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Hi guys,

Worried about what I noticed today on one of my little ones.... He seems to have a lump at the side of his ear. Going to be taking them to the vet asap, but was wondering if theres anything I can do in the meantime. I'll try and get some pictures up too.

Here are the answers to the standard questions:

How big is your turtle? 1.5"
How long have you had it? just under 3 months

What is the water temperature? 77 - 79, now turned up to 81
Are you using a water heater? Yes
How much water is in there? around 12 UK gallons
Are you using a water conditioner? yes
Are you using any filtration? yes

What is the basking temperature? 88 - 85
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? zoomed basking dock
Is there a UVB light? yes

What have you been trying to feed it? Nutrafin max gammarus pellets, tetrafauna gammarus, whole shrimps, river shrimps, vegetable pellets.
When was the last time your turtle ate? regularly eats

How big is the tank/pond/enclosure? 21 gallons
Is the tank near a window? no
Is the tank in a room with a lot of activity? no

Have you read the Basic Care section? yes
Have you searched the forums for similar situations? yes, according to the physical condition section it fits the description of 'Ear abscess'

Is there any other unusual activity/symptoms? not as active as he normally is and doesn't seem to be growing much, unlike my other turtle who doesn't seem to stop growing...

I hope he'll be okay...

Cheers for the help!

prolly a ear abcess, mine 1 turtle hasnt grew too much either, prollly a hlf a inch or so smaller then my other one.

Pictures are the only way for us to be sure it is an abscess.

The best thing you can do is get him to a good vet asap as you stated in your first post. If it is an ear abscess, I think the best course of action until the vet trip is to keep the tank as clean as possible, becuase a dirty tank will only aggravate the infection more.
Good luck at the vets!

This post has a picture of an abscess and additional information:

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewt ... 47&start=0

Cheers for all the replies guys.

Got my brother to take him to a vet yesterday...

Turned out to be an ear abscess. The little guy was quite scared of the vet apparently, kept running back to my brother, lol.

Got given a syringe and some drops to give him. Have given him a drop yesterday so far, so hopefully he should be better in no time.

Do I need to keep the temperature raised to around 81 or can I turn it down for this kind of thing?

Hi vips,

I'd keep the temp elevated for a few more days--the warmth helps the immune system work better and will help him fight the infection.