Urgent Care :: My Turtle is swimming around rapidly...

[cymbri]

I think my RES, Fred, is a girl because of the shape of the bottom of the shell. it "bulges out" instead of "caving in".

Fred is about 3 1/2' wide, maybe a little wider. about twice as long.

Fred's been acting really strange, like swimming against the glass back and forth and back and forth and acting generally discontent.

Water quality is good (have API master test kit). Fred has a basking spot and a place to rest near the surface of the water, and eats lettuce and aquatic turtle pellets.

There's a bulge on the tail between the base and the anus.

I saw Fred defecate yesterday, and then try to do so again at that time, and it looked like something larger wouldn't come out.

I also made Fred a nesting spot in case of eggs, a 12" diameter about 5"-6" deep of damp potting soil/sand mixture.

Fred had trouble getting on it even with the ramp I set up, so i moved some things around and Fred can get up on it easily. Fred was trying so hard to reach it before I moved things around, then Fred got on it for a moment and dove back in the water.

Fred seemed calmer this morning, and I set up the nest last night.

I just got Fred a few months ago and Fred's really shy, Fred will dive into the water if you walk into the room when Fred's basking, and very fearful of being held so I don't hold Fred anymore, just seems to cause alot of stress.

Should I soak Fred's food in mineral oil or soak Fred in a milk of magnesia/water solution and see if that helps.... Should I check for eggs? Or does Fred need to go to the vet?

[steve]

Bottom shell is not a reliable way to sex RES, it's mainly for land turtles and tortoises. Can you post a picture of the setup or a video of Fred's behavior?

[cymbri]

I will post a video about 20 mins, and a picture soon. It looks kind of ghetto since I took out the nice basking dock and made a nesting spot.

[cymbri]

there's a sheet on the side so that Fred can't see you walk by if Fred's basking.

[cymbri]

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/oJeIEoIaes0?hl=en_US&version=3


I'm not sure if flash being off is my setting or the forum setting....

Right now Fred is doing the same thing, back and forth, back and forth, but faster and more desperate. It's hard to get a video because if I move, Fred goes and hides.

At first it was on the other side of the tank and Fred was lopsided to one side, but that was the side that the canister filter out put tube was on, when I turned off the filter, the swimming was no longer lopsided. Now it's on the other side since I set up a nest.

Fred didn't used to do this, but now it's back and forth all day.

[steve]

Fred would be a bit small for eggs. Was the tip of the tail nipped off?

I don't see anything unusual in the video. A gravid turtle would make more of a ruckus. You can try to feel for eggs if you want to try. How long has Fred been doing this? Does Fred stop to eat when you drop food in?

[cymbri]

Yeah, Fred eats well, Fred like to scavenge the bottom for food even if i fed him earlier. i caught Fred trying to eat sand, or eating sand. Fred'll even bite rocks, but then Fred realizes their not food. I took out all the small rocks before I added any to his tank. It looks like the tail was nipped off. my nephew (can't trust what he says) supposedly found Fred in someone's yard and left Fred at my parents house where Fred wasn't getting proper care. My mom asked if I wanted him and I couldn't say no.

Fred seems all right so far today, . maybe Fred was just peeved that I changed how the tank was set up by adding the canister filter and such. Fred acted peeved when i changed things in the tank before, but Fred was swimming around like that or faster for a few days, which was longer than Fred acted peeved in the past. That coupled with the bulge in the tail bothered me. The anus used to stay pretty close to the shell base. It seems the tail is swollen and sticking out farther than usual, with the bulge being about the size of two peas... The anus is now further from the shell and located after the bulge. It makes me worry about a possible blockage.

[steve]

Yes, they sometimes don't like changes. Has he defecated again?

[cymbri]

Not that I can tell. Took him to the vet yesterday, she said that Fred is probably a girl and much too small to lay eggs. She said that the intestines naturally move around, and didn't seem overly concerned about the recent swelling enough to do anything that wouldn't cost me over $100 above the cost of the visit. I couldn't afford an xray, but she said that Fred's large appetite and the fact that Fred isn't lethargic is a good sign.

She gave me an anti-inflammatory and said if Fred goes a week without defecating, or starts acting lethargic with a decreased appetite, to bring Fred back for further testing.

I'm going to soak Fred in a solution of milk of magnesia and see If that aids deification. I took out all the rocks and decorations that I could to allow me to check for fecal matter more easily.

Fred has had an increased appetite lately, which Vet said is normal because of the larger tank and therefore increased swimming and activity. Increased appetite makes me think of worms... Fred is often looking for food even is I fed him that day... But she was also like we can't treat or do anything without you paying for tests when I asked if there was any type of treatment I could buy for fish parasites or something...

[cymbri]

Fred just defecated... it looked like he was having some trouble pushing out something black, after some pushing a small amount of brown matter came out in small pieces. Normally, it'd be quick, easy and one large brown piece.

[steve]

For parasites, it's important to know what kind you're dealing with before administering medication. Good to hear there is some defecation... it won't always be consistent unless you're just feeding the same pellets all the time.

[cymbri]

I do feed pellets all the time. And it's suggested that turtles get them every other day, but If I don't give pellets everyday, she will scour the bottom of the tank for food and occasionally eat some sand, and start nipping at my snail. When my dwarf frog was at the bottom, not moving, she bit the frog like she was going to eat it twice, then let it go unharmed. She doesn't identify any moving creature as food, and when she gets close to a fish, they swim away.

I always make sure there is lettuce if floating in the tank, and I remove the lettuce after a day or so, and then will add fresh lettuce the day after.

I also figured out why she was acting strange!

She wanted something to support herself on, just below the water, on both ends of the tank! I tried setting up her "shelf" in several spots in the tank of the tank with little change in her comfort. But when I found a corner she liked the shelf in, I noticed she swim around distressed like on the other side of the tank, and
added a small piece of plastic pipe affixed to the other side of the tank with a suction cup. She uses that as a support to rest just below the water.

No more un-restful, seemingly distressed swimming! And even increased basking!

I know when animals aren't acting right, and I'm so glad this was an easy fix! I noticed the bulge at the same time of the destressed behavior and feared a blockage. Defecation is back to normal, and have recently started inspecting it, and I found some small small rocks. Ugh, silly turtle friend

I do my best to take out any rocks that are a big enough to cause a blockage and small enough to eat. Smaller rocks were added to go under sand, and I recently cleaned all the decorations and removed most of the substrate except a small bit of sand, leaving some smaller rocks behind. I've tried to take out all the rocks a few times and it's like they reproduce or something.

[steve]

Thanks for the update.