How big is your turtle? 9 inches
How long have you had it? 1.5 years
What is the water temperature? 78
Did you use a thermometer? yes
Are you using a water heater?yes
How much water is in there?~85 gallons
Are you using a water conditioner?yes
Are you using any filtration?yes
What is the basking temperature? ~90
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? hard Styrofoam that is "turtle safe" and then white sand as well
Is there a UVB light? yes
What have you been trying to feed it? Tetrafauna ReptoMin - have been eating it everyday at 5pm since we got them. We also get them feeder fish every 4 months or so to catch on their own.
When was the last time your turtle ate?every day at 5pm, never an issue - always hungry
How big is the tank/pond/enclosure?110 gallon tank filled to abou 8 inches from the top
Is the tank near a window?kind of, but the blinds are always shut
Is the tank in a room with a lot of activity?not a lot no, the TV is in there but we don't keep the volume loud. It is just the two of us that live here.
Have you read the Basic Care section?We have, and we believe that we are upholding a high level of living standards for our turtles.
Have you searched the forums for similar situations?yes, and didn't appear to find anything like this.
Is there any other unusual activity/symptoms?please see below ...
We have two red ear sliders and that we bought at our local pet store. We believe one to be a male, and the other female. We bought them at about 4 inches long, and 1.5 years ago. They are much, MUCH larger now - probably about 9+ inches in shell length. They live happily in a 110 gallon tank with each other, a sun bathing floater and some fake foliage.
About a week ago our female started 'coughing' and almost cracking her jaw if you will. She also changed behavior significantly and spends almost 100% of her time on land in one specific spot. She does enter the water to eat however.
She also has been almost scratching at the side of her neck with her head fully extended. She also turns her head sideways and rubs her neck on the bottom part of her shell under her neck. It is almost like she is trying to get something off of her. Do you think it is possible she has something caught in her throat? We did have smaller rocks in the tank at one point when the turtles were much smaller but realized they could be dangerous when they got bigger so removed them. It is possible that we forgot one I suppose.
Any insight would be great - also thoughts on the appropriateness of going to a vet to have her checked out.
Thanks so much!
-Tim and Megan
