Urgent Care :: Turtle sick?

[rachel16]

ok imm not sure if im over reacting but my turtle scardeycat wouldnt eat this morning or for supper. Is she sick? bravery her buddy and she eatsfine tho help!!!

[marisa]

Is your turtle showing any other symptoms (sleeping and basking a lot, open-mouth breathing, any wheezing, tilting to the side in the water, for example)?

If not, how big is the tank the turtles are in and how big are the turtles? Could the other one possibly be bullying her?

If you don't see any other unusual behavior and your turtle is otherwise behaving as usual, I'd keep an eye on her and try feeding again tomorrow. You might try something you know she really likes as a treat to try to get her eating.

[rachel16]

she dosnt seem to have a ri and i dont know how she could get it the temps good and they both bask all the time...
they dont fight and theyve been together for five years and dont even bother each other anymore.
i tryed giving her grapes but she afraid of them and everything else i tryed

anymore suggestions

[industrial_girl_2000]

How long have you had Scaredy-cat? Also, what is the water temp? Can you describe your aquarium set up or maybe post a picture so we can help you further?

[rachel16]

Weve had them since 2002 the water temp is 78`f

this is their tank

[marisa]

Has your turtle eaten anything yet?

From the pic, both turtles look quite large. What size tank are they in?

Just a note on the lighting---if that's a tube UVB flourescent over the tank on the left, it should be over the basking area along with the heat light.

[rachel16]

she hasnt eaten a thing not even her favorite cheerio ...

i think its an 90 gallon and yes i know about the thing that says ten gallons per inch of shell but we cant afford anything bigger right now.

[marisa]

Cheerios???

Neither turtle looks like anything's really wrong from the pic. Are you sure the one turtle isn't being bothered by the other?

[rachel16]

well that pic wasfrom a while ago all take a new 1

[rachel16]

[SpotsMama]

Rachel, I just saw this post of yours in another thread. The turtle in the other thread was gasping for air:

"well mine was but two days ago she wouldnt eat anythhing and now she dosnt stop basking.... She hasnt started to gasp yet but she gets tired easy so she goes up for air slowly and has to breath hard."

I think you know your turtle is showing signs of being seriously ill. The two most basic signs of illness - that the turtle isn't feeling good - are lethargy (tired, basking all the time) and loss of appetite. I hate to tell you but she needs to see a herp vet (a herp vet is one that knows about reptiles, sometimes they say they treat "exotics") ASAP.

Do you know the signs of RI? Such as swollen eyes (her eyes look good in the photo but it's a little hard to tell), swimming lopsided or trouble submerging, yawning a lot or breathing with the mouth open, mucus around the nose or mouth? RI is the most common illness of turtles but they can get other illnesses too, just like people.

When they do get RI, sometimes it's hard to tell why they got it - it just seems to come out of the blue. I think it probably has been in their bodies all along but only flairs up when their immune system is stressed, like from cold, dietary problems, internal parasites, water that isn't clean, being harrassed or picked on by another turtle. Sometimes it seems to happen for no reason at all that anyone can tell.

Like it said in the other thread, when a turtle is sick the quicker they get treatment the better his/her chances are. Your girl has only recently started showing symptoms so if you get her in right away her chances are good.

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.

We can help with that setup. Tell us about the lighting. What type of bulb (brand and wattage) is in the dome fixture? What type of light (brand and wattage) is in the tube fixture?

Scardy-Cat is a big, beautiful turtle. I hope she gets well soon. Please let us know how it goes with the vet.

[marisa]

The turtle in the last two newer pics is the one with the problem? Just to look at her, to me, she looks pretty good.

Not wanting to eat for two days may or may not be a problem (if she's continuing not to, the greater the chance there is a problem). There are no other symptoms other than wanting to bask a lot for the past two days? Is it getting quite a bit colder where you are?

Rather than continue to worry, it would be good to have her seen by a herp vet; if she is getting ill, you will have caught it early and she'll recover quickly.

A note on that basking area---I like how you've made it, but it's not big enough for both turtles to bask at the same time, and it should be.

[rachel16]

Rachel, I just saw this post of yours in another thread. The turtle in the other thread was gasping for air:

"well mine was but two days ago she wouldnt eat anythhing and now she dosnt stop basking.... She hasnt started to gasp yet but she gets tired easy so she goes up for air slowly and has to breath hard."

with that post i was respoding to anouther post before it.

[rachel16]

im going to try to make it like this


but no seperater

[rachel16]

she finnaly ate! she ate breakfast and supper. maybe she just wanted to get out of the tank. C i took her out yesturday thinking she might have eegs and low and behold she feels better. but i didnt find any eggs tho but she ate so YAY!!!