Urgent Care :: RI ? OR Just plain worried

[intruderdz]

RES size - 3 1/2in.; 8 months +/-
tank - 10 gallon
temp - 84F
filter - yes
dock - yes
basking light - no
diet - mealworms, shrimp, bloodworms

hello fellow turtle lovers,

Does this sound like another RI?
For the last 2 weeks he has been making this clicking or popping sound kind of like popping bubbles. There is absolutely no visible signs of mucous or bubbles coming from his nostrils or mouth. He just recovered from pneumonia a month and half ago. Before and after he was sick he did not do this. He did not eat too much, or was very active when he was sick, but got fully healthy after a course of 11 antibiotic shots. He began to eat like a PIG, no longer did he float sideways, sneeze, yawn and had lots of energy. He still eats around 4 mealworms, a couple of small shrimp, and still swims alot around his tank. I am concerned because just 3 weeks ago I had a terrible throat and sinus infection during that time I handled him. Could I have given it to him? Friday I had taken him to the vet, and she did not seem to think he was sick, but gave me some oral antibiotics just in case. I am having problems giving it to him because he fights to the death to avoid opening his mouth, and when I did get some in, it came out his nose. Are there any tricks or shall I go back and get some more shots? Thanks for any advice.

[xsavingsaturdayx]

His diet is wrong, he should get pellets, vegetables and aquatic plants. meal worms and etc should be fed once a month or once every two weeks atleast. You are feeding him WAY too much protein. If this diet continue's he will develop some serious problems that can kill him if not corrected

If the vet says antibiotics are alright. then go for it. But it sounds like he's better. I know clicking sounds usually indicate RI though..

But please stop feeding him what you are feeding and get him on pellets, vegetables or aquatic plants. Everyone on here will agree that what you feed him should be fed in moderation (not so often).

And a basking light along with a UVB light is VERY important if you fail to have one your turtle will develop shell rot which is fatal.


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

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

[intruderdz]

Thanks, I'll get him some reptomin and veggies right away. Another I forgot to mention is an unusual inflating of his chin like kinda of like a frog does or like he ran a mile. Is that normal or is he having labored breathing, he does this almost every time I look at him. He also looks like he is taking small sips of water every 10 secs while swimming around. Is that a distress issue?

[xsavingsaturdayx]

It's normal. My RES do the same thing, both look like their taking sips of water when they are swimming and their chin kind of inflates like a frog when they breathe

What you have to watch out for is open mouth breathing or wheezing.

[SpotsMama]

Hi,

Good for you for taking your turtle to the vet when you were concerned. Always better safe than sorry, I say. And if the vet says to go with oral antibiotics, then that's the way to go. It's fairly common for them to relapse after RI and you sure don't want that. If he's getting sick again, then it's in the early stages so hopefully the oral antibiotics will stop it.

Some people use tricks to get the oral antibiotics into the turtle. You can inject the antibiotics into a piece of an earthworm, which turtles tend to like a lot. Another trick some people use is to tempt the turtle to bite them, then stick in the antibiotics when the mouth is open.

I agree with the comments above on diet. Be especially sparing with mealworms as the calcium-phosphorus ratio is bad in mealworms which will interfer with the turtle's ability to absorb calcium which, as you know, is extremely important to shell and bone health. In fact, you can eliminate the mealworms altogether. If you've got leftover mealworms, you can feed them to the birds! Birds are crazy about mealworms.

I'm curious about the water temperature - 84 degrees. Is it so high because your turtle may be sick? Raising the water temp for a sick turtle is a good idea because it stimulates the immune system, but even so 84 is pretty high. Why don't you cut it back to 80 degrees and when you are comfortable your turtle is well, cut back some more to around 75 degrees.

Tank size is yet another issue. The rule of thumb is 10 gallons of tank for every inch of turtle, so at 3 1/2 inches your turtle is feeling pretty squeezed in a 10 gallon tank. You'll find that a bigger tank is a lot easier to keep clean, and in addition your turtle will be happier!

If you'd like, you can describe your whole tank setup and people on here will make suggestions. We'll try to be kind because it's obvious you care about your turtle and are working to keep him healthy. Photographs are great.

[Twoster]

agreed ^^^^

also, basking light/heat helps them digest their food

[marisa]

The popping/clicking sound---does he make it all the time or just sometimes? Does he make it at any particular time? It is possible for a turtle to make clicking sounds and be OK. When does your turtle make them?

The diet is unbalanced. Mealworms have very little nutrition and feeding a lot of them or frequently is likely to keep your turtle from absorbing the calcium in his diet---which, btw, he's getting little if any on that diet; they're also very hard to digest. Bloodworms, unless they're fortified, are like feeding candy. And the shrimp is high in protein (but this sounds like the only protein he's getting?). Try to incorporate a pellet like Reptomin into his diet for balance, and try to get him eating some plant matter---aquatic plants like anachris (if you can buy it where you are) are good (sold in stores that sell fish). Getting him eating right will help prevent illness.

What does he basking under if he has no basking light? No UVB light?

Just curious, but what does his shell look like? Can you post a pic of him when he's dry?

[intruderdz]

Sorry do not have any pictures. He seems to make this noise every time I take him out to let him rest on my chest. Another weird thing, since I don't really know about these turtles at all is the gap infront of the hind legs, there is this bulging pocket of skin that looks like airbags that inflate and deflate when he breathes. Is that a normal feature as well?

[steve]

It's possible he's overweight. There are a lot of different pics in the photo galleries, how does he look compared to those photos?

[intruderdz]

I could not find any pictures of what he looks like. He is a tiny little guy, no more than 3 inches from nose(extended neck) to end of shell. It looks like his skin or something under it, is bulging from the gap infront of his hind legs. I believe the lungs are near there, I am concerned if he has a air trapped or his lungs are expanded or just something bizarre. He is not floating lopsided or yawning but it looks like he is breathing is fast. Anyone else observe this on their turtle?

[steve]

For the antibiotics, is it in a liquid form? Can you moisten a pellet with it? Did your vet have specific instructions on how to give it to him?

[intruderdz]

Yes liquid form. I got pretty good stuffing the liquid into a worm carcass and making him swallow whole. Did that for 7 days but that anamolie still has not changed. I am not sure whether i noticed it before, but maybe I haven't because it is very strange. He has fallen before on his back from about 4 feet, i know that's not good, but he just runs for the hills when ever i set him down.

[RunninWideOpen]

You don't have any gravel or small rocks in the tank do you?? They like to eat those.

Try to handle him as little as possible. Turtles aren't really hold and pet animals. Handling them can cause them a lot of stress of which make them sick or make them worst. It really depends on the turtle how much you can handle them, if yours is always trying to get away from you he's probably very stressed out. I've got one that hates to be handled, one that comes to me and waits for me to take her out, and another that's kinda in between.

As your turt gets older and gets to know you better it will become more comfortable with you, but it may take months or even a few years.

[marisa]

How do you make a turtle swallow a worm whole if he doesn't want to eat?

[intruderdz]

My turtle has the same thing this turtle on the right has, those big poofy bags of skin infront of the hind legs. Except his are about 10% bigger and they suck in and out, I guess when he breathes. Is that turtle sick or something or what the heck is that?