Urgent Care :: Sick Turtle? Advice needed

[Slider]

I had just gotten two red ear sliders in early september. The larger one is about an two inches, and he is beautiful. There is nothing wrong with him. The littiler one is about an inch, and hasn't really grown compared to the larger one.

Today when I came home, the littler one was basking, and she was obviously dried out. Her eyes were much larger the the bigger turtle's and she wouldn't open them. I put her in the water and her eyes started to open, very slowly. When she swam she swam leaning to her right. I changed the water right away. Her shell is also dull. Its not soft though. I gave her some food, to see if she could get it, but it was harder than usual. She also kept "eating the water" so to say. She was perfect this morning.

So here i am, online, looking up advise on what could be going on, and now that i'm looking at her again, She looks normal. Her eyes have gone down to usual. But this is what i'm also asking: her eyes were always larger than the other one, could she have an eye infection? So now to my relief she is swimming around noramlly, acting in her usual way. Can anyone tell me what just happened and if i should worry that this might happen again. Or if you can give me any advice, like on what products or anything that i discussed in this letter, i would so appreciate it. I just wanted to get people's advise because my parents won't let me take her to the vet. Thanks you so much for your time and your advise. Thank you.

[ellman605]

remove her and put her in another aquarium, from the lop-sided swimming, sounds a lot like RI, any open mouth breathing or anything? look on the main site for more info.

[jenaero]

As Ell mentioned, lopsided swimming is a sign of a respiratory infection (RI) as are swollen eyes, open mouth breathing, excessive basking, refusal to eat and mucus from the nose and mouth. Do you see any of these other symptoms?

I'm guessing since you've had them for a while, you're familiar with their usual behaviours. I've been taken aback by how mine sleep before. The one time I thought my res was dead. Looked lifeless and dry under the basking lamp and didn't move when I first picked her up. Turns out she was in a deep sleep and it took her a few minutes to snap out of it. Could this be the case with your little one?

Also, since he hasn't shown much growth, you may want to make sure he's getting his fair share of food. Separating them during feeding time would help.

The 'eating water' could just be he's drinking.

Keep a close eye on him for the next while. Read as much info as you can on this site. Since your parents won't let you take him to the vet, do you think you could start saving some money on your own? If you get an allowance, start stashing it for an emergency. This doesn't sound like one to me tho. If he's swimming normally now and does not have any of the symptoms I listed, he's probably fine. Photos would be helpful if you could post them.

[marisa]

The "eating water" sounds like drinking, especially since you mentioned that your turtle had been out of the water. Being "dried out" sounds like a lack of humidity, and could have contributed to the eye problem.

By big, do you mean the eyes are swollen? What kind of foods do your turtles eat, how much and how often? It would be good to feed them separately to make sure the smaller one is getting enough.

How big is the tank they're in?

What is the temp of the water and basking area?

If you notice the tilting in the water again, and/or if your turtle starts basking excessively, gapes/yawns frequently, has trouble breathing/breathes with the mouth open when out of the water, becomes lethargic, etc., it would be good to separate him from the other and give him his own set-up, with temps a bit warmer than usual--about 82F for the water and 8-10 degrees higher than the water. The warmth with help your turtle fight the infection if there is one. Let us know how your turtle is doing.