Urgent Care :: My BABY Red Ear Slider has closed eyes

[Lucasito]

Before anything else, here are the info that is basically required:

How big is your turtle? - 1.5inches
How long have you had it? - less than a month

What is the water temperature? - room temp - no way of checking
Did you use a thermometer? - no
Are you using a water heater? - no
How much water is in there? - there is 1cm of water above his shell
Are you using a water conditioner? -no
Are you using any filtration? - no

What is the basking temperature? - i let them out in the sun to bask for an hour or two
Is there a basking light? - sunlight
Is there a basking platform that is easy to climb on? -yes
What kind is it or what is it made out of? - sunlight
Is there a UVB light? -none

What have you been trying to feed it? -pellets
When was the last time your turtle ate? -just now

How big is the tank/pond/enclosure? -not sure, but it's big
Is the tank near a window? -no
Is the tank in a room with a lot of activity? -not really

Have you read the Basic Care section? -yes
Have you searched the forums for similar situations? -yes, but I think I need a more special help

Is there any other unusual activity/symptoms? -none, he eats still barely.

__________________________________________________

So here is the problem:

As a Prelude:
I live in the Philippines and it's not uncommon for us to take care of RES as pets. But unlike western countries, UVB lights, filters, etc. are hard to come by or very difficult and expensive to buy. We usually put our turtles on a large enough tub with stones if the turtle wants to get out of the water and we change the water every other day. We don't use UV light much so we expose the turtles to sunlight everyday for a few minutes to hours depending on the heat under supervision because of cases of turtles dying of too much heat. Please don't reprimand us for being "irresponsible" - believe me, if these equipment are easy to come by, we will have them. That is why we improvise because we want to take care of turtles as pets and most people here are successful with it despite the lack of equipment.

Anyways, here is the problem:

I have 2 new baby res turtles (I have one large malayan box turtle and one large RES, all grown by me) and it's the first time I experienced this problem. One of them closed his eyes just around 4 days ago. It's closed all the time but he opens them once in a while to stare at me, it's only half open and he closes it after 10 to 20 seconds of opening. He also tries to scratch his eyes as if it's itchy or something. Good thing, he still eats with his eyes closed! Believe me!

I found several threads here and the usual tip is to buy some reptile drops or to ask a pharmacist to make boric acid solutions, etc. Again, in the country that I live in, it's hard to come by that. I badly want to have those medicine and stuff but it's not easy to come by. What I did just a few minutes ago was I dropped vitamin A (from a vit A capsule that I squished) into his head because he tries to hide it. I hope he absorbed some of it. I also tried immersing him in salty water. I am not sure if there is any improvement.

My question is this - can anyone give me practical easy to do tips on how to treat it? Our vets here specialize on dogs and cats and a doctor for turtles is almost unthinkable! Tips about cures that can be easily found at home or in the human pharmacy will be much appreciated.

He is with another turtle and the other turtle is very much healthy, active and eats a lot. So I don't think water is the problem.

Any help will do. I love my turtle and I don't want him to perish.

[Love of Animals]

Please don't use salt water or boric acid. That can irritate his eyes. Sometimes hatchlings will have failure to thrive. As long as he's eating, his water is clean and he's getting UVB form the sun, just wait it out. Do you dechlorinate the water when changing? With the vitamin A drops be careful. Too much vitamin A can cause the same symptoms as not enough vitamin A. Use pure cod liver oil capsules. Only put one drop in each eye once a day. Only do this for three days then stop. Eating and being active is good. You should try to take the temperature of the water and try to keep it steady at 80 degrees if he's having problems. Can you upload a pic?

[Lucasito]

I will try to upload pics. Situation is the same but he still eats a bit but I noticed that he prefers to stay away from the water and he stays there like he's dead. What I did this weekend was isolate him on a small container with distilled water so that i am sure it is clean. The temperature is quite warm.

[steve]

I would try to concentrate on getting him to eat.. anything at this point. http://www.redearslider.com/entice_eating.html

[Lucasito]

Use pure cod liver oil capsules. Only put one drop in each eye once a day. Only do this for three days then stop

How can I do that? She hides her head everytime i pick her up. She is still very small.

@Steve: Thanks for that!

[Lucasito]

**UPDATE**

I just got pure cod liver oil from the chinese drug store. She hid her head but I dropped it anyway. Then, she gradually pulled out her head and her whole head was wet with the oily oil (oily oil? haha). Then at last, she opened her eyes for the longest time since I saw her close her eyes!! YES! She opened her eyes around 5 minutes but then later, she started scratching her eyes again and closed it.. after a few minutes, opened it again for a long time and closed it again for several minutes. Is this an improvement? For me it is - it's better than her not opening her eyes for longer times! I will continue this for 3 days right?

Problem is, she is not eating. I will try to follow the enticing tips of this site.

Will update soon. Please keep your suggestions coming!

[Lucasito]

**UPDATE**

I left him with 13 floating pelllets and they ARE all gone now. Either a ghost took it or... my turtle ate it!

[Love of Animals]

Glad she's eating. Yes, only do it for 3 days. Too much vitamin A can cause problems.

[Lucasito]

I am not sure if this is the right area to post, but I am having issues with the same turtles and there are no herps in the Philippines.

Here is another issue with the same turtle.

He is floating when he isn't doing anything although he is very active and he eats well. Just to make sure, I separated him from the other 2 turtles.

Any tips on how to make sure that he becomes better faster?

[Love of Animals]

Can he submerge? If he can't submerge he could have gas or RI (Respiratory infection). Based on his previous symptoms I'm leaning towards RI. Is he lopsided when he swims? Does he gasp for air? Is he lethargic? If it is RI he will need to see a vet for antibiotics. Maybe a regular vet would be willing to see him and call a herp vet for advise. A common antibiotic given for RI is Baytril. The dose depends on the weight.

[Turt95]

We have the same turtle problems my fellow kababayan.. When mine was just a hatchling, he used to float in the water and i thought it was normal for baby turtles.. I brought her to my uncle, he's a herp vet, he said that i should leave my turtle under his care for 5 days and guess what he's fine now... But some problem exist again.. There's some white thingy on her shell and like it is eating her color.. Please help me..

[steve]

What did he do last time? Can you post a picture of what's on the shell?