Urgent Care :: baby turtle

[Kazari24]

my baby turtle is not acting right id ont know whats wrong with me if you can please call me. please pm me and ill get ur number thank you im so scared and no vets are open

[Kazari24]

I don't knwo what's wrong with my turtle. I use the same equipment as my friend and he's not doing nearly as well. I got him in July. He's 7 months old. He hasn't grown since and his shell is still soft and dry looking. I have a calcium block in his water. He use to eat crickets gut filled with calcium but he stopped. I use to force feed him pellets by the vet since he wont eat those but I have been doing it on and off. He mostly likes salmon and tuna. I use to try to disguise the pellets but that won't work. Lately since it's got cold. He's been just laying and not swimming in the water. He hardly been eating. This evening when I was feeding him. He was on the bottom of his feeding tank and he start to gasp like he was choking. I didn't have a lot of pieces in the water. I grabbed him and he kept like leaning his neck to the side and tilting sideways. He hardly responded. I took him to his normal tank and he just floated crooked. For awhile he didn't move. I thought he died. I put him on his dock and tried to call every vet. No places are oopen. One vet on call called me back and said he should have grown by now. I had some nutrient medicine I was feeding my turtle but when he was doing better, I try to ween him off of that. Well they said his air could be cold since it's cold outside.

I use the same ZooMed screw in bulb that my friend uses and her turtle's fine. She lives in NY whre it's way colder and her turtle is doing vey well. I live in Virginia not nearly as cold and my turtle is just acting weird. I have it about 1.7 feet away from his basking area. Her light is a little higher but that that's about it. I mean her turtle would be colder than mine. I use the same heater and filter she does. The vet said the air could be cold. I have a metal lid with a screen. I try to keep the screen off since the holes are small so he can get his UVB rays. He will hardly bask anymore. He just lays there. He's calmed down some now but now he's just laying there. Every so often he will lift his head up then go back down again

I don't know what's wrong with him. Some one please help.

[steve]

Can you answer some of these questions? http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2142

[Kazari24]

yeah im sorry im very scared right now so i have been panicking all evening

How big is your turtle? 2 inches grown veyr little since i bought him
How long have you had it? july 2007

What is the water temperature? 78-80
Are you using a water heater? yes
How much water is in there? 5 gallons of water in 10 gallon tank
Are you using a water conditioner? not right now
Are you using any filtration? yes

What is the basking temperature? I am not sure. I have a zoo med basking bulb the same as my friend and she has no problem with her turtle with it
Is there a basking light? yes
Is there a basking platform that is easy to climb on? yes i have a smooth rock and a floating dock
What kind is it or what is it made out of?
Is there a UVB light? yes

What have you been trying to feed it? he started off eating calcium gut filled crickets, shrimp, krill, he use to eat kale and collered greens. he mostly been eating tuna and salmon. i tried pellets he wont eat those. been forcing him to eat some by making him snap since the vet told me to do that.
When was the last time your turtle ate? he eats once a day every day but past 2 days it's been very little

How big is the tank/pond/enclosure? 10 gallon tank
Is the tank near a window? no
Is the tank in a room with a lot of activity? just my bedroom but he's pretty content with it

Have you read the Basic Care section? yes
Have you searched the forums for similar situations? no

Is there any other unusual activity/symptoms? yes please see above in first posts

[steve]

If there are other turtles, I would separate him from them. You can bump up the water to about 82 and keep it at that. If you put him in the water, does he swim around? Whats his reaction to treats or live food? Does he open his eyes?

[Kazari24]

nevermind he just died...sorry

[steve]

Sorry to hear the news

[xsavingsaturdayx]

Im sorry to hear the news,its not your fault.You seemed realy concerned about him and you tried your best to find help.Hatchlings are realy fragile and not all of them make it to adult hood,they are excellent at hideing symptoms too,if you provided him with the right foods and needs for the whole time you had him and he still didnt grow,obviously theyre was something going on with him that you couldnt help .

[Kazari24]

It's alright...thank you so much

[steve]

Lilkeekers16, I took your post and made it into a new topic here: http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7579