Urgent Care :: My Turtle keeps openin her mouth HELP URGENT!

[munkly]

guyz since i shift keechu to her new aquarium ... with sand and everything ive noticed tht after 3-4 days since she moved to new aquarium she is acting a little slow now ... i dont knw wats the problem ... when shez in water and holding on with turtle log or sitting on the internal filter or anywhere where she can stick her neck out she keeps openin her mouth after every 2-3 sec ( it doesnt make a sound) its just silent .... and i hv a UVB exo terra nd UVA lamp plus thermometer and my temp stays between 77-80 all the time .... so what can b the reason her? is it something related to sand? i never saw her eating sand or even trying to eat it in my presence.... and resp. infection which many say can be the case but since my temp is perfect fr keechu then whats the problem here? plz help nd reply asap! (im very worried i dnt wanna lose her)

u guyz can look at the pics nd video below fr better understanding:











VIDEOS:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EdmStJFQ4o (part 1)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TfHyakA-gU (part 2)

[n00bEmpty]

Does she swim lopsided? Refusing to eat? She could be yawning. If you dropped her into the water, does she sink to the bottom? The best thing to do for her is to take her to a herp/vet if you can. One way she could have contacted RI is if you had her next to the window. How long did you have her? IF she's acting sluggish then she could be just adjusting to the new tank. Does she have a place to completely dry off because it looks like her basking light is in the middle of the tank instead of directly over the basking area where it should be. If she doesn't have a place to completely dry off than it could also cause her to get RI. She could also be trying to beg for food, my tends to beg for food by making the filter outtake make a splashing noise by swimming in front of it. Don't know where (s)he learned to do that but my point is that it could be begging.
I think Steve could enlighten us on this issue, I'm just listing possibilities.

[munkly]

thnx fr yr reply noobempty .... well she doesnt sink and when i go near the aqua she looks at me acts normal everything is good! just keeps lookin at me nd openin her mouth then when she goes under water shez normal again and when she comes to the turtle bank nd basks she doesnt open mouth then either ... its just when shez holding onto something as if resting her shell in water while her neck nd face is not in water ... and in the pic the basking light is in mid cuz i had to take aqua pics otherwise its adjusted at the top of the turtle bank nd she basks rite under it fr hrs .... but in her previous aquarium when she used to rest like this with shell under water while she sticks her neck our she never used to open mouth and i think if its a YAWN then she wud open her mouth once or twice max .... can sand be any issue by anychance? since u alrdy saw my video nd pics and she just ate bloodworms ... and is eating fine too .....

[munkly]

and just to add ... shez not blowing bubbles etc frm nose ( so tht part is also good) .... but yesterday when she was basking she open her mouth and made a snapping noise but tht was just once and today that never happened while basking (just the water resting part is makin me worried)... and just tel let every1 knw i cant take to VET cuz there is no1 here who knws abt turtles :S ... so im all by myself

[n00bEmpty]

She doesn't sink? As in she floats like a balloon right when you put her in water? Or she sinks a bit than swims. If she floats like a balloon in water than you have a problem. That indicates she has a RI, one lung is filled with fluid and the other one is filled with air. Also, if there's a PetSmart near you then there's a vet near you, might not be the best one but yeah, you could always take him there. A simple check up is 45 dollars, just make sure that there's an exotic vet there and they're in when you want to make an appointment. This could also help you find a Vet near you. http://www.yext.com/vets/ Scroll to the bottom and click "reptile" and type in your zip code.

[munkly]

when i transfer her to new aqua ... as i drop her in water she was so scared tht she didnt even take her legs nd hands out ... and she went to the bottom of the aqua on sand nd then after a min or so she started swimmin in full speed nd then took her 5-10 mins to adjust then she started exploring the aquarium .... like she swims the same way as she always used to i dnt find any diff in swimin .... and i dnt hv petsmart near me cuz i live in pakistan hehe .... i just fear tht wat if its sand causing some problem? or maybe shez shedding cuz she acts slow when shez shedding always then after a day or so shez active again ... and she didnt eat all her food i just saw some bloodworms floating and shez not eating she ate a few only .... and shez wid me since 1 yr and 2 months now ....

[ami]

I think this might be helpful:
http://www.redearslider.com/respiratory_behavior.html

Open mouth breathing
This occurs occasionally, usually during basking. If it is frequent or accompanied by wheezing sounds or mucus, then it is a possible respiratory infection. Take basic measures and carefully observe. If conditions do not improve, then please contact a qualified veterinarian.

"If your RES exhibits any of these symptoms, then raising temperatures, quarantine and a water change would be the immediate actions to take. Ambient air temperature and water temperature should be raised 10 degrees F. Eliminate any drafts and cold air around the tank."

This site is like my bible! =]

I think the most you can do is crank up the temp. a bit and hope for the best. make sure to keep her environment heated (suitable for a turtle) and avoid any moisture that can promote the infection.

However, if her open mouth habit lasts for less than a minute it's most likely her yawning..

On a side note I had my turtle around the same time as you ..I got mine in January 2009. And when i saw your photos I'm like that turtle looks just like jojo :O

[munkly]

ami ... raise temp to 90F then? mine is 80 rite now ...

[n00bEmpty]

ami ... raise temp to 90F then? mine is 80 rite now ...

Since your water is pretty warm right now I would set it up by 5, make it 85. Too hot and it'll run the risk of catching something else.

[munkly]

i put 2 heaters in keechu`s tank now ... so temp will rise but how much should i keep the temp now?

[munkly]

thanks noob ... ill try tht and then monitor fr a day or 2 nd update u thnx...

[munkly]

oki ill update now .... there is no improvement even after filtering water and raised temp as well but keechu still opens mouth nd even when she comes out of water to bask she opens mouth on dock and shez not swimming much now is resting more often and shez not even asking fr food like she used to splash water all the time wanting to eat more nd more but today she didnt eat anything at all and she never wanted to...she kept resting on the log then on the bank then on a tree .... and i notice her shell is chngn color as well frm green to a bit yellowish nd blackish.... so wats the issue now? help me guyz plz im dyin here :S

[munkly]

just to add ... when she basks on the bank she opens her mouth at start like 6-7 times then she stops doin tht nd acts normal .... so i dnt really knw wts goin on here and shez also shedding ....

[n00bEmpty]

Hmm, is there a mucus problem or anything? She does swim lopsided? Does she float when you drop he in water, not swim but literally float when you put her in water. If the answer to any of these is yes then you have a RI problem.

[munkly]

no she swims fine ... and no mucus problem tht ive seen so far ... it just seems as if she doesnt want to swim tht much looks lazy to me ....