Other Turtle Discussion :: One of my babies passed on tonight

[Nikki M]

Before I knew all the bads about buying from a certain place online, we had already made the purchase of getting 3 RES for my son (well that was the excuse for him lol kinda a combined V-Day present) We purchase the babies, bought everything they needed that the pet store lady told us was good. Our babies came on Valentines Day and immediately I knew they were the wrong turtles (no red whatsoever). So I started searching what ones we actually got and we got YBS instead.. Tried calling the online place we got them, no answer, emailed them them, no answer. Okay no big deal, these guys were adorable, I could live with that. the first day they seemed okay, and when I say okay I mean I was totally inexperienced and thought they were just adjusting. Looked at all the forums and made sure I was doing the basking temps right, the UVB temps right ect... The next morning they seemed less active (which they weren't very active in the first place) So I started researching over the next couple days, looked for signs for RI, looked for other signs of other stuff.. even learned about refrigerator babies, which our little guys fell into the catagorie, being the certificate we got said they were hatched in spring, yet were less than 2" carapace.. I finally found a thread that represented their symptoms.. We had bought a Zilla turtle kit, and the UVB bulb we got with it was one that was know for burning the eyes.. which really was the only symptom they had besides wanting to bask most of the time. But if I couldn't see I wouldn't want to swim a lot either. Anyways I turned the UVB blub off about 3 days ago, and two of the babies by the next morning had started to open their eyes. The third (mine) still hadn't opened his eyes, but he was actually getting in the water and swimming.. They started to eat and swim more and more each day, but still no eye improvement for Sloan. Well today I was keeping an eye on him and he kept getting in the water for a bit, then getting out to bask, he did this off an on throughout the day till about 4pm tonight where he found a spot and stayed half in the water half out.. About 7pm I checked on them and he still hadn't moved, not even a leg or anything, so I picked him up and he wouldn't move. I put him on his basking rock hoping I was just overreacting until my husband got home, where he confirmed my suspicions. Sloan had passed on

I know the other two are doing better (eating and opening their eyes) and they are still on "detox" but should I completely clean out the water now? I just did a change yesterday and its clear.. but because Sloan passed should I clean everything out and disinfect it?

[ljapa]

Oh, that's so heart breaking. My sympathies. It's never easy to lose a pet, especially with young children.

As to disinfecting, I'm sure others will chime in, but I don't think it is necessary. You already know from your research that all of the turtles were stressed and not kept well before they came into your hands.

It doesn't sound like there was a respiratory infection or fungus. Your little guy may just not have been able to handle everything.

One question, though. Your tank must be relatively new. How frequent are your water changes? A new aquarium needs to develop beneficial bacteria to convert the ammonia in the turtle waste to nitrates. That cycle is ammonia -> nitrite -> nitrates. Once developed, only nitrate is there in detectable levels. Your aquarium probably isn't old enough to have all the bacteria for that cycle.

Do you have a test kit for the ammonia/nitrite/nitrate levels?

But, I don't think you need to disinfect the aquarium.

[Nikki M]

Thank you I'm pretty heartbroken.. My son was sad, but then he got invited to a friends house to spend the night so everything was right in the world again lol

I don't have a test kit for that. The tank is new, we set it up the day we got them Feb. 14 and I have done 2 partial water changes since. Can I get the kit at a pet store?

[penelope]

I am sorry to hear about the loss.
Yes. Clean the tank and media. Since you don't really know what caused the death, and the tank is a closed environment, better to err on the side of caution. It will be a pain and you'll have to suffer through cycling the tank, but still its a reasonable precaution.
Rinse with warm (not hot) water, wipe with diluted vinegar, rinse well and set it back up.

[Nikki M]

Okay thank you guys.

[apondfortimmy]

Oh, this is so sad.
I had never heard of refrigerator babies before. That's awful. I'd be so mad at whomever sold them to me...

But it's good that you're doing so much for the remaining two and giving them a better life. Glad your son didn't completely flip out over it - kids and turtles are two of my favorite things and I don't like seeing either of them upset.

[steve]

Sorry about your loss

[swiltz]

sorry to for your loss