Urgent Care

This morning I noticed a smell coming from my RES's tank. It smells acidic like vomit. I haven't actually seen her vomit, but the smell is like that. I also noticed in the bottom of her tank is white stuff: some slimy (almost like a clear glue that has sat in the water) looking stuff and some stuff look like shavings of coconut. It's very bizarre and I've never seen anything in her tank like that before. She's swimming fine, she's eating, I don't see any change in her behavior, but i notice this acidic smell and this in the bottom corner of her tank. Any help is appreciated!

How big is your turtle? about 6"w x 7"l (I'm guessing because I'm at work)
How long have you had it? 5 years

Photo of her tank: http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak- ... 0430_n.jpg

What is the water temperature? 73
Did you use a thermometer? yes
Are you using a water heater? no
How much water is in there? about 8" deep
Are you using a water conditioner? no
Are you using any filtration? yes Magnum 350

What is the basking temperature? 80
Is there a basking light? yes
Is there a basking platform that is easy to climb on? yes
What kind is it or what is it made out of? the basking area is reptile mulch with pebbles on top
Is there a UVB light? no

What have you been trying to feed it? Reptomin sticks
When was the last time your turtle ate? this morning after noticing the issue in the tank

How big is the tank/pond/enclosure? about 60-70 gallons? I'm not totally sure, I can' remember. Here is a photo of the tank with nothing in it: http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak- ... 3002_n.jpg
Is the tank near a window? yes, but the sunlight does not shine directly onto her tank
Is the tank in a room with a lot of activity? yes it's in my living room

Have you read the Basic Care section?
Have you searched the forums for similar situations? yes

Is there any other unusual activity/symptoms? not that i see

And by the way. I recently did a full water change. So i thought it was very strange for any bad smell to be coming out of a freshly cleaned tank.

I think your turtle needs more swimmin room!

swimming room: http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak- ... 9764_n.jpg

I'm looking for advice directly related to her ailments right now, thank you.

Would it be possible that your turtle ate some of the basking area substrate and then threw it up in the water? The white slimy stuff could be unicellular algae.. I'm not sure about this whole ordeal though.

Btw, sorry to be nitpicky but happycamper is right, there isn't enough swimming room and the water level is too low.

Best of luck, cheers.

It was an egg! After close review of the white stuff I noticed it was a leathery kind of shell and the white stuff was what was left of it. She must have laid an egg overnight and ate it! :shock:

The goal is to buy a home and put Shelley in her own fenced in pond...i live in florida so I feel the environment is nice for that. But since we are new college grads looking for a new job and don't have hundreds more to spend on a new tank we will have to do for now. Shelley is a lucky turtle who gets to go on walks outside in the grass frequently so she's not cooped up in the tank. I hope she doesn't seem like she's in a bad home because I do everything in my power to keep her very healthy and happy.

Now, I've never had Shelley lay an egg before...is this bad? Is there something I need to be doing...is she getting too comfortable and wanting to nest because i know with my rescue birds I have to rearrange their cage to keep them from laying eggs as there are many complications that can result from laying eggs.

Ah, but you said ANY help is apreciated :wink:

The amount of water could be directly related to the smell, a very large turtle creating waste in a very small amount of water is bound to have some water issues. Sorry if that's not the kind of advice you were looking for :?:

Have you checked the PH or ammonia levels?

Oh well that's exciting! Never had to deal with egg stuff, maybe this section will help

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

Well, a zero cost solution would be to simply remove the soil basking area (it eats up a lot of space!) and the piece of glass, and fill the tank up to a higher level. As a basking area you could use a piece of corkbar or an ATBA.. I'd say it would double the amount of water in the tank..
Problem with low water is that it might harm your turtle's muscular tissue, since she can't properly swim.
It's like being forced on a wheelchair for a human.

In my (limited) dealings with eggs, I hadn't noticed any smell or odors. This includes eggs expelled and eaten in tank water.

Urgent Care :: 5yr old RES-vomit smell in tank+white stuff

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