Urgent Care :: NOT EATING. PLEASE HELP!

[Misserica814]

Hello! We recently purchased a red-eared slider about a month ago and at first it was very active and eating a lot, and now it is not eating at all. Also, before we purchased the turtle we bought a book about how to care for him. In the book there is a section about diseases and disorders and we were reading about the respiratory infections and noticed that our turtle has much of the same symptoms... such as: no appetite, bubbly mucus at the edges of his mouth, open-mouthed breathing, and uneven swimming. The book says to raise the water temp, so we did. But, it also says that he may need to be treated with antibiotics. Do you have any suggestions for us?? We would really appreciate anything that you could tell us! Thank you so much!!!!

[steve]

Can you answer some of the questions in the link in my signature?

Do you know of any good herp vets, if you need their help?

[Misserica814]

I don't know of any vets. I was just wondering if there was something we could do at home! I'm not sure if he really has this infection. I may be reading too many books/websites and thinking that he really has something wrong. Could it be that he just ate so much at the beginning that hes just overloaded? I mean I have NO clue I have never owed a turtle before. I called the pet store where we got him, and they were not much help. So I was hoping that somebody on here would know what to do.

[Misserica814]

I do not know of any vets. We have never had a turtle.. so I'm not really sure what to do. We have all the right things in the tank and a I have bought a million different types of foods to see if maybe he was just sick of eating the same stuff. I think that I may be reading too much into all of these books and websites and thinking that he has something wrong with him. Could it be that he ate so much when we first got him that he just overstuffed?? I mean I have no clue! I was hoping that somebody would be able to maybe give us a few pointers on what to do! WE wwould really appreciate it!

[marisa]

The description you have in your initial post points to a respiratory infection. Raising the temp (to 82F) to help the immune system fight it is good, but given the symptoms, it really would be good to have him see by a herp vet to nip the infection in the bud.