Urgent Care :: Curious about one turtle...

[SSMcLeod]

How big is your turtle? ~1.5"
How long have you had it? 2 months

What is the water temperature? 76F
Did you use a thermometer? Yes
Are you using a water heater? Yes
How much water is in there? 50 Gallons
Are you using a water conditioner? Yes
Are you using any filtration? Yes - 2 sub, and 1 hanging

What is the basking temperature? 80
Is there a basking light? Yes
Is there a basking platform that is easy to climb on? Both are
What kind is it or what is it made out of? One is the suction cup turtle dock, the other is the magnetic variant.
Is there a UVB light? Yes

What have you been trying to feed it? Just regular turtle pellets. Has had romaine, and salmon 2 weeks past (same with the other 3 turtles)
When was the last time your turtle ate? A pellet this morning

How big is the tank/pond/enclosure? 55gallon Tank
Is the tank near a window? Yes
Is the tank in a room with a lot of activity? Yes

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

Is there any other unusual activity/symptoms?

For the past few days one of my smaller turtles has been acting weird. It floats like a cork from time to time; however the side that floats changes periodically between left, right and the back half. However, it can seem and get down to the bottom to investigate the substrate and poke around on the drift wood.

Then the other day when basking it opened its mouth a few times than went back into the water (I am unsure if was yawning or gulping). Besides that it spends most of its time basking or just sitting around just under the surface of the water, and I have not noticed anything else out of the usual.

I am curious if I should be taking actions or if its something easily explained...

[Love of Animals]

Hi, I would bump the water temp up to 80 and the basking to 90. Higher temps boost the immune system. Keep watch for RI symptoms in the mean time.

[steve]

How is his weight? Does he swim in a circular pattern?

[SSMcLeod]

Only feels slighly lighter than its broodmate. And I am unsure of its swimming - it rotates through spots in the tank, but mostly seems to just rest

[SSMcLeod]

So I took it into the vet today (bubbles were coming out). He said that it was still the early stages, just to increase the temperature all around (basking to 100) and offer a variety of foods. If its not better in a week to ten days to give him a call for injections

[Love of Animals]

Good luck I hope he gets better! Did you bump up the water temp as well? Sometimes they will go after food that moves like a worm.

[SSMcLeod]

Yeah I bumped the water temp up as well. The lil bugger isn't going for the turtlepellets but put a bit of tuna water in there and than its all curious.

[SSMcLeod]

I just tried something to moderate success...

So my lil one hasn't eaten anything in a few days and something occurred to me. I grew up on the farm, and when chicks were sick, my dad used to boil food, blend it, let it sit and than strained it. Then would put this into their water dish so they were at least consuming some of the nutrients.

So I tried it with the turtle. I took two cans of tuna, and strained off the liquid into a bowl, added some carrots and a bit of v8. Added water, boiled it, cooled it down than added it into the quarantine tank, just a few spoonfuls. At first she didn't do much, than she gulped a little and actually swam a bit. I've added some more now and she has gulped a few more times.

I am hopeful that after a day or so of this she regains enough strength and interest for solid foods.

[Love of Animals]

I'm glad she ate a little. She needs to keep up her strength. Keep us posted.

[vear]

I just tried something to moderate success...

So my lil one hasn't eaten anything in a few days and something occurred to me. I grew up on the farm, and when chicks were sick, my dad used to boil food, blend it, let it sit and than strained it. Then would put this into their water dish so they were at least consuming some of the nutrients.

So I tried it with the turtle. I took two cans of tuna, and strained off the liquid into a bowl, added some carrots and a bit of v8. Added water, boiled it, cooled it down than added it into the quarantine tank, just a few spoonfuls. At first she didn't do much, than she gulped a little and actually swam a bit. I've added some more now and she has gulped a few more times.

I am hopeful that after a day or so of this she regains enough strength and interest for solid foods.

That sounds like such a great idea. I hope she gets better soon!

[marisa]

I know you've changed it, but a basking temp of only 80F when the water temp is 76F isn't a big enough difference between the two. I have to say, however, that a basking area temp of 100F seems a little high. I'd increase the water temp to around 82F and raise the basking area temp to be 10 degrees higher.

[SSMcLeod]

So my little one is back to full health

For those who were curious it took about three days of "bath in food" before it finally ate food, but its now eating with guasto

For those who were curious:
1/2 Carrot Shaved
1 tbsp Turtle Pellets
Enough water to cover and let soak.
Blend with Immersion Blender (or Blender)
Add 4 cups of water
1 cup pedialyte
1/2 cup of V8
All the juice from one can of tuna.

Then All I did was put it in a small tupperware container and poured on enough to go just up about half way up the carapace. And let it sit in a warm place for about an hour. Logic was that even sick I had seen it drink, so if I added more nutrients to the water, the turtle would drink them in.

After then hour I rinsed it off in warm water, dry docked for another hour, then returned to the quarantine tank. (About an inch of water, rock and a sun lamp).

Did this twice a day once in the morning, than once before going to bed, and this morning it took a piece of tuna wrapped pellet this morning (still gave the bath to be sure) but the lil one is looking much healthier

[Love of Animals]

Glad it's feeling better!

[marisa]

Good to hear about the improvement.