better term) hole was open and wouldn't close. He can swim up and down but sorta swims not straight. When he is at the bottom or middle he swims fine but not near the top. He can sit straight if he sits on his ramp with his head and front legs out of the water. I know this could be RI but he has shown no more signs and this is all of a sudden.

A few days ago we took his filter apart and cleaned it really well and took his ramp off and cleaned it. That day we also added a bubbler. Also yesterday morning it dropped from 50 to 20 in about two hours and the heat wasn't on but his light was off.

If it is RI we will take him to the vet but honestly we just had to pay an emergency bill for our cat and we are supposed to get a bad storm so it will be nasty to drive in and at least a two hour drive if we can get in.

He is finally shedding his scutes and we really love him so we just went from worrying to our cat to our turtle.

[megcornell]

So his cloaca won't close and he's floating oddly?
Are those his only symptoms? He's eating fine and going to the bathroom normally?

If he's not showing any other symptoms and he's been acting normally (except for the floating issue) I'd watch him for a few. It might be that he's gassy. To be on the safe side, I'd bump his water temperature up to 78-80. 76 is a little cool for a hatchling.

[VanishingReality]

Yep that is his only symptoms. He didn't eat all his lettuce but about half and his whole sweet potato. He was acting perfectly fine yesterday, when I got home from work I watched him play (move his rocks) for hours. He is going to the bathroom normally (when we checked on his ironically) and everything else.

Should I remove the bubbler? When my goldfish are gassy we give them peas, will it work for him as well?

Thanks a lot for the quick reply. With the sick cat and now him we are just freaking out.

[megcornell]

I don't think it would matter either way if the bubbler is in the tank. But you certainly can remove it just to be sure.
I don't know of any solutions for a turtle with gas other than to just let him pass it. Since he's pooping normally he's probably not impacted, so I'd just wait it out for now.
I hate it when my pets are sick too, and it always seems that one crisis follows another. Hopefully you've just got a turtle with a little bloat .

I hope your cat's doing better as well!

[TurtleLover_S&B]

Well,it does sorta sound like a RI,but just because of the lopsided swimming.I'm not exactly sure.Sorry....

[SpotsMama]

Am I missing something? All I can see that he's being fed is sweet potato and lettuce. If that's it, then it's a way deficient diet and that might be causing his problems.

The main part of a turtle's diet should be good quality pellets. They provide the vitamins and minerals and especially the nutrients - protein, carbs and fat - that are essential for turtle health. Here's the link on turtle nuitrition - be sure and read all of it and ask questions if anything is not clear.

http://www.redearslider.com/index_nutrition.html

Especially be careful with the sweet potato - a little bit is great - it's full of vitamin a and e - but it also contains a lot of phosporus and moderate amounts of calories and oxalates. Too much phosporus and oxalates will interfer with calcium metabolism especially if dietary calcium isn't abundant.

For calcium, be sure there's always cuttlebone available. It's cheap and most turtles like it a lot. Turtles, especially females and young growing ones, need lots of calcium for their shell and bones.

Maybe I've misunderstood what you've said about the diet - if so, forgive me for going on and on!

[VanishingReality]

One of our cats had a horrible allergic reaction to something so hopefully this round of injections will do the trick.

No, no. He just got lettuce and sweet potato as breakfast. He gets his pellets for dinner. I assumed it was what we tried today. He gets different lettuce, sweet potato, reptomin and nutrafin pellets, turtle yummies, jello mixed with calcium since he doesn't eat cuttlebone and baby shrimp as a rare treat.

Currently I mushed together a little sweet potato since he loves it so much with pellets and lots of calcium if he doesn't eat his normal food.

If he does have RI would it be better if we:

1) Turn his water up to 88-90, got him a new bulb so his basking area is 100, put his beach towel on his tank at night, fed him normally and wait a while. (we have been doing this just in case)

2) Take him to the vet two hours away on Monday due to nasty weather (if they are even open) and hope that they will treat him and the cold doesn't make it worse.

I'm just worried that the sudden change in temperature and stress from the car ride and vet will exacerbate the situation since he is so small, weaken his immune system and make things worse.

And I'm rambling and probably sound crazy. I've been up all day stressing about him and dealing with a sick kitty, I should probably sleep and deal with this in the morning.

[megcornell]

If he does have an RI turning the water temp up will help him a little. Regardless of what his ailment is a raise to 80-82 helps speed up their immune system a little, so it's a good idea. But, 88-90 is way too warm, I'd go no higher than the low 80s.

About the vet, first off is he or she an exotic vet or is there one in their practice? My first action would be to call them and see if you can't get a prescription without a visit. Explain the symptoms, explain why its so difficult for you to get there and maybe you'll luck out. Frankly, I don't think you're at a life or death point yet, so there's no need to drag crush out in horrible weather for a 2 hour ride. I'd see if any other symptoms arise and then make that call to the vets.

[VanishingReality]

It was at 82 this morning so I just turned his heater to that temp. He's swimming better and for long periods without breaks now and it isn't so lopsided anymore. I think we might just wait it out and see how it goes. He doesn't beg for food 24/7 but he follows me to the sides of the tank. We were told he was a runt (no one wanted him) so he's always swam sorta funny, it is like his shell is too big for his feet so hopefully he is getting better. Before this he loved the colour orange and now he only will eat things that are orange, so should I just mix potato with everything?

[SpotsMama]

For orange food, try carrot. Maybe some tomato occasionally. I really think daily servings of sweet potatoes is going to be a problem because of his need to absorb a lot of calcium.

[VanishingReality]

He ate his lettuce today and is back to his normal self. I guess we just flipped out for no reason. Thanks for all the help everyone.

Should we turn his temp back down or leave it elevated for a while?

[megcornell]

Glad to hear things resolved themselves

78 is perfect for hatchlings so I'd just turn the temp down to that. Keeping things too warm will create a lot of skin shedding.