Urgent Care :: RES sick/injured?

[Szuturon]

Hi. My male baby RES is reaaaaally worrying me.
a) its been about 3 weeks since i've had my turtles. the male one hasn't eaten anything yet (at least i haven't noticed it)
b) the male only sits on a rock out of water day and night.
c) seems to only sleep.
d) unlike the female, the male doesn't seem to fear me at all. to be accurate it doesn't respond to anything i do.
e) unlike the female, the male seems to float naturally. the female one sinks right to the bottom the minute i let go of her, while the male seems to float.
f) the male seems to be growing some sort of white bulb thing under it right arm. if it were a human i'd say it was just a pimple but i somehow doubt my baby res is getting acne.

The thing growing on his arm is the one thing that troubles me more than the fact that he won't eat or swim. Does anyone know anything that might help?

[cam722]

Ok, first off, before anyone can help we'll need to know about your setup.

What size tank? Lighting? Water/Basking temps? Age/size of the turtles.

[Szuturon]

turtles are still babies(i think). they're like smaller than half my palm (i'm a 20yearold asian...).
the setup they've been in since i've gotten them has been a tiny tank that my friends got me with the turtles. for their size it would be fine for probably a few months. but i'm actually (at this very moment) filling a new 20 gallon tank... to about half way. some time tmr evening i'm gonna be moving them over permanently. right now the tiny tank they're in has a rock that sticks out of water enough for them to be completely out of the water, and it is the place my male RES seems to dwell all the time.
once the move is done, they'll have a proper basking area with heat and UVA lamp. the new tank has an inwater filter and a floating basking area.
i hope that was enough information... not a whole lot more to it. oh ya... i've been using that turtleclean stuff and a calcium turtle...

[reptilegrrl]

If they are smaller than half your palm, then you probably can't tell what sex they are. BUt the one you are thinking of as "the male" does sound sick. It's not natural for a turtle to be totally lethargic.

Be prepared to upgrade- even that 20 gallon tank will only be good for a little while.

[cam722]

If they are more than 1 inch each a 20 gallon tank is already too small. You should have 10 gallons for each inch of straight carapace length. If you're going to upgrade anyway, you should go big enough so you won't have to upgrade for awhile. How deep to you plan on making the water in their new tank? What else do you have for your setup as in filter, lights, heat.. etc.

[marisa]

The white "thing" could be an abcess, and if it is and isn't treated, he will become lethargic and not want to eat. Find a herp vet and have your turtle seen ASAP so you know what the growth is and can get treatment for it. There are links on this site to find one if you don't know of one near you.

[Szuturon]

took him to the vet... administering the medicine is such a pain... i hafta swab the white thing with something that clearly puts him in pain... then i hafta piss him off enough to get a syringe into his mouth to get him to drink the other thing. same thing for feeding... since he won't eat on his own i hafta force feed the lil guy...
and it costed me like a hundred bucks o.o

[marisa]

It was good that you took the turtle in to be seen. Was it an abcess (you didn't say)?

Be careful about force feeding--it's relatively easy for the food to go down the wrong way, and he could choke.

What medication are you giving him (the name)?

[Szuturon]

i think she mentioned it was an abcess...
external treatment: Betadyne solution
internal (the one i make him drink) Baytril

[Szuturon]

UPDATE: Wolfgang passed away some time last night... no more hurt little buddy... no more hurt.

[cam722]

so sorry to hear that..

How is the other turtle doing?

[marisa]

I'm very sorry to hear the sad news.

[TinySlider2]

I'm sorry to hear of you loss. How is the other turtle doing?

[Szuturon]

doing fine i suppose... still not on a healthy diet... but fine other than that...

[marisa]

Really try to get your other turtle on a balanced diet or eventually he's likely to have health problems as well...