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I have an albino red ear slider, and he has been swimming in circles for the past 2-3 weeks..I just moved him back to a smaller tank for urgent care. I noticed he has been swimming rapidly in circles and cannot swim straight. I havnt seem him go under water to eat like my other albino RES does.... He pretty much just floats on top of the water motionless (looks like he is dead), but when you pick him up and put him on land, he moves like normal...even when he is on land, he has his head stuck out all the way and looks at you in an angle...

Anyone know whats going on or how to fix the problem? Thanks

Is he a hatchling? Has he eaten before?

Ive had him for about a year, and he is about 3 inches long... he eats once in a while, but i dont find his appetite big. He cant even submerge under water and just tries to swim, but he just pushes his arms and legs and ends up swimming in circles rapidly

Is it similar to the turtle in the video here:
viewtopic.php?f=15&t=26980&p=263787&hilit=neurological#p263787

As I described in that post, it's possible that it is "neurological"... difficult to diagnose and treat.

Are there any lumps or swelling on either side of the head near the "ears"?

thank you guys for the response.

steve, i looked at the video, my RES is not that engergetic and seems like he lost his coordination. he also just floats on the water and swims like he only has one side of his limbs (swimming in circles)...but all four of his limbs work great....

marisa, no lumps or swells at all, looks perfectly fine.

ive picked up my RES and put him on his landing dock where the lamp is, and he has been sleeping there since last night....seems to be resting and liking the heat? i made sure he wasnt dead by touching him... before all of this, he did not have a heat lamp, so not sure if he got sick from that?

Is he swimming lopsided? Gasping for air?

nope, no air gasping... he just floats there somtimes..but when i pick him up or touch him, he moves again... then he swims in circles rapidly....

A heat lamp wouldn't cause this. In regards to the video, there is an awkward perched stare that goes along with this condition in addition to a loss of coordination, is your turtle doing that too?

steve wrote:A heat lamp wouldn't cause this. In regards to the video, there is an awkward perched stare that goes along with this condition in addition to a loss of coordination, is your turtle doing that too?

oh no, im not saying the heat lamp caused him to do this. i was just saying that i have a heatlamp on him now...but maybe i was lacking a heatlamp before this happened and he got sick? or possibly because water was too dirty.... im not sure what is is....

my res doesnt have coordination right now..swims in circles... cannot submerge under water.... only floats there, but when i touch him he moves a bit

There's no certain way of knowing the cause. You will need to dry dock and keep him shallow water if he's having trouble swimming.

Has he always floated and been swimming in circles?? To me the floating and not moving around plus sleeping in the basking area sounds like a possiable case of respiratory infection which you want to raise the water temps to around 80-82 degrees and have the basking spot around 90-95 degrees to keep him nice and warm with will boost his immune system. You can also take him to a vet and they will most likley give you some antibiotics as well. With the swimming in circle thing, not sure 100% in that. Albinos do often have sight problems and other problems from just bad genetics which could cause him to swim in circles instead of a straight path.

My best suggestion is raise the temps like I said and take him to the vet. Turtles with respiratory infections can get really bad really fast and die which is why I always suggest taking them to the vets. I recently had an adult breeder female albino die after having a respiratory infection that I only noticed 4 days earlier. I set her up an appt at the vets for Monday morning and she ended up dying Sunday after differ so never made it to the vets. Ever since them I make sure if I notice someone is acting a little off to take them to the vet as soon as I can.

Mitch