Urgent Care :: Help diagnose a Turtle twitching: details

[marisa]

Stick your tongue in the tank? Eeww...It's just that water is a good conductor of electricity, I would think even a small current would be detectable (and with a small turt, think of how it would probably feel to him). And from what was written, it doesn't sound like there was a submersible water heater in the tank before when the problem first existed (don't know about the filter, though).

[GouzlanTheAmerican]

you should test it with a electric current tester. i think that most ppl have one shived back in there garage. lol i know we do. if not, you can get a really good one for about $20 (american currency)

[bruster]

Okay I think I might know what is going on here. He may be getting too much or too little calcium. Multiple sites discuss confusion, lack of coordination and twiching in hyper and hypocalcemia. A good sumary is here:

http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec12/ch155/c ... ch155b-234

The question now is which one is it???? Too much Calcium or too little? Right now he eats 4 pellets of Reptomin a day..each pellet shaken in calcium supplement. Is this an overdose of Calcium? He has a UVB light and sun exposure.

[bruster]

He now has a submersible heater. I used an under tank heater prior. The sub is seperated from the tank with a tank divider. He had these issues BEFORE the submersable was bought.

However, I looked up info for humans with these symptoms. Guess what shows up? Hyper/Hypo calcemia. Symptoms are twitching, loss of balance, confusions, modd changes, lethargy in some cases, coma and death. Bruster I believe has hypercalcemia do to the fact that his pellets are always covered in calcium supplement. Eventhough both the food and calcium suppliments are in a 2:1 calcium to phosphorous ratio, I think he is getting too much. All calcium has been removed from his diet for 2 days to see if this is it. Being that I give him daily calcium supplement, this seems very probable.

[GouzlanTheAmerican]

i would lower the calcium intake. just feed him reptomin without calcium. then see how it goes.

[marisa]

I really question whether calcium is the culprit here. A turtle absorbs calcium according how much Vit. D3 is in the diet as well as phorphorus (and I'm sure other minerals, but the relationship of those three is important). If there's an imbalance between them, over time problems develop.

Does your turtle have a UVB light? Does he get direct sunlight by being brought outdoors?

Does he eat live food, particularly goldfish?

I wouldn't decrease the calcium in the diet. If you had some pieces of cuttlebone in the tank, your turtle could get calcium when he wanted it by nibbling on it.

I wouldn't try to be a doctor here by guessing how much is too much, etc. If the problem continues, take him to a herp vet. If you didn't like the one you brought him to, find another (second opinions are helpful).

[lydia_lady_fla]

all sounds strange to me when I first began reading I thought of brain disorder,perhaps seizures? but I am no vet so ..... Im really hoping your turt makes it and that maybe it is just very young and needs constant care for a few months till it gets all its functions going right? I do worry about the chemicals in the water and would suggest bottled water,a gr8 test a lady at the pet store told me years ago is to buy a neon tetris (fish) they are very sensitive to chemicals and harmful gases etc. and will begin to spin head first for the bottom of the tank and die fast,sounds cruel but it does work, much like the miners using parakeets for invisible gases in the mine shafts.sooooooooo please keep us informed and hoping the mystry will soon be solved.

[bruster]

I have left so many of you hanging on Bruster's condition and I feel terrible for that. With that being said, Bruster is still with me today and approaching 3.5 inches (he was approximatley the size of a quarter last june). I have hime in a 30 gallon with UVA/UVB lighting, a basking light and a new Stealth heater (highly reccomend this one). He is still very very hyper, gets plenty of calcium and yes...he continues to look sideways and flips over often. I want to leave an important note here: in fear that he would drown becuase of his flipping over every minute or so, I kept removing water. What I have done to help is the opposite. I filled the 30 gallon almost half full (with a dry area). He is able to flip back over immediately because the water is deeper. The more shallow, the harder to flip over for thsi particular RES, unlike my previous RESs!!! Hard to do to a delicate hatchling, but it worked. Bruster is healthly, happy, hyper, and has had 3 different professional consultations. Bottom line, he is "special" and I am so happy I have him becuase I know he never would have made it in the wild or in a home of a first time turtle lover. Thank you all so much for your input and unique ideas. The vet and I have settled on the fact that Bruster is strong, growing, healthy and a little bit "special". I hope this eases your earlier concerns. I am a happy owner of a RES! His first bday is somgin this sumer and I know we will see it! Happy new year!

[jenaero]

That's wonderful! So glad to hear he's doing well! He was lucky to have found you

[cam722]

great to hear he's doing so well.

btw, I love the stealth heaters too

[marisa]

Glad to hear what has happened that that it's positive news! Happy New Year to you, too.