General Care Discussion :: Worried about turtle behavior?!?!?

[Lharcum2010]

Hello there, I've noticed recently that my turtle is basking way more than usual, eating less, and won't go into the water for days on end. I've reflect moved her into a new tank with sand and pond stone substrate. Her water is kept at 77.5 degrees all day and night. I constantly check through the day to make sure of it. If I throw food into her tank she'll ignore it. I'll leave it in there for a few hours and come back and it's still there. To get her to eat now I have to hold the food in my hand to get her to eat. Her shell looks very dry and flakey after she gets out of the water and completely dries off. And in the water it looks like there are small "holes" or scratches on her shell. Her eyes are not red and her nose is not drippy which I was told are classic signs of illness. Maybe I'm just being paranoid but I'm really worried about her. I've had her for 1.5 years and she's 5 inches long. I don't know how old she is though. I got her from petsmart.

[ljapa]

Can you post a pic of her shell? Turtles can be odd sometimes, but you have picked up on possible signs of an issue.

It could be there is a shell infection of some kind that needs to be treated. That would not show as red eyes or a runny nose.

Did anything change in the tank when this started? A new decoration? Rearranging the tank contents?

[xcristina]

Have you felt for eggs? What you described are some of the signs my RES displayed when she had eggs for the first time.