Urgent Care :: Unhealthy hatchling RES

[staman]

I got two hatchling RES about 2 weeks ago. They wouldnt eat for the first 2-3 days and I attributed that to stress and a low water temp 69-70 degrees. I bought a water heater, set it to 79 degrees, and sure enough they started eating and having been doing fine since then. About 3 days ago one of them stopped eating and I noticed he/she lets out large belches under water. A bunch of bubbles come out of her mouth and flow to the surface. The thing is you can actually hear it. I have noticed she spends all her time in the amazon swords and is perhaps eating them. Maybe eating the rockwool the plants are in? Indegestion maybe?

[JessicaTS]

Some turtles do burp
Are her bowel movements okay? Not too soft? Are the amazon sword disappearing? Bite marks? She could well be eating that, turtle love their taste.

[sonyj]

What's the rest of the setup like? Lighting (UVA & UVB?), tank size, basking temp?
I've heard of other turtles on the board making those sounds as well and letting out bubbles along with it.
Are there any other symptoms besides the stopped eating?

[steve]

If was a random and isolated case, then it shouldn't be something to worry about. Keep an eye out for any past, current and future symptoms. If there are other symptoms, then I would side on the area of caution. I have heard of case in which a turtle had RI for months but showed no symptoms until it's health rapidly declined.

[staman]

Here is my setup as follows:

2 RES hatchlings 2"
75 gallon tank 1/4 full
water temp of 78.5 degrees
ph of 7.8
I have a large basking rock but the basking temperature is room temp unfortunately. Im using 24" florescents as lighting (one cool white and one gro-lux (UVA). They dont give off any heat though. Is it a big concern? The healthy one does bask occasionally but i never see him because as soon as I enter the room he flies off that rock back in the water. The one that isnt eating just sits in the amazon swords all day and barely moves. She is eating the swords because I see the teeth marks all over them but again I never actually see her eat it. One other thing I noticed one day was a big piece of missing from my calcium turtle. One of them ate a big piece o fit. Is that unhealthy.... Lastly ive heard alot about RI--what is it exactly

[cam722]

The reason the one may not be basking is there is no temperature difference between the basking area and the water. I saw no mention of your having a UVB light for them. They need the UVB rays in order to make full use of the calcium they need for strong bones and shell.

You can use a regular light bulb in a clamp fixture to provide heat for the basking area. It is very typical for turtles to head back to the water when some approaches while they are basking.. remember usually they are the prey You may wish to get them a basking dock or make one so that they can both get fully out of the water to dry off.

You can give them a piece of cuttlebone to chew on instead of that calcium turtle. I've not read/heard any good things about that sort of thing as far as turtles are concerned.

Is there a reason you only have the tank 1/4 full? I have a 75 gallon tank also with 2 turtles and mine is filled as far as I can without the turtles being able to escape. They LOVE to swim

As for RI... it's a respitory infection. It can lead to pnemonia and death. There are any number of symptoms. You can read more about it here:

http://www.redearslider.com/index_health_1.html

Sorry this got to be so long. If I've not said welcome to the forum before now.. Welcome

[sonyj]

I back up everything Carol just told you. But just wanted to add to the basking part. The reason one might not be basking like Carol said is the heat difference between the water and the basking area. Water should be 72-75 for older turtles, 78 hatchlings with the basking temp around 88-90. It is important for them to be able to thermoregulate their body's temp since they are cold-blooded. If they can't do this it can cause ill effects later on.

So the heat difference is needed to entice them to bask and regulate their internal temperature, but also while they do this they need a big basking space/dock to completely haul out of the water and fully dry all parts of their shell. If they do not do this regularly you will be facing a myriad of shell problems as well, for one example, shell rot.

[staman]

Hey guys as per your suggestions i now have the 75 gallon tank half full.(im gonna raise the water level slowly). I bought a UVB florescent (40 bucks--just crazy) and a basking light with a housing. They are both hapily basking now. I still have the same problem with Emerald though. She wont eat anything except the amazon sword and starhorn. Im not even sure she's eating those (it might be the professor) because i never actually see who eating them but I am hoping. I tried all the tricks--bright food, soaked in tuna water etc..still nothing. Im starting to really worry. If i can't get her to eat pellets or shrimp she's gonna have real protein problems. The professor loves his pellets and his shrimp but turns up his nose at the veggies. Ahh mannnnn. How long can a hatchling go withought food for anyway... Is a vet trip worth it?


Emerald 2" hatchling RES
The Professor 2" hatchling RES

[sonyj]

I know in the wild they can go several days. Ok, one more question, Do you feed them separate or together? Try taking out the one that is eating, put him into a separate container just long enough to try and feed Emerald by herself. She might be more responsive this way. If not then try some boiled chicken, white meat, no seasonings. Usually the shrimp works well with enticing them to eat. So it's been a week for her, right? I'd take her to the vet if she doesn't come around by the beginning of next week and you're still concerned.

Now, you just tell The Professor that he has to eat his veggies. Too much protein in his diet will not be good for him after a while. So cut back the shrimp for him(it should only be used as a once a month type treat anyways) and he'll eat veggies when he realizes he's not going to get anything else. As long as he's eating his pellets he'll be fine.

[cam722]

I'd separate them when I feed them. Put the food some place where you can tell if it's been eaten.. ie up on the basking dock. That way you can keep a count of how many have been consumed.

Turtles can be very stubborn when it comes to food, sometimes you just have to give them no other choice than the foods that are good for them. My turtles wouldn't eat pellets and I didn't force the issue for almost a year.. I'm very fortunate that they don't have a serious pyramiding problem. BUT... I got tough on them after joining this forum and reading what I was doing wrong, they now love their pellets AND eat veggies.. they absolutely go nuts when I put new veggies in their tank. If I could convince my spoiled little piggies after a year of bad foods to eat properly, I'm sure you can too