Urgent Care :: sick little one

[CountryGirl68]

His tank is way too small for him. He should be in a tank of no less than 20 gallons, preferably more. Keeping him in only 1/2 inch of water is not good for him.

[mickieblain]

He is normally in a bigger tank but he was floating upside down yesterday so I had to take action. I can't keep him safe when I am at work so the only solution is to have him in a smaller tanks where he can cover himself with water and get out to bask without drowning. And, he is ill and not moving or swimming so it doesn't seem to matter how much water he is in, he just keeps himself covered. If he is still alive when I get home I will try to get him back in his regular tank.

[CountryGirl68]

RES are aquatic turtles. They won't drown unless they get stuck in something in the tank and can't get out. The 5 gallon tank is too small for your turtle. You should have him in a 20 gallon tank with some fake plants so he can rest on while he's in the water.

I can understand your worry when you saw him upside down in the water. But that shouldn't be a sign of not knowing how to swim - it means something else is wrong.

Do you have a vet nearby (preferably a herp vet) where you can take him to have him checked out?

[mickieblain]

New developments. Shelley (okay, not original) is still alive although still not well. I took her to the vet today. The verdict was to let her be for a bit more with the heater now installed and the water temp up to about 80F. she shows no signs of RI apparently although she is still flipping over occasionally and she is not swimming much. She is submerging herself and then going up to bask for a bit. Her preference right now is to be on the basking rock but under the water line so in shallow water.
The vet is fine with her habitat now that I am monitoring temperatures. She thinks that a couple more days in the proper temps will fix her. She is doing a stool sample. She became a bit more active at the vet's when being examined-clearly not impressed.
Now, here is the thing. Tonight I noticed that she had something whitish on the fold of her neck that wasn't there at 2:00 this afternoon at the vet's. I got the magnifying glass and saw that it is something mucous-like in texture. It is clearly coming from the fold in her neck and not from her nose or mouth. She has not been extending her neck out nor has she been pulling into her shell (I have never seen her do this). Does it sound like a fungus of some sort? I will be calling the vet back tomorrow and I did manage to get a tiny bit of it into a baggy. Any thoughts?

[the_orphaned]

That whitish, mucus like thing might just be skin from shedding.