Urgent Care :: Strange 'Floating' problem Please help

[Two Reds and a Blue Gill]

The past few days I have noticed that one of our RES is floating up more on one side than the other. When he is up getting air his left side floats more towards the top while the other side dips down. Also while he is swimming it seems as if he is struggling to keep himself level, because the left of him want to float upwards. It also looks like he cant hang out at the bottom of the tank because when he tries to swims down his body is almost fighting him. What could be causing this? There is nothing else visibly wrong with him, he seems happy and is eating normally. Does anyone else have a similar problem. Please let me know. Thanks.

[Szuturon]

both of mine had the same problem... except one of them starved himself to death and the other one seems to have recovered. I got an underwater heater to give my Hinata more warmth and it seems like her own immune system is fighting it off. People told me it was a respiratory infection.

[marisa]

No other symptoms? You said the turtle is eating well... What is the water temp and basking area temp?

Tilting to the side in the water is often a sign of respiratory infection, and since you indicated this is recent, it very well could be the early stage of one. I'd increase the water temp to about 82F and the basking area temp 10 degrees higher. If it is an infection, the added warmth will boost the immune system and help him fight it.

If there are no other symptoms, his behavior could possibly indicate gas, but it would be good to know more about your set-up as well as any other unusual behavior if you notice it...

[Two Reds and a Blue Gill]

He defiantly eats well, and he is energetic, the water temperature has been around 80-82. The temperature on the basking rock feels warm not hot, we see both of our turtles taking turns on it. I could see how this might be gas, we have a bubble tube along the side of the tank. Both of the turtles play in it, the one that is having the problem likes to catch them in his mouth,, maybe he is swallowing too many of them?

[marisa]

Don't really know. Perhaps not using the bubble wand for a bit and seeing if the condition disappears would tell you if that's the cause of the problem. I'd still keep my eyes open for any other unusual behavior/symptoms, though.

[melnez]

I've kind of got the same problem. Da Vinci kind of tilts to one side when he's at the bottom of the tank. The thing I noticed though was when he's out of water and i'm holding him, his breath kind of makes a popping noise inside of him and I can kind of feel it. He's active and always hungry. I got this way after I came home for spring break. I've uped the temp to 82. We don't have his regular tank here but he has a heater and light.

Is there anything I should do? I think it's water in his lungs or something. He seems happy though...

[melnez]

oh..he doesn't have the floating to the top problem though.. He can kind of control his tilting. The only time you really notice it is when he gets excited for food.