General Care Discussion :: Behavior change

[viverechocolate]

I am new to the forum but not new to turtles. I have had my RES for about five years now. When I got Phoebe, she was already a couple of years old. She is now about 6 inches long and lives in my sixth grade classroom. The kids love her. I cleaned her tank about a week ago (not the first time) and since she has shown a drastic behavior change. She is not as active and seems to mope. She didn't eat for a few days but started up again today. However, where she used to be very excited to eat she was very skiddish when I tried to feed her. Any ideas? Is she just stressed from the complete water change?

She is not showing any signs of respiratory infection nor is there outward signs of distress to her shell or "skin." Also the water temperature is where it should be. She is normally such a happy turtle and all the kids love her. I would just like to find out what's wrong before they return!

[Nettle]

Could you describe her habitat in detail? Tank gallonage, lighting and basking, what you're feeding her.

She could also be gravid (has eggs and wants to lay them). Here's a link:
http://www.redearslider.com/reproduction.html

[SpotsMama]

It could be that the water change upset her if the water smells or tastes different now. Unless her eyes look swollen or seem irritated, or she seems to be yawning a lot or swimming lopsided, you should probably just give her a few days to resort to normal. Sometimes turtles just have moods.

I think Nettle has a good point about being gravid. Has she laid eggs before?

And it would be interesting to hear about her habitat and care. It's puzzeling that a simple water change may have upset her - isn't her water normally changed (at least partially) periodically? Usually it's a very routine process and it doesn't bother the turtle.

[viverechocolate]

She hasn't laid eggs before which worries me a little too. I hadn't really thought about it since I hadn't considered her a "mature" turtle. But after reading some of the posts in the forum I realized that should have been happening already. hmmm...

She is in a large enough tank with good filtration and a heater that keeps the water pretty steady. She does have gravel on the bottom of the tank which will be disappearing shortly! She is fed a variety of veggies and pellets every other day or so.

I did get the water from a different source than what I usually get it. That could be the problem.

[marisa]

Her behavior didn't change when you've cleaned the tank before? How is the water different from the water you usually put in the tank? If it's chlorinated, was a dechlorinator used?

No other unusual behavior?

[viverechocolate]

Yes I used a dechlorinator, and no, she has never gotten into a funk like this before.

She is usually quite hyper, eating from my hand or tweezers, and generally distracting my students while I am trying to teach! She may just be in a funk but since this is the only turtle I have had experience with, I was not sure.

[marisa]

My male RES has sometimes appeared really quiet and acted like he wanted to be alone.

But with a female RES the size of yours, it is possible she's gravid.

[SpotsMama]

Have you read up on egg laying? Here's a link. When a turtle gets ready to lay, she gets frantic to get out of the tank because she wants to lay on dry land.

http://www.redearslider.com/reproduction.html

It scares me that there's gravel in the tank. Is she pooping normally? i suppose you've read on here about the dangers of gravel in a turtle tank.