Urgent Care

My 6 year old RES, Jud, has been set in her routine since we got her. Her shell is about 10", her tank is 125 gallon, her basking light, filter, diet, everything has been the same for years, but now she's acting differently.

She spends 80% of her time flailing in her tank and banging against the sides. She NEVER tires of this, she maybe basks for 20 minutes a day and hasn't eaten anything except a small piece of scrambled egg in 2 months. She shows no signs of being sick and I haven't seen her eat any fish in her tank. What could be causing this? She's acted so well for so long and now it's as if she's trying to tell us something. She's not begging for food, because she won't eat. She seems healthy and active.

I've been taking her to a outside man-made pond and she's pretty laid back there, with the natural sun on her but I can't for the life of me figure her out. I also haven't seen her poop, but I haven't seen her poop in years, maybe she's just shy about it. Any ideas what could be going on?

Plus, could a flailing turtle banging on the glass of a 125 gallon tank break the glass?? that's kinda freakin me out, too! Thanks for any advice you can give!

Judy

Has she ever laid eggs?

Not that I've ever seen, but would that be it? I figured she would lay eggs if she needed to, not flail for 3 weeks on end. How would I be able to tell if she is trying to lay eggs and what can I do to help her? Could she be clogged up with gravel?

She probably would hurt herself first before breaking the tank. She might break other objects in the tank though.

When she's flailing, is she responsive to you? To food? Is there anything that makes her stop?

She knows her name & comes over to the area where I open her tank, but when I drop food in (turtle food, meat, veggies) she looks & then continues flailing, it's very concerning, she's non-stop about it. When I take her to her outside pond, she just sits and seems content, but I live in Florida, despite the rain, the temp is higher than her tank temp (always monitored) I can't for the life of me figure this out. Any ideas?

& THANKS for easing my mind about the tank! I was worried that a break would cause all the pets to be in trouble.

Do you have gravel in the tank?

Sounds like eggs to me! You might need to get an xray if she is having trouble laying them. Mine acted like that for a while and laid them without trouble but she didnt lay them all at once. Then in a few more weeks, she laid more. Keep in mind that they eat their eggs when they lay them in the water so you may not see it. Check and see if her tail looks swollen. Look at the bottom of the tank for tiny little pieces of egg shell. She wont lay the eggs unless she is alone. Mine usually lays them in the morning and I catch her eating them when I go to turn on the lights.

I do have gravel, what I've read here, that's not recommended, but she only ate blue gravel years ago, she's never eaten the earth toned gravel.

She sits at the bottom of the tank straining, her eyes shut real tight, she seems like she's trying to poop or lay an egg but nothing happens... is she clogged up w/ a rock? We went away for 3 days and thought she would eat her feeder fish, I suspect she might have eaten some gravel. Her tail doesn't look swolen and I don't see eggs shell, I hope it's eggs, the vet here charges over $300 for X-rays.

It doesn't matter what color the gravel is, if they can fit in their mouth, they will try to eat it. $300 is too much for X-rays, can you look elsewhere?

Wanting to constantly get out of the tank would make me suspect that she is gravid. Have you checked/felt for eggs?

I hear that but she's been real good about it, but I can see that they would eat it. Vets in this area that know about turtles are few and far between, last time I took him in for a check-up it cost me $600 even though everyone that knows turtles knows she's healthy.. they flushed her system for reasons we still never got a straight answer to... they really stick it to ya there!! Like car mechanics, they get some turtle biz, they'll milk ya left and right!

does Gravid mean full of gravel? I've looked in the tank but haven't seen any eggs, do they look different than the gravel rocks? I know these questions sound stupid, but I haven't seen any eggs... she's now at the bottom of the tank, kickin w/ her back legs trying to do something (poop a rock or lay an egg?)

You definitely need to look around. A simple check up or exam should range between $50-75. What is "flushing her system"?

Gravid = carrying eggs. If she ate gravel and cannot pass it, it would be an impaction. An x-ray would reveal either condition.

Do you still have gravel in the tank? Have you seen any poop lately?

Flushing her system according to them was putting a tube down her throat and flushing out whatever they said needs to be out, she was getting RI, and thought they would give her medicine, the turtle guy at the pet store said it was minor and caught in time so get the medicine, but they flushed her and kept her for 5 days... she was absolutely fine, a lil wheezing, that's why I went to get the medicine that cost me big bucks. I still have gravel in there, I haven't seen poop in years in her tank, the feeder fish tear that apart, when she's outside, I've seen poop, but not lately, but that could be because she went from a white tub to a black pond, so I can't tell whats down there.

Thanks again for your response, it's helping a lot!

I'm a bit skeptical of what they're doing. I have not seen or evaluated the animal, but I've never heard of any RI treatment like that before. Removing the gravel and keeping a bare bottom tank will help you spot any poop and signs of gravel eating.

Thanks! I didn't see her with the tubes but that's what they said they needed to do, she was catching a cold and it turned into a big money ordeal that charged me for boarding her overnight when I wasn't even sure why she was there so long. She's very active so I don't think she's sick, she's just trying to pop something out, the flailing has been less today, so hopefully I can tell you good news. What do I do with the eggs if it is an egg laying situation?

If it is an egg situation, you'll need to find or make a nesting spot for her.

is that already covered in 'Urgent Care'? What does that consist of? She's flailed quite a bit today, the past 2 days was more mellow. Mellow compared to the obnoxious flailing she's been doing. She basks and even gets up there when the light is off, and waits until I turn it on, but she's basking for a bit.

She's outside now and seems happy, she's just half in/ half out of the water on a rock, she still hasn't eaten anything, although she did eat some chicken a few days ago.This week we will take the gravel out.

Urgent Care :: My 6-year old RES just switched her behavior, please help

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