Urgent Care :: Swollen legs

[tennisnut]

How big is your turtle? 5 inch
How long have you had it? Since October

What is the water temperature? 75 degrees
Did you use a thermometer? Yes
Are you using a water heater? Yes
How much water is in there? About 20 gallons
Are you using a water conditioner? No
Are you using any filtration? Yes

What is the basking temperature? about 85 degrees
Is there a basking light? Yes
Is there a basking platform that is easy to climb on? Yes
What kind is it or what is it made out of? Plexiglass
Is there a UVB light? Yes

What have you been trying to feed it? Pellets
When was the last time your turtle ate? Right now.

How big is the tank/pond/enclosure? 30 gallon tank
Is the tank near a window? No
Is the tank in a room with a lot of activity? My room, do kind of?

Have you read the Basic Care section? Yes
Have you searched the forums for similar situations? Yes

Is there any other unusual activity/symptoms?

I pulled Rocky out to do a quick check-over (I usually do every couple of weeks) and noticed that his back legs were swollen. I'm not sure what's causing it. He definetly eats well, and still can swim around with his legs although I kind of get the feeling it's a bit harder for him to move.

I used to have him on a UVB bulb, but I switched it out for a regular incandescent bulb for heat since it's been a bit cold lately and I ordered a clip-on lamp so I could get both UVB and heat going. I noticed his legs because yesterday and today he was sitting on his dock with his back legs dangling in the water...it's not unusual for Rocky to look so lazy but since he was in the same position from yesterday I thought I'd check him over.

[Take-One]

The tank is too small and the temps are too low. He may be infectied

[megcornell]

Is he still using the legs? And can he use them well?
He could have some sort of infection that's causing some local swelling. Have you fed him anything unusual lately? Or any feeder fish that could have brought in parasites?
Try bumping the water up to 78 or so and seeing if he gets a little more active.
I'd watch him for a few days and if the swelling doesn't get better, or if he starts acting worse I'd take him to a vet.

And, you certainly can start looking into a larger tank for Rocky. It's good that you'll be using both UVA and UVB bulbs, both are needed for healthy turtles.

[TheComputerGremlin]

Are you sure he is a "he"? If he is a she, she could be ready to lay eggs.

[tennisnut]

Rocky's a he, unless the herp vet I took him to last year made a mistake. He can still swim around easily with his back legs. Perhaps it was the feeder fish I got him...the other day he caught and ate two goldfish (which was surprising since he usually doesn't bother with the fish I put in there, usually I get rosie reds because they're faster). I'll keep an eye on him, although it's hard to tell because he's usually really lazy and sits up on the dock all day. =/

I realize the tank is a bit small for him, but I live in an apartment and my room is too small for anything larger. I'm planning something larger once I move out, but until then Rocky will manage. I do a partial water change every couple weeks.

As for the water temps, I think they are fine according to the forum, but I'll bump it up a little and see if that helps. I don't think that's it since the swelling was a recent thing, but I'll give it a try.

[marisa]

Are the legs still swollen? If so, how swollen are they? Does the skin on the legs look normal?

Is there a chance something could have bitten him?

[tennisnut]

Rocky seems fine now. He's still eating and swimming around and has full use of his legs (when I examined his legs he was pretty resistant to me looking at them and then he peed on me =( ). There's just some shedding of skin, but its very wispy.

There's nothing else in the take except for a couple of feeder fish.

I think he's ok now, I guess I just panicked when he was letting his legs droop the first time I checked. Maybe Rocky was just sleepy.

[Take-One]

You have a boy turtle. If it was ink looking stuff than Rocky is a he. well thats good to hear

[tennisnut]

Rocky died. =(

I'm not sure what was wrong...he seemed perfectly fine, then one day I looked in the tank and he was on his basking dock and was dead.

I buried him in a nice box with his favorite towel, under some lavender plants.

[Take-One]

He may have overheated. I REALLY feel sorry for your loss. It wasnt your fault if he over heated. He may have had a infection though. I'd go with overheated though.

[SpotsMama]

How sad! I'm very sorry to hear of it. I don't think overheating was the problem. If he was too hot, he could have just hopped in the water. Sometimes when turtles are ill they hide their symptoms very well. The problem with his legs that you noticed were probably a sign of something, but it wasn't anything common.

[Take-One]

I've heard of turtles overheating if they were flipped over though. It may be a infection. But Spotsmama he may have fallen asleep on his dock and stayed there all night.

[marisa]

I'm sorry to hear that you lost him.

[TheComputerGremlin]

I'm sorry for your loss. I don't think it was anything you did wrong, though, and I know you can never replace Rocky, but after a good tank cleaning, you can consider getting another turtle.

[tennisnut]

I ended up giving the tank (35 gallons) a good cleaning and swapped with my housemate. She was housing two growing RES (3.5 and 2 inches) in a 15 gallon tank, and was looking into a bigger tank anyway, so I figured she could use the huge tank more than I could until she finds something suitably large.

My friend who gave me Rocky heard about his passing and came by with a few dwarf frogs and a gigantic tadpole. So that's what I'm housing in the 15 gallon now. I also made a trip to Petsmart and brought back some pretty guppies, now that I don't have to worry about my turtle eating them.

I may get another turtle but not for a while. =/ Still in mourning, so to speak.