Urgent Care :: New to the board and Q about my RES's unusual behavior

[Morr]

Hey,

I am new to the boards, I figured I would put bot short intro and care question into one post, as I have been looking for more experienced turtle owners due to an issue my husband and I are having with one of our turtles.

Firstly, I am Morr. 25 year old, living in Philadelphia, USA. Married to a wonderful guy. Expecting human baby #1 this upcoming August. We have other fur babies: 5 cats, 3 rats, 1 snake, fish and 2 RES turtles.

Well, here is the deal:

We got our first turtle, Petunia, a few months ago from a dollar store. We saw her there for sale and just could NOT leave her there. We figured we'd take the risk and get her and try to give her a good home.

It worked out. She was a bit stressed at first, but after a week or so she came around and got used to her new home. She was eating like a monster (in a good way), growing and very active.

A few weeks later, we got another RES from the same dollar store (again, we didn't have the heart to leave her there). Daisy is her name. She is much smaller than Petunia, took a lot longer to get used to her new home. It took them a while to completely get along, but it worked out and eventually Daisy came around as well, eating and being active in the tank.

About 2 weeks ago, Petunia started acting funny. She doesn't eat anymore. She used to eat A LOT and charge at the food we'd give her and down it all. Now -- Nothing. She ignores the food we give her. All she does is either sit on her rock, or lay in the water by the rock -- And sleep. She sleeps almost the whole time. She does change positions though and locations throughout the tank. But she sleeps.

She DOES react to us when we are near the tank, her colors have not seemed to change, she hides if she thinks she is threatened (jumps into the water quickly and swims to a hiding place real fast). Now cloudyness around the eyes.

Daisy is not the maw of doom, eating and constantly active. She is much smaller than Petunia, and so I really doubt there have been any signs of aggressions from Daisy towards Petunia. None that I have ever seen anyways.

So, what could be wrong with Petunia? Is there any sort of chance we were wrong with determining the sex of Daisy, and she might be male and therefore Petunia might be pregnant?

What are RES pregnancy signs/behavior?


Thanks in advance for reading and responding. I appreciate it!


Morr

[iac637]

How large are your turtles and what do you have in your setup?

[SpotsMama]

What size are your turtles? They don't mature until around 4" or 5" long. When they do, there's no mistaking a male. They have extremely long front toenails - around an inch long. There's a post in the photo section from Respeanut. Take a look at it and you'll see what a mature male looks like.

I'm worried about Petunia. She's probably ill. A common illness with turtles is respiratory infection (RI). Symptoms are lethargy, poor appetite, mucus around the nose or mouth, swollen or irritated eyes, breathing with the mouth open or yawning a lot, and swimming lopsided or having difficulty submerging. Petunia is showing several of these symptoms. It could be something else, of course but RI is pretty common.

You need to get Petunia to a vet. Only a vet can treat her with antibiotics. Otherwise it's usually fatal.

In the meantime, keep her warm, very clean, away from drafts, and avoid stress. Try to entice her to eat. While she's sick she can have things that are normally reserved for treats like a little tuna fish or a shrimp.

Also, RI is contageous so you need to separate Petunia from Daisy. You'll need to watch Daisy very carefully to see if she starts showing symptoms. The sooner RI is treated the better chance they have of surviving.

Also, fyi, a turtle's behavior when she is pregnant (or gravid as you say with reptiles) is quite different from what you describe. They'll lose their appetite but get very anxious and struggle all the time to get out of the tank.

Good luck. Please keep us posted as to how it goes. We'll be pulling for you.

[steve]

I'm guessing these are hatchlings. I definitely agree they need to be separated, and water temps should be 80F, basking area around 90F. Is there any reactions between Petunia and Daisy? is there any unusual swimming behavior/pattern? can you describe the cloudiness or post a pic? Does she still have an appetite?

[industrial_girl_2000]

Hey! Welcome to the forum & Congrats on human baby#1!!!!!!!

In addition to the questions everyone else asked, what size tank do you have these turtles in? Is there a basking light & area where they can get out of the water completely to dry off? What kind of lamp do you have for them? Is it UVA and UVB? Is there an underwater heater to keep the water at a constant warm temperature (80 degrees)?

I am a bit concerned about Petunia, but before you do anything else, make sure the water temp is around 80 degrees. Turtles cannot digest food if the water is too cold. A degree or two less than 80 isn't going to matter, but anything less than 76 degree water temp is too cold for a hatchling & they tend to stop eating.

If the water temp is not a problem, then in that case I would take Petunia to the vet. Turtles can take a long time to show signs of illness, and you don't know how Petunia was treated before you got her. The Zoo tells me that they quarantine a new reptile for 6 months (!) before adding the new reptile to an exhibit to make sure they aren't ill. 6 months!!!!! And they are experts! Reason why it can take so long is because a turtle's metabolism is so slow & it can take a long time for a disease to really take hold.

It's not unusual for baby turtles ("hatchlings") to be skiddish & jump really fast into the water when you come around them. Honestly, for many turtles it can take a very long time to get used to being with you. The key is patience & food in the hand. I've also found that talking to them helps as well as putting the tank in an area where they can see people. That way they get used to people being around & they know after a while that you are not a threat.

Also, the colors on a turtle take a long time to change because they grow pretty slowly. And some of the color is due to genetics (just like people; they can be darker or lighter). Brown/green/yellow/red/orange, those are all normal colors for an RES.

[marisa]

Welcome to the forum and congrats on the upcoming arrival. What exactly is your set-up like for the two turtles (tank size, water temp, basking area temp, filtration, lighting, etc.)?

It's possible that Petunia caught something from Daisy and symptoms are now beginning to show up. I'd separate them and keep Petunia warm (water 81-82F, and basking area around 90F). You might try to bloodworms or a cut-up earthworm to get/keep her interested in eating.

If Petunia continues to be lethargic and refuses to eat, that vet visit would really be the best course of action.

What do you mean by cloudiness around the eyes (not the eyeball itself?)?