General Care Discussion :: A turtle's mental health

[erwynn]

I am in the process of figuring out some enrichment for my RES, Copernicus, as I feel he is going stir crazy.

I had brought him to an outdoor pond for the summer so he could get some nice UV rays and just a vacation away from his small aquarium while we got him a new one. We got him back about a month ago, as it started freezing here. But now I'm worried about his mental state.

He is constantly swimming and never resting, relentlessly clawing and trying to "swim through" the glass. I'm wondering if this is because he's used to a large pond to swim in and he's not used to the smaller surroundings of his aquarium. Or I wonder if it's just cause it's glass and he just "thinks" he can get through. I wonder how to remedy this, by either putting up some sort of one way mirror-type cover, or just surrounding the glass with those pretty aquarium background things. Or if there's nothing I can do until I get a stock pond or something.

I also find he is missing his food, and having a hard time "finding" the ramp to his basking ramp. I think he may be going blind, if not already hard of sight already. He spent many years very, very close to a bright heat lamp, and I wonder if it damaged his eyes. He's already been checked out and his eyes are very healthy looking and bright so I know he doesn't have an infection or anything. I'm just wondering if this is common; for turtles to lose some sight from bright lighting. I don't even give him live fish anymore as it's too sad to see him desperately trying to grab the fish and missing by about 6 inches, because he doesn't seem to see too well. I think he can see, as he responds to our presence, but I don't think he can see well. I mean he's 13 years old, but I wouldn't consider that old age for him, as they live 15-30 years at the least.

So, enrichment wise I have a couple ideas:
-I was thinking about a bubble stone/bar but was wondering about the safety of the material of the actual bubble stone.
-We are in the process of brainstorming an above tank basking area, so he can have more room to swim and a large basking area with maybe some mulch/chips to dig in and lie in. And of course with a larger, easier to find ramp so he could get up on it. Right now we have one of those "turtle ramps" and I don't think it's efficient enough for him to climb up on.
-Plants. I was thinking of getting him some plants. Maybe plastic. Maybe live, I haven't decided yet.

Ok, so any thoughts/advice would be awesome. Thanks for listening.

[octpusgirl8]

That's odd about his sight. I know overexposure to UVB can cause eye damage, i would think other types of UV rays could have an effect too. It's good you had him looked at by a vet. I think all of your ideas are good, a bubbler is fine in the tank, unless Copernicus is a ferocious chewer i don't think you need to worry about the material of the air stone. I have 2 long bubble strips in my tank and they help to keep the water moving at the far end of the tank, and my turtle likes to flutter in them sometimes. Plants are good too, i would get both live and fake, that way he can eat the live ones if he wants (get cheap ones!) and the fake ones will stay there for hiding and playing. I like the idea of making him a basking area with a nice big ramp, kind of like telephones for seniors with really big number buttons! Don't worry about him trying to swim though the glass, i think they all do that from time to time. Good luck fixing things up for him!

[industrial_girl_2000]

He is constantly swimming and never resting, relentlessly clawing and trying to "swim through" the glass. I'm wondering if this is because he's used to a large pond to swim in and he's not used to the smaller surroundings of his aquarium. Or I wonder if it's just cause it's glass and he just "thinks" he can get through. I wonder how to remedy this, by either putting up some sort of one way mirror-type cover, or just surrounding the glass with those pretty aquarium background things. Or if there's nothing I can do until I get a stock pond or something.

I also find he is missing his food, and having a hard time "finding" the ramp to his basking ramp. I think he may be going blind, if not already hard of sight already. He spent many years very, very close to a bright heat lamp, and I wonder if it damaged his eyes. He's already been checked out and his eyes are very healthy looking and bright so I know he doesn't have an infection or anything. I'm just wondering if this is common; for turtles to lose some sight from bright lighting. I don't even give him live fish anymore as it's too sad to see him desperately trying to grab the fish and missing by about 6 inches, because he doesn't seem to see too well. I think he can see, as he responds to our presence, but I don't think he can see well. I mean he's 13 years old, but I wouldn't consider that old age for him, as they live 15-30 years at the least.

Without actually seeing/interacting with your turtle, it would be hard for me to say whether he is going blind or not. But I will tell you this: the adult turtles don't often go after teeny tiny feeder fish. Sheba has excellent eyesight, but completely ignores any feeder fish ("guppies") I have put in her tank. She's just very lazy & would rather I hand-feed her (she has gotten used to me holding the fish close to her face so she doesn't have to chase it).

Also, swimming against the glass....that's very normal. And when Sheba does it, she purposely splashes a lot & bangs her big body against the glass to get my attention. It's annoying when I am trying to watch my fav TV show, but in turtle-speak it means that she is bored & is trying to get me to feed her something or let her out of the tank to roam around the house. Yes, I know my turtle is weird. But that is what she does. I have witnesses.....! And since you have had your turtle for 13 yrs, I wouldn't be surprised if he is also very tame & just wants YOUR attention.

[SpotsMama]

I also think he's bored and trying to get your attention. There are a number of things you can give him to occupy his mind (!).

Do you have any river rocks on the bottom of the aquarium? There are several largish, dark river rocks in Spot's tank with pale stripes. Spot's fixated on one of them and seems to consider it his girlfriend. He flutters it non-stop for hours. I keep expecting him to give up since he never gets a response but he's relentless. It keeps him occupied.

There are other things in his tank - some fake corales, fake plants - and he pushes them around ("redecorating"). It gives him something to do. I've heard some turtles seem to like to push around a ping pong ball.

If you can and he seems to like it, why don't you take him out of his tank and let him explore. My Spot loves to do that. It's especially nice to take him outside and let him get some sun.

Spot's filter makes a waterfall against the side of the glass and he does like to swim back and forth through it. I think a bubble stone would accomplish the same thing. Several people on here have bubble stones in their turtle tanks. When Spot was outside in his pond in the summer, he loved swimming back and forth through the stream of water when I replaced what had been lost to evaporation with a hose. He loved doing that even more than eating. He would stop eating and run to the water stream when it was running.

I don't know about your turtle's eyes. I suppose it's possible that they were damaged by UV at some point in the past. I doubt there's anything you can do about it at this point.