Urgent Care :: Sinking in one side

[Disillusioned]

One of my turtles has a dark spot on one side of it's shell. It apparent because the spot is dark green and the rest of the shell is light green. Anyways, when the turtles goes swimming, the side that has the dark spot sinks deeper in to the water than the other side. It is like the turtle is tilted when swimming. But i don't know, becasue the turtle can still move the limbs on that side...
The turtle is not even 1-inch long...

Any suggestions as to what it is? how i may fix it?

[JessicaTS]

Sounds like lop-sided swimming aka listing to me. Can you take a picture of the dark spot you are describing?
This may be caused because there is fluid on one of the lungs. This can sometimes be a result from pneumonia.
What is the water and basking temperature? How deep is the water?
Are there any other symptoms or strange behaviros you see such as whezzing, nose gunk, swollen eyes, lack of appetite?

[steve]

How about a pic? This could be some sort of deformity. Is it new or is has it always been like that? Is he getting his basking time, UVB and calcium? What's he being fed?

[marisa]

Does the dark spot rub off at all? Is it really green (could be algae), or more blackish? Is the area soft at all? A picture would really help...

How long has your turtle appeared to be tilting in the water? Is your turtle able to submerge without any problem? Have you noticed any other symptoms (open-mouth breathing, wheezing, for example)? Is your turtle eating well? How much does your turtle bask?

[Disillusioned]

Sorry it took so long to post pics (still not sure if it works.. but oh well)..



as you can see on the left side of the turtle shell, it is rather dark.
here's a picture of it swimming. (yes it always swims like this...)


to add on to my issue, both of my turtles are starting to get brown between the pieces of the shell. Don't know if that's normal, but the bottom of the turtle is also starting to become brown too (in the creases)

[Disillusioned]

i guess the hyperlink doesn't work... but you can still copy and paste it i think...

sorry for the inconvenience

[cam722]

wow.. he sure is tilting.. you should seriously think about taking him to a herp vet.

I'm putting your link on here instead of the image makes it easier

http://storage.msn.com/x1pGHpas_o48llG9pLT-Y3AAvg1BgdXQGJS25pcGs2CHKnfz2t9Rjos2zQzuYjA-kF_5zF6wXnhEDh0F_KgtiWuoYpPwL65yvNCiz5fSs4STI3bxp2HpA1o-d2llwK_I4chBnmxMledm9WbDAC1Ih0kbw

[marisa]

This is how he normally appears/floats in the water? Is he eating normally? There are no other symptoms? Can he descend to the bottom and rise to the surface? Fluid/water in a lung will cause a turtle to tilt to one side, and if there were other symptoms, it would likely indicate pneumonia. Even without any other symptoms, though, tilting like that is not normal (perhaps there is some other lung problem).


I would really try to have him seen by a herp vet.

[Disillusioned]

yeah, the turtle swims normally, he can float and sink back down... not sure if it's pnuemonia because there was a short period of time whwn the turtle didn't have a water heater. Since i'm new to this.. The turtle's appetite is fine too.. so i'm not sure... Is a turtle of that size suppose to be able to sink without moving? since my other turtle (the one that's not tilting) sinks to the bottom without moving, but the tilting one floats when it isn't swimming around, but when it is swimming, it can swim to the bottom...

[Disillusioned]

by the way, does anyone know hwat the brown creases in between the pieces of sheel are? are they normal??

[marisa]

If by brown creases in between the scutes (pieces of shell) you mean the lines/seam, this is normal and where growth takes place (when growing they will appear lighter/more whitish). Is this what you mean or does your turtle have something different on his shell?

[Disillusioned]

yes, that's what i mean, thanks marisa. Also, do these brown lines appear at the bottom of the shell???

[marisa]

The lines/seam in between the scutes on my RES's and painteds' plastrons (bottom shells) don't really appear brown. There's actually very little coloring there. As the shell grows, the line does get somewhat bigger and lighter, but otherwise I don't really see brown.