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I bought two baby RES last week, one of them died and the pet store replaced it, the new one is doing just fine, but the other one that I orginally bought doesn't swim at all and basks all day, I noticed earlier his shell seems to be very soft and it's like he is gasping for air.

I have no idea what to do and have never owned turtles before.

WEll first off you really need to get that soft shell res to the vet NOW!!! Sounds like he/she has soft shell and RI. For turtles you need a UVB light so they can make Vitamin D3 and Vitamin D3 helps there bone and shell. I am really glad you found this site though. Wat is your setup like? Alot of helpfull ppl are here so ask away any questions you have.

Well I only have a 5.5 Gallon tank, I know it should be at least 10 and bigger is better, it is just I just moved in with my sister the monday before last and I only have so much room. I have gravel in the tank and have it about 3/4 full of water and the Gravel comes up on one side. I bought a heater and keep it around 80 degrees. My sisters friend gave me a UVB light right after I saw your reply, so I can hook that up ASAP for the turtles.

My sister does have a pond outside that no longer has any fish in it, just tons of tadpoles. I wouldn't mind to put them in her pond if I had the time and money to get it ready, it is just I do not have a job yet but hopefully I can get one within the next few weeks.

Also, do you have any idea of how much the vet trip would cost for the turtle, because like I said before I don't really have the money right now, it just depends on what it would most likely run.

I really regret not researching RES, and turtles in general before running out and buying them, but I am now trying my best.

My vet only charged me $5 for an antibiotic shot for my baby RES. Going to the vet isn't like going to see a surgeon, they're not going to charge you an arm & a leg to help your pet.

My vet only charged me $5 for an antibiotic shot for my baby RES. Going to the vet isn't like going to see a surgeon, they're not going to charge you an arm & a leg to help your pet.

Only $5 wow thats cheap. do you have animal insurance or something? I'v never been to the vet for a turtle so i didnt know how much they cost. They almost do charge you a leg and an arm sometimes. Well sometimes its a kidney or lung lol.

Well my sister called her vet this morning about her dog, and she mentioned my turtle, and vet said the visit would be $40, but he most likely wouldn't make it anyway.

Thats too bad. well atleast you know wat it take to own a turtle now.
BTW did you have another turt?

The vet said he "most likely wouldn't make it"? Nice attitude. You could try looking for another vet from the links on the sticky on finding a herp vet; call around for fees, they can vary.

It sounds like the poor thing is in some stage of metabolic bone disease. Read the info at http://www.turtlepuddle.org/health/mbd.html for what you can do to make him more comfortable.

GouzlanTheAmerican wrote:
Only $5 wow thats cheap. do you have animal insurance or something?

Nope. My vet isn't a herb vet and didn't know much about turtles, so he didn't charge me an office visit. It probably helps that I've known him and his famliy for a couple of years.

You know, if you've only had these turtles for about a week, then it was definitely sick when you got him and I would talk to the pet shop about it. They're obviously not taking very good care of the turtles they're selling.

I actually bought my first two turtles on June 2nd, one of them died the very next day, then the other one Frankie was doing pretty good. I took David back to the shop and they let me get another one(which I named Deuce), they had just gotten a new shipment in so he seems to be very healthy, he swims around like its going out of style, lol. Then Frankie started basking a lot and would rarely go into the water and I never saw him eat, so I seperated him from Deuce.

Yesterday I went to petsmart and bought a new UVA/UVB light bulb, some bloodworms because I heard baby turtles loved them, and also this stuff called "Turtle Sulfa Dip" which is for Bacterial Diseases of Aquatic/box turtles. You mix the stuff up and put the turtles in it for 1-3 hours, I had them in for about an hour and 15 minutes while I was in the process of cleaning out the tank and when I went back to check Frankie had died in the Dip stuff, but Deuce was just fine.

I could take Frankie back to the pet store but I would prefer to just have one turtle at the moment and see what happens.

Sorry about your 2 turts. That sounds like a plan. Taking care of one is difficult enough. Good luck with your turtle

Why did you use the Sulfa Dip? Did he have fungus?

Sorry to hear the two didn't make it.

Because the vet said it may have been a bacterial infection and on the box it says for bacterial diseases.

I read the description of the product--it says it's for EXTERNAL bacterial diseases, which would be more like fungus, shell rot. The symptoms you initially described sounded like an RI and metabolic bone disease (aka softshell disease), neither of which would have been really helped by the Sulfa Dip.