Urgent Care :: swimming kinda lopsided, but not always

[pao]

one of my little turtles are swimming kinda lopsided, but it doesnt always swim lopsided, it rights itself half the time, and it doesnt make any of the sounds or have bubbles coming out of its mouth like the page on RI says, should i just observe it until something changes (hopefully not for the worse) or should i take it to the vet right away

[SpotsMama]

There's not much else that would cause a turtle to swim lopsided but RI. Most of the time turtles don't have all the symptoms at first - just some of them. When the turtle gets really sick then he/she will usually have more symptoms. If your turtle is ill, he/she's probably in the early stages which is good because RI is most curable when it's caught early.

If it were me, I'd get him/her to the vet right away. If it turns out to be nothing, then that's great but if he/she's sick then you'll be improving his/her chances by a lot.

For a sick turtle, until you get vet treatment you need to keep him/her warm (80 or 82 degrees), very clean, avoid stress and try to be sure he/she keeps eating. Also, he/she should be separated from the other turtles as RI is contageous.

Good luck. keep us posted.

[pao]

i took my lopsided turtle out and into a little tubby filled with water, and i noticed that when it tuck itself inside its shell (not swimming, or floating) it was lying on the bottom and i noticed that its left side was trying to float while the right side stayed at the bottom, so im thinking that the left side is lighter for some reason?? is this still an indication of RI?

[pao]

and also its been doing this frequently lately, its as if my turtle is exhaling while underwater and blows bubbles, not sure if thats important or not, but its something voluntary it does on its own... (he tries to bite the bubbles after)

[pao]

and another question, how often are they supposed to poo? ihavent seen any poop in the tank for a few days

[megcornell]

Turtles should poop everyday. Is he still eating? Once turtles stop eating I find that the fight to recover from RI becomes increasingly tougher.
The fact that one specific side is lighter than the other is a classic RI symptom, it shows you that the fluid is building in the right lung, making the left side float because it has more air.
At this point, the quicker you get him to the vets, the better. He's going to need antibiotics to get over the RI.

[pao]

yup i feed them both everyday, im not sure if theyre actually not pooping, they might just be eating their own poop

[pao]

and yes he still has a healthy appetite, that hasnt changed at all

[pao]

k i just took him out of his tank this morning and put him in the tubby where i feed them, he sank to the bottom as usual... but hes not lopsided anymore, one side doesnt float higher than the other? is that a good sign or no?

[SpotsMama]

Like megcornell said, it's very good when a turtle is still eating. However, we've seen on here over and over that in the early stages RI symtoms can come and go but the overall trend is down hill.

I'd say yes it is a good sign that he's not lopsided today but something has been wrong lately that causes one side to be higher than the other. It's a classic RI symptom and one of the most unmistakable, so the original advice still stands - you should get your guy to a vet.

Keep us posted on how it goes.