General Care Discussion :: Irritated turtles!?

[heatherlp07]

I have two very messy, 1 year old, RES so I decided that I would begin using a product called Turtle Clean. I cleaned my aquarium before hand (I was in desperate need of a water change), and then added the correct amount of the product. After I got my tank up and ready to go I put my babies back in the tank. After a few minutes I noticed that both of the turtles were scratching at their eyes and acting as if they were irritated. I was just wondering if anyone had had similar problems? I don't know what to do! This type of behavior has never happened before and I'm not sure what to do. I removed both the turtles when I saw that they were getting irritated and placed them in travel carriers for the night while the tank could cycle, but other than that I have done nothing. Any suggestions?

[TheComputerGremlin]

Did you dechlorinate the water before putting the turtles in? Chlorine is a major eye irritant with turtles. I know the stuff you are talking about, I think I've seen mixed reviews about it on the board. It's possible it irritated their eyes, but it could be that the fresh water irritated the eyes instead. Hopefully someone else will jump on here and answer the question better!

[heatherlp07]

I didn't use any type of conditioner, but I never have in the past either. This type of problem has never occurred. I did noting different today than I have done in the past except add the Turtle Clean. We have recently had hard water problems, is it possible that could have irritated the turtles? I also have a product called Aquasafe that we use in our fish tank for our guppies, would that be o.k. on the turtles?

[gt5268]

Hi.I use that product turtle clean for my 2 red ear sliders.In the 2 years I have used this product it has not done any harm to my 2 guys.I have never noticed any eye probelms at all.In fact for me this is a great product- keeps the water much cleaner.Your problem is the mineral and chlorine content.I use a product called reptisafe.This is a water treatment product.It will take out the chlorine and other stuff in the tap water.I use this product all the time when I do water changes.Add it to the water before putting the turtles in.I also have used that product aguasafe and it works well also.

[SpotsMama]

By the way, the Reptisafe is a really good product. It does more things than just remove chlorine. Next time you're buying a water conditioner for your turtle tank, I'd recommend it.

I'm locking this post since it's a duplicate of one in Urgent Care. If anyone has more suggestions, please post their.