Urgent Care :: possible ri? help!

[marisa]

That's very good news.

[tini]

I am glad that they are getting used to their home. I know everytime I clean the tank it changes just a tad and Neptune doesn't always like it but right now it looks really good! Not to mention the dock got placed a little higher so he has more swimming room! But he always has a moment of adjustment.

Glad to hear Melissa and Larry are doing good!

[marsspyder]

shes not eating again... melissa my little YES has decided to become anorexic once more, she went from happy and hungry, begging all the time, and eating everything she could to not eating and basking alot...again. do turtles go thru phases because the same thing happened before, but once i got a basking lamp she became way more active and was energetic and eating and seemed happier but now shes lethargic and her little arms and legs look spindly and she hasn't eaten(i havent seen her eat) in at least a week. the temps are still ok (75-80 water and 90-95 bask) i moved the lamp closer to their bridge to see if that would help but she just isnt eating. i just tried giving her some chicken to entice her...it stuck to her nose, but then she kinda drifted away. her shell is also dull and looks rough tiny bumps all over, larry's(res) looked that way when i got him but he outgrew it, and hes happy and healthy.
melissa has this look on her face like whats the point, and she looks like shes just miserable, not the happy little turtle she was a few weeks ago. i dont know what to do.
help?

[marisa]

I reread this thread from the beginning. I don't know why your turtle suddenly stopped eating again, but you did say that she seemed more active with the basking light on, which would have made a little difference in the temp. How is their water being kept 75-80F? With lights alone? I didn't notice anything about a submersible water heater, but if they don't have one, since I'm assuming where you are gets cold in the winter, they need one to keep the temp constant at around 78F. They can slow down a bit with the change of seasons, especially if temps aren't kept constant.

Do they have a UVB light (this is flourescent and not the same as a basking light). If not, they need one.

Are there any other symptoms--swollen eyes, open-mouth breathing, mucus/bubbles from the nose or mouth when out of the water, for example?

I would keep trying to get her to eat and feed them separately.

You mentioned the vet you took her to before was perhaps more knowledgable about lizards. Perhaps it's time to find another one you have more confidence in and take your turtle in for another opinion.

[marsspyder]

before, their water just stayed at 78 degrees. i dont know how, but checking several times a day morning noon and night it was always 78. however now it seems to be falling down to 70-72 at night so i am getting a heater today.
i do have a uvb light, its a uvb bar that goes across hte top of the tank, centered over the basking spot.
she doesnt have any other symptoms other than lethargy and loss of appetite. the thing i dont get is that larry is absolutely fine...is it because shes smaller that temp changes affect her more?

[marisa]

A UVB light doesn't really give off enough heat for them to want to bask, so they need a heat/basking light as well. This can be a regular lightbulb with a wattage that will warm the basking area to 88-90F. They need both, and they should be on for an average of 11-12 hours a day.

You got your turtles at the same time in August? It's possible the smaller one wasn't in the best of health when you got "her" (don't know for sure). Symptoms aren't always readily apparent, and can show up over time (which you could be seeing now). The smaller one is likely weaker than Larry, and would be affected more by temperature changes. It's good you're getting a water heater. Now warm up the basking spot.

[marsspyder]

i have a basking lamp, its a clamp lamp w/a 60 watt bulb aimed directly at the basking spot, i got that right after i posted here the first time i keep the spot at 92-97...i did get them at the same time in august and they were both the same size, about 1.5 inch or so-shell length, but melissa is prolly still less than 2 and larry is pushing 3-3.5.
it just so weird melissa has done this twice now (gone on a no food trip) and larry hasnt at all.
do you know if yes do this more than res?

[marisa]

I've never heard of that behavior being related to whether or not a turtle was a RES...

When you say YES, do you mean YBS (yellow-bellied slider)? There isn't a turtle called a yellow-eared slider. Red-eared sliders don't all have red ears--they can range from a light color of red/orange to a brownish red. Some RES don't have red ears at all.

[marsspyder]

huh...she has yellow "ears" not pale green like the rest of her markings, they're like sunshine yellow and clearly defined whereas larry has bright red "ears"
i did get a red incandescant bulb to help even out tempetature swings at night. just hooked it up today so ill be able to see if shes more active tomorrow. i had a black bulb but then i read that was bad, is the red ok?

[steve]

what are the patterns like, and other shell/skin markings? like marisa said, not all RES have the same color but there are other characteristics to look at. plus, there are also several different varieties of RES.

i would skip any colored or specialty lights. not sure why you need the bulb at night but you can use a ceramic bulb (they emit zero light)

[marisa]

I use infra-red bulbs in the winter with hatchlings (the ones I use are either by Zoo-med or ESU and say they don't disturb sleep patterns). My turts have never had a problem with them.

[marsspyder]

melissa hasn't eaten on her own yet, i did get her to eat some carrot and 2 shrimp yesterday. she does have heart enough to hiss at me though, and then as she was hissing i stuck a piece of carrot in her mouth, which
she bit and im pretty sure she swallowed it. she did spit quite a bit out, but im hoping some got down. we played the hiss at me i feed you game for like 45 minutes with carrot and shrimp. im pretty sure she swallowed, shes just so tiny and spindly and im so worried about my little turtle girl-boy
i also noticed that when shes in the water, she has trouble diving, she doesn't seem to be able to get down. and there are a few brownish spots on her shell. these have appeared in the last 3 days though. im worried about shell rot but its weird because she definitelt gets enough basking time, maybe too much, her water is at 78-80 degrees round the clock and basking 90-95. they have cuttlebone but wont eat it, so i grated some into powder and added it to their water, and i also add calcium dust to their food.
we are going to the vet first thing friday and im not leaving til i get some info on what may be wrong. i hope it isnt ri, but i noticed some mucous on her mouth this morning and immediately called the vet. i should have called sooner.

[marisa]

It's good that s/he's going to be seen. Let us know the outcome.

[marsspyder]

well apart from the possible ri/pneumonia, melissa is in excellant health, the vet said. i get to administer antibiotics once a day, which is going to be fun, more of the you hiss at me/i feed you game. . and i need to raise her temps. i wish she was bigger/shes still to small for him to listen to her heart/lungs, he could just go by symptoms i described, and i told him EVERYTHING she does that larry doesnt do.

apparently hes had quite a few turtle in since i saw him last. all people who bought them from the quiosk, all people who thought the death bowl was good enough for their turtles. he told me that i was taking excellant care of my two little turtlies and that he wished there was more he could do for melissa. some people were taking such poor care of their turts, and didn't want to spend the money to get them a good setup, and didnt want to do research to ensure happy healthy turts . its got to be bad when the vet tells you to turn the turtle loose because it will have a better chance of survival in the wild. and of all the turts hes seen since i brought him mine last time, mine are the only ones still living(and that doesnt include the ones who never went to the vet). that just absolutely breaks my heart. it makes me want to take in all those unhappy turtles(who might still be alive in their death bowls), buy a house with a giant indoor swimming pool, and make them happy.

i wont buy new socks for my boyfriend, but a giant indoor pool for lots of turtles...thats feasible...

[marsspyder]

aaaarrrrgh!!! how do i get her to open her mouth! apart from sticking it up her nose, how do you get a turt to take a few drops of medicine!(from a dropper)