Urgent Care :: A bit worried about my turtle

[tonghua90]

Hi... I added a pic of my turtle on this post... Hope someone can help me..
I've been living in China for a few months, got him on holiday last year from a supermarket and a friend looked after him for me until I moved here.
He's now over a year old.. but is still very small. Today he was making some squeaking noises so I upped the water temp and put him near the window (it's sunny today and I have no heat lamp/UV lamp - they didn't sell any in the small pet shops here) There are no nearby vets that are any good, so I can't get antibiotics for him too. Since I moved him he's stopped squeaking.. but I'm a little bit worried about his shell...
The top of the shell on his spine seems to be a little bit grazed or scratched? I'm worried about him getting soft shell/shellrot...
How can I tell if he has it or not?

[Diamondbacks4Life]

Are there any hardware stores around you. You can actually pick up the metal lamps cheap there then at a petstore. Plus you should run out and get a underwater fish tank heater for the water. Warmth is the key to survival and growth with these little guys.

What has he been fed for a year?

[tonghua90]

Hi, thanks for replying!! No shops nearby anymore - a couple had been shut down recently. I'll have a look around for some others. I didn't know about underwater heaters. Thank you!
Today I've been doing my best to keep his water warm.. putting him out on the windowsill as soon as the sun's out and regularly changing his water with warmer water.
I've been feeding him some commercial food that my friend gave me - she'd been feeding her turtles this stuff for the last 2 years. Apparently has a lot of Vitamin C. It says 'nutrition balanced'. I also gave him some banana today! Although he's not eaten any.

[kellnic07]

Does your turtle have a place to climb out of the water and bask? Is your window open or closed when you put it on the windowsill? How high is the water level and what kind of enclosure do you have him in? Is there a way you can get your hands on a thermometer to measure the water temp?

[tonghua90]

@kellnic07
Yeah he does, I screwed up some flannel to use as a substitute rock which seems to do the trick. He regularly basks. It's winter, so I keep the window shut when I put him on the windowsill. I'm on the 11th floor, so while the window's shut and the sun comes in, the windowsill area's really warm. Water level's about 5 or 6cms - I'm scared of making it too high because he's still very small. I don't have the money for a fancy glass enclosure so I'm using a large washing bowl (it's about the length of my arm from the elbow to the middle of my hand... if you can picture that... I lost my measuring tape)
I'll fetch a thermometer tomorrow.. I think there's a pharmacy nearby that should have one.

[kellnic07]

A lot of windows are made so that UVA/UVB doesn't penetrate the glass- If the window is closed then the sun might be shining on the turtle but it would not be receiving the UV rays. How warm is it outside? If he's regularly basking/swimming/eating on his own then he's probably doing fine. Just something to look out for. Also if he starts squeaking again then take him out of the water and check for bubbles coming from his nose or stretching his neck a lot- that's a big sign for respiratory (which my turtle is currently going through)

[tonghua90]

Oh, I didn't know that, thank you! Unfortunately outside is pretty cold... opening the window will probably make him too cold..
He didn't eat yesterday and during the.night he squeaked a lot and had a few bubbles coming out of his.nose so I'm extra worried now.
I'm trying to give him some other food, like tiny dried prawns and some green veg.. but he's not.tried it yet :c
I'm looking at ordering an underwater heater and a UV lampoff the internet today. I couldn't find any close to where I live yesterday.

[kellnic07]

How is your turtle doing? Still squeaking? Any improvement?

[tonghua90]

Sorry for the late reply! Yes he's improved a lot! No more squeaking!!! I got him a new tank, monitor his temperature, tried some different food (he's eating a lot more now!), and got a UVB lamp for him.
However... his swimming's not very.. good.. anymore... he tends to stay at the bottom of the water and when he swims his body goes sideways....
So everyday... I've been putting deeper water into a big bowl and tried watching him swim around for about half an hour to 40 minutes - however long I have time for. This has made him a bit better and gives him more exercise, but he seems to need to concentrate a lot to keep his body level and not sideways.

I'm also worried about his size... I read that the average size for his age (1 year) is 2-3inches?? He's 3cm.. Is there some kind of problem with him??

[steve]

Is he always listing toward the same side?

[tonghua90]

Hmm... not always... most of the time the left side goes down first, and sometimes he just swims with the back end down.

[kellnic07]

Swimming sideways can be a sign of lung problems- I would continue to monitor. Sounds like he is doing much better in other areas though so maybe it will work itself out on it's own!

[tonghua90]

Yeah, it's still there and sometimes he even goes forwards a bit... it's like he's lost balance. I still make him exercise regularly and monitor him.. but his appetite has gone up loads since buying him the new lamp and tank. I was worried about his size - he's over a year old and only 3cms big.. but I think if he keeps eating the way he has been recently maybe he'll grow quite quickly. Thank you for the help!! (^-^)

[steve]

That is quite small, however don't overfeed to make up lost meals. Slow and steady growth is still important.

[tonghua90]

OK! I've had a look at tonnes of sites to see what to feed and how much etc. Since I've changed a lot of things he's grown 3mm. I noticed he's started shedding skin from his neck too - that part seems OK according to the pictures I saw on this site, but today I noticed healso has some thin wispy white stuff coming from the back of his shell as well.... Is that normal???

Sorry for so many questions!