Urgent Care :: basking a lot

[erinemcgreevy]

I'm worried about my 2 1/2 month old res, Monster. He basks a lot and doesn't eat much. Aside from that he seams healthy; his eyes are bright and clear and he does not seam lethargic. Do you think that there is something wrong?

The tank is 33 gallon with about 10 inches of 80 degree water. I have a heater, filter, and the all of the lighting.

[SpotsMama]

Well, basking a lot can be a good thing as long as he's not lethargic. When you say he doesn't eat much - how much exactly does he eat? What do you feed him? When you feed him does he leave food untouched?

It's normal for a little turtle to be pretty skittish. In other words, they'll usually jump off the platform and run for cover when they see you coming. does your turtle do this?

[erinemcgreevy]

He is definitely skittish, he moves so fast he looks like a cartoon character! I feed him reptomin baby, tetrafin max gammarus (which I break in half), and zoomed hatchling formula (so tiny). Yesterday he only ate one half of the tetrafin. I think he ate a little bit more today. He definitely leaves food untouched, or often I'll see him go for it and if it moves away from him a bit in the water he just lets it go. Gave him a bit of shrimp today and he was enthusiastic about that.

[SpotsMama]

As long as he's enthusiastic he's probably ok. maybe he just doesn't like the tetrafin. How much are you feeding him? Maybe you're feeding him more than he can eat. Here are some guidelines of nuitrition that you may find helpful:

http://www.redearslider.com/index_nutrition.html

When you say he's basking a lot - how much do you mean?

In addition to poor appetite and lethargy, some other indications of illness are swollen eyes, breathing with the mouth open or yawning a lot, swimming lopsided or difficulty submerging, not pooping or having diarrhea, not growing. If your turtle's behavior changes for the negative then you probably need to get him to a vet.

[erinemcgreevy]

I would say that the hollow of his head would be 1 1/2 tetrafin, but I do also feed him reptomin and zoomed, the little guy has plenty of options.

Sometimes he will bask ALL DAY. Last night he slept out of the water.

[SpotsMama]

Is there any reason for him not to like to go in the water? Is it kept very clean? Have you measured the water temperature with a thermometer lately to see if maybe something's gone wrong with it? Is the other turtle maybe picking on Monster and intimidating him? Sometimes one turtle can harrass another when their keeper isn't around so it's hard to detect. Have you seen anything that looks like little bites on your basking turtle's back legs?

Basking all day does sound like a lot. If none of the above possibilities is causing him to bask so much, you might take him to a vet for a checkup. That's what I would do. My feeling is that you're most familiar with your turtle's behavior and if something about it is causing you concern, you're probably right and you need to see a vet. It may turn out to be nothing but if your turtle is getting sick then early treatment will give him the very best chance of survival. Be sure that the vet you see actually knows something about turtles. He/she may advertise as a herp vet or someone who treats exotics. A vet that only treats dogs and cats could be worse than no vet at all in this case.

If you do decide to see a vet, here's a caution: If the vet offers to give a vitamin A shot, first make sure the vet is positive your turtle really needs vitamin A and then discuss other alternatives to shots with the vet like eye drops with vitamin A, cod liver oil or food supplements. Several turtles have recently had very bad reactions to vitamin A shots and I think it's best that if vitamin A is needed (and often it's not) the safer methods be used instead.

[erinemcgreevy]

I don't think he's being harassed because they are basking together right now. I think he might just be weird. Sometimes he basks all day and the next he just swims.

[RunninWideOpen]

Turtles will sometimes bask peacefully together, but be aggressive in the water, or vice versa.

[erinemcgreevy]

Yeah, I saw Murphy fluttering at Monster last night.

[ZombieTurtle]

i would seperate them if i were you. that will solve any potential problems that are developing and prevent future problems which are more than likely to occur.