Urgent Care :: Help! One of my turtles is vomiting blood!

[bvegan2]

Hi there,
I'm new to this post..
We've had two RESs for about 3 years and they have been in good health.. happy, cute little guys.
Until.. about two weeks ago I started noticing that the water was occasionally getting reddish, every few days, but I didn't know what was causing the slight discoloration.. tonight I walked in to see the water super red and a foamy substance floating (almost like soap bubbles, although that would be impossible). I immediately cleaned the tank and put the turtles back in.. observed for a few minutes and saw one of them belch what appears to be blood. The turtle is otherwise acting fine. Should I remove the turtle from water (as I've done once before when one of them scratched the other and caused a cut, which scabbed up fine after one night out of the water) or might the turtle choke?
Please advise me! I'm so worried. Also, if anyone has a good vet with reasonable prices to recommend in LA? Otherwise I'll just go of a list of herp vets I've found and take him in ASAP.

How big is your turtle? 6 inches
How long have you had it? 3 years, since it was a baby

What is the water temperature? ~70- 75
Are you using a water heater? no, just a basking light
How much water is in there? 6 inches
Are you using a water conditioner? yes
Are you using any filtration? yes, a reptile waterfall unit

What is the basking temperature? umm.. don't know, it's a 70 watt bulb
Is there a basking light? yes, 12 inches above the platform
Is there a basking platform that is easy to climb on? yes
What kind is it or what is it made out of? it's for aquatic reptiles, solid ramp style
Is there a UVB light? yes

What have you been trying to feed it? pellets, and recently greens.. I found out recently that adult turtles should be fed more vegetables.. so I've been feeding bits of greens, strawberry tops, and tiny bits of apple and carrots
When was the last time your turtle ate? last night

How big is the tank/pond/enclosure? 20 gallon long
Is the tank near a window? no
Is the tank in a room with a lot of activity? some

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

Is there any other unusual activity/symptoms? the turtle is vomiting blood,
also.. I should note there is relatively small gravel in the tank, which I've just learned may cause problems and will remove tomorrow. But, as I understand it gravel in the intestines would block the turtle from eating and eliminating, not cause vomiting!

[industrial_girl_2000]

Vomiting blood is a definite no-no and you will definitely need a vet. Keep in mind that even though we know gravel can cause blockages, it's sharp & hard, and who knows what other evil it can cause in a turtle's stomach! An xray can help shed some light on this.

Check out the sticky at the top of this forum for help in locating a vet:

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=370

And if the first vet you call doesn't have any appt's open that day, ask them for a recommendation for another herp vet in the area. Many vets don't necessarily have their reptile specialist in the office 7 days a week but will definitely refer you to another vet specialist in the area in a case like this.

Hope your baby gets better soon! Definitely keep us posted on what they say.

[steve]

The presence of blood is not normal. Are they both producing blood? Either way, you need to separate them and get a herp vet to check them out ASAP.

[Kallistos]

Doesn't sound very good. The set-up they're in isn't adequate, the rule of thumb is 10 gal/inch of turtle so you'll need around a 60 gallon tank.

[xsavingsaturdayx]

Hope everything goes good with your turtle,if i was you i would be looking to upgrade ASAP.That tank is tinyyyy for a turtle that big.

[JNZBCBnLIL]

If both of your turtles are 6 inches... you'll need atleast a 120 gallon tank/pond! It's 10 gallons per inch- per turtle! I hope everything's turned out fine with your turtle!!

[bvegan2]

Thanks.. took him to the vet.. he seems to be passing the stones and there hasn't been any more blood. The vet thinks he'll be fine.
Whoa though.. wish more people knew about the dangers of gravel. When I went to the pet store and bought gravel I picked the same they had in their turtle tank! Next time I go back I'll warn them of the danger to their turtles and to customers who emulate their set up and put small pebbles in their tanks like me.
Thanks everyone for the advice!

[DaddySkittles]

I'm so glad your turtles ok, Did you remove the gravel?

[bvegan2]

Yes.. the poor little guy is still pooping one every other day or so.. the first day I took them out there were about a dozen within a few hours.. so the vet took a look and concluded that as long as he was passing them and there was no more presence of blood he'd be fine!
Phew!
Thanks again for the advice!

[Breigh]

My goodness.. gravel really is a terrible idea. I'm so glad I removed mine. How lucky you were to catch it in time! Glad the little tyke is getting better

[Evelyn]

Hi, I am glad the turtle will be Ok.
I have read that turtles will pick up small pieces of stone. The stones have minerals in them also it maybe thought that the small pieces of stone are used to digest food. I don't know if this is ture or not.
Mine ate the small pieces of stone too and they also pooped them out.
I no longer use any type of gravel not knowing what is right or wrong.
We would have to know what the turtle do in the wild.
This argument stills go on about birds, do they need gravel or not to digest seeds.
Evelyn

[SpotsMama]

There are some real horror stories on here about turtles who ate gravel. Here's one of the saddest:

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewt ... ght=gravel

Turtles don't need the gravel like a bird does - a turtle doesn't have a craw like a bird's, and they don't eat hard seeds that need to be crushed.

I wish there were some way to communicate to all the pet stores and people selling little turtles that they shouldn't advise people to put gravel in with the turtles. This sort of thing keeps happening.