redearslider.com

one of my res seems to spend alot of time at the bottom of the tank, she comes up every now and then, or when i shake there food can, anyone know how long they can hold there breath....i really hope shes not prego again..lol

Hmm, She may be egg bound... You should get a nesting area ready for her, it should be about 10 inches deep with soil and put her in there for a couple hours, if she has eggs and has no egg laying area it can be fatel... They can hold their breath for a couple hours. She may have a respitory infection, if you need a vet I can get one for you... Locate one.

Well how old/big is your female? Is it mature enough to lay eggs at this age? If your turtle has spent most of its time underwater, then it's probably normal. If usually your turtle is very active, but now spends most of its time at the bottom of the tank so suddenly, then it may be best to observe it for a few days to see if anything improves, or worsens. Then I would suggest a vet.

Your turtle may be egg bound, but unless she has retained her eggs in there for a long time, a turtle ready with eggs will usually be the opposite of what you described, very active, and seeming desperate to get out of the tank (scratching the glass, clawing its way, splashing water or ramming the sides of the tank).

And actually, RES seeing as they are aquatic turtles, can spend a very long time underwater without surfacing for air, mine spend at least half their day underwater (sleeping at the bottom of the tank), and unless ill, can most definitely spend a prolonged period of time udnerwater. When wild RES and turtles alike hibernate in the water, they dig small holes at the bottom of a body of water and just sleep there for months on end.

rocketright wrote:Hmm, She may be egg bound... You should get a nesting area ready for her, it should be about 10 inches deep with soil and put her in there for a couple hours, if she has eggs and has no egg laying area it can be fatel... They can hold their breath for a couple hours. She may have a respitory infection, if you need a vet I can get one for you... Locate one.

Sorry but I have to respectfully disagree with all of the above for the following reasons:

1.) If she is egg bound, she will FRANTICALLY try to get out of tank, not sit quietly on the bottom underwater. It will be loud & extremely hard to ignore her if she needs to lay eggs. I have gone thru this with mine in the past & the noise is enough to wake the dead! Also, a female needs to be around 5" shell length or longer in order to lay eggs.

2.) When they are underwater for long periods of time, they are not necessarily holding their breath. Turtles can actually take water in thru their butt ("cloaca") and filter the oxygen out of the water. So while they may not be "breathing with their lungs" underwater, they are still taking in oxygen from the water thru the cloaca.

3.) Lastly, if a turtle has respiritory illness ("RI") they actually open their mouth to breath ABOVE the water (like on their basking dock). Just sitting underwater for long periods of time doesn't mean it is RI. It is the "gasping for breath" when they are OUT of the water that is a sign of RI.