General Care Discussion :: Feeding and shell questions, and random heavy breathing

[Brearune]

These are probably such common topics, but I just feel like, even after reading some similar posts, I want to make sure just to be safe, I've become somewhat paranoid after my friend's turtle got sick... thanks so much for understanding <3




Firstly, my feeding question:

I have a 8-9inch (haven't managed to get a solid measurement.. she hates staying still) female RES... and she seems like shes ALWAYS hungry! I read to feed veggies daily, and pellets every other day (i also have live fish that she picks off when she wants) but when I don't give her everything - pellets (amount equal to head size), and some veggies, and even taking some fish - EVERY DAY she starts to eat everything in sight! She ate her old floating dock (I just built an out of tank one so hopefully she won't try to eat the plexiglass now -_-) and tries to eat rocks (like, take bites off of big ones....[!!!]??), the tube to her filter, etc! I've watched her, too, thinking maybe she wasn't actually trying to eat it, but she managed to get a piece of tubing (i had an air hose for bubbles that she liked to play in) and she ate that piece like it was nothing! I promptly removed it once she got that bite, doubt that would be healthy, and while she still tries to eat rock/filter pieces, she hasn't gotten any from them, and I've removed her floating dock, etc.
I guess it comes down to... should I really reduce the food to every other day if she seems so hungry? I certainly don't want to be overfeeding her, but is it possible that my turtle is some weirdo that really needs it? hahah... And I certainly don't want her to go around eating things she shouldn't be eating, which she doesn't try to do if i feed her everything every day.. And I will definitely admit that before I was feeding her like the bottle said "as much as turtle will eat in 10 minutes" or... something like that... along with some fish and veggies, so perhaps she's just used to it? I'm just nervous about cutting down now when maybe it's something else that's wrong.
If it matters: I am feeding her reptomin pellets.
Now I've just been feeding her less of the pellets, but still each day... so hopefully that evens out to the proper amount being done every other day... that seems to be working. Is that okay, even though I'm feeding her that every day, just reducing the amount? Is there anything else that could be causing this, or that i should be worrying about, etc? Also, since I had been overfeeding her before unknowingly ( ) Is there anything that could be wrong with her that I should check for, due to this? More answers to any questions might be found in the next section, like stuff about lighting and all..



Shell question:

What exactly does a normal shell look like? I searched the forum for "shell" and found a couple places with pictures, but my RES's shell doesn't look like those. I will edit with a dry shot later (she's all wet now, I have no choice ) but her shell looks almost solid brown/black. She's got some of the normal looking yellow on the edges (it looks healthy, though, from pictures I've seen of what you DONT want haha) and she seems to be shedding well, I've got quite the collection
Is a nearly solid colored shell normal?
I have a UVB light (and heat light too, but I don't think that's relevant right now..), but before I didn't have one (I was misinformed by stupid pet shop people but I found websites like this one and fixed it all!) so I'm concerned of any issues she may have had since she did go a year and a half without one... is there anything i may not have thought to check for that i should look for? I'm very eager to make sure she is healthy now, and from now on do it all right...


Also, I have seen a turtle with discoloration from some sort of bacteria(?) before, the shell turned red, and I wondered what that was? It was my friends turtle, and I helped her revamp her tank with better conditions, but her vet didn't tell her EXACTLY what caused it, so we aren't sure if we covered it... all I know is it turned her shell red. Any info on that, too, so I can pass on word, make sure the changes do get made so nothing more happens? Thank youuu!






EDIT: SORRY FORGOT! Also- this only happened once but it made me worried- recently after chasing some fish for a while, when she came back up to breath she seemed to be panting? Through her nose, breathing heavily. Did she get out of breath from chasing them? It seemed odd to me since they can hold their breath for so long... It never happened again though, and she seems to be fine otherwise, but I figured i'd mention it.


EDIT2 W/PICS!
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3058/305 ... 323d97.jpg
image of her shell as dry as i could get it- the top is dry, the sides are a bit wet still though... slightly algae-y

some other pics just so yall can see her and maybe notice anything good or bad or whatever

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3033/305 ... d609_b.jpg
taken just after i put her back in the water... shows that her shell does have some details, but it's so dark it had be worried that maybe it's bad...? dunno. but thats her swimming oh, and the green is our wall, it's not some horrible algae infestation haha

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3164/305 ... 49b0_b.jpg
front view while swimming again, the green is just our wall, not horrid algae lol that nasty floating dock is now gone, in fact. Made a plexi out of tank basking area for her just today well, finished today that is... hooray!

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3070/305 ... b4e2_b.jpg
oh, here's a decent dry-shell pic... it was from earlier that day when i first got concerned that maybe there was something wrong with her shell? We had her on my pool table, with a light on her to keep her warm (kinda cool in my house this time of year)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3289/305 ... 74c4_b.jpg
head shot! SLIIGHHTTLLYY blurry, but still cute eyes.


that's everything, and no more editing from me.. thanks guys, and sorry for the humongous post!





<3 possibly annoying somewhat newbie

[BullDog]

Welcome to the forum!

Ok, I'll try to answer some of your questions.

Feeding:
RES are opportunistic eaters. Most will eat until they throw up, then continue eating. So it is normal for her to want to eat anything remotely eatable.
Make sure all the rocks are larger than her head, and that way she can't swallow any of them. If she's eating small rocks, they can get stuck in her digestive system.
For any thing else, just make sure all decorations are "turtle proof", and she won't be able to bite a chunk off (sounds like you've already been doing that).

For turtle food, the directions on the bottle are written by those who want to sell more turtle food, so keep that in mind. As you mentioned, a head-sized amount every SECOND day is good. If you prefer, you can do a half-sized amount every day. This way, she may feel like she's getting more.
For the fish, don't add any more. What sort of fish are they? Goldfish are not too good for turtles, since they're fatty and often carry disease. Lean fish like minnows and guppies are good. Protein treats (like fish) are something that should be fed once a month. If she's picking off about one a week, that will be OK, but she may get an upset stomach if she ate say, 10 in one sitting.

You can offer her nutritious veggies every day, like red and green leaf lettuce. That will also help curb her hunger. Also make sure to offer her cuttlebone.


Shell:
The colour looks normal for a RES her age. Shell colour can range from light brown to black.
Any problems she may have had in the time without UVB you would have noticed during that them. That's great that you've corrected it now As I mentioned, make sure she gets some cuttlebone for calcium.

Her shell does look quite bumpy though. It even looks like she may have gone through some uneven growing?
It looks like her shell is pyramiding. This is caused by too much protein in the diet. This ties into your feeding question, and makes it that much more important not to give into her begging. Even if she seems hungry, you need to regulate her diet. Extreme pyramiding causes stress on the internal organs and shortens the life of your RES. Yours just has minor pyramiding, so don't worry too much! Just correct her diet, and she'll be happier and healthier

The heavy breathing:
If it's just after she's been swimming hard, then it's not a worry. That's pretty common when a RES is catching his breath.
If you're hearing heavy breathing often, say when she's basking, then it can be a sign of a respiratory infection (RI), which needs to be treated by a vet.


She's got a cute face! What's her name?

[Brearune]

RES are opportunistic eaters. Most will eat until they throw up, then continue eating. So it is normal for her to want to eat anything remotely eatable.
Make sure all the rocks are larger than her head, and that way she can't swallow any of them. If she's eating small rocks, they can get stuck in her digestive system.
For any thing else, just make sure all decorations are "turtle proof", and she won't be able to bite a chunk off (sounds like you've already been doing that).

yep yep! Done that, and I did know enough from the start not to have small enough rocks for her to eat... one of the things I did manage to look up (not sure how i missed everything else, though... oh well, too late now..)

For turtle food, the directions on the bottle are written by those who want to sell more turtle food, so keep that in mind. As you mentioned, a head-sized amount every SECOND day is good. If you prefer, you can do a half-sized amount every day. This way, she may feel like she's getting more.
For the fish, don't add any more. What sort of fish are they? Goldfish are not too good for turtles, since they're fatty and often carry disease. Lean fish like minnows and guppies are good. Protein treats (like fish) are something that should be fed once a month. If she's picking off about one a week, that will be OK, but she may get an upset stomach if she ate say, 10 in one sitting.

They are minnows, and I had a bunch in there that she picks off.... at first she ate a bunch of them, which at the time i had thought was okay, but I figure i can leave them in now, since she seems to be leaving them alone? She honestly seem to be swimming with them.. it's kind of cute. sometimes she'll chase but hasn't eaten any lately, like today she hasn't even had one. Is like one a day okay? I think that's about where she is with fish eating usually, besides that one time when I had first added them haha..

You can offer her nutritious veggies every day, like red and green leaf lettuce. That will also help curb her hunger. Also make sure to offer her cuttlebone.

Yeah, I hadn't been doing the cuttlebone but I had just been reading about it while waiting for replies, so in a day or so I'm going to get some, definitely. and how much lettuce should i be giving her, exactly? I usually just nab a piece and tear it up into like 3-4 quarter sized pieces, and that's it. Should I do more?

It looks like her shell is pyramiding. This is caused by too much protein in the diet. This ties into your feeding question, and makes it that much more important not to give into her begging. Even if she seems hungry, you need to regulate her diet. Extreme pyramiding causes stress on the internal organs and shortens the life of your RES. Yours just has minor pyramiding, so don't worry too much! Just correct her diet, and she'll be happier and healthier

Will correcting the food reverse the pyramiding that has taken place? or is this permanent, what has already happened? I also notice that on the top of her shell are bits that haven't shed yet, so that might make it look a little worse, too. I still think I agree that there's some pyramiding though... just hoping it's maybe mild enough to counteract?

oh, and you mentioned uneven growing? Not sure I follow how that works, and if that's real bad or something.... I thought maybe you meant the shell but I looked over my pics and I can't figure out what exactly might have grown uneven...?

The heavy breathing:
If it's just after she's been swimming hard, then it's not a worry. That's pretty common when a RES is catching his breath.
If you're hearing heavy breathing often, say when she's basking, then it can be a sign of a respiratory infection (RI), which needs to be treated by a vet.

Okay, good! That was the only time it had happened, and she had been swimming pretty hard haha so I'm glad... cuz I had been reading about RI in turtles and got kind of scared by her heavy breathing. It hasn't happened again though, so I think that it was just her nice workout.

She's got a cute face! What's her name?

Her name was originally Hailey, but um... We kind of just called her "turtle" as a name, and it's stuck.. that sounds so horrible, like we don't care enough to name her, but I call her turtle as though it's her real name and it somehow fits. Although, this is coming from the girl who had a rat named "ratty"... maybe I should just always name my animals by their species haha. It'll be my "thing" i guess...

[BullDog]

How many minnows were in there to start with? As I said, just don't add any more for a while, and it should be OK. There are often stories of RES becoming "friends" with the last few feeder fish. But if something changes in the tank, friends once again become food

For lettuce, a shell size piece is usually a good guide. You can give her this much daily.

Correcting the diet will stop the pyramiding, and perhaps even diminsh the look of it a bit, but it will never completely disappear. When it's mild, like in your case, it causes no ill effects to the turt.

As for the growing, I don't know... In the first pic she just looked like some of the dwarfed RES I've seen, but it could just be the scutes that are due to shed, or the angle of the pic.

And I think "Turtle" is a perfect name for a RES

[Brearune]

haha okay, I feel better about a lot of this now.
And she started out with 10 minnows, which were gone in days o_o so we had gotten her more, another 10, and none of them have been touched... so she's just hanging out with ten minnows. hah. I just wondered if it was okay to leave them in since I would rather not get another tank for them to be separate haha but yeah, i won't put anymore in now.
and thanks, i like the name turtle too though everyone seems kind of perplexed when i tell them that haha

[SpotsMama]

I agree about the pyramiding shell. Be sure and manage the amount of protein she gets - she needs some but don't overdo it.

The other thing to do is be sure she gets plenty of calcium in her diet and that she continues to bask under good UVB light. Lots of calcium is essential for a healthy shell and bones, especially for females, and UVB light is necessary for them to be able to absorb the calcium they eat. Without UVB, the calcium goes to waste and it's just as if they didn't get any. Be sure and replace the UVB bulb every 6 months as the UVB is depleted before the bulb actually burns out. An excellent source of calcium is cuttlebone - the same kind that birds get. Just put some pieces in the tank for her to nibble on.

And yes...she has beautiful eyes! Looks like a pretty cute girl altogether.

[Brearune]

Thank you, I will

[cchipres]

Okay, I think everything is good for "TURTLE".
She has beautiful eyes!

Now that I think of it, Parker gets out of breath when I put her in the tub with goldfish. She looks to me to help her catch them.

Thank you guys for the feeding advice. I need to get Parker off the high protein diet and get her to eat more veggies. She really likes shrimp though.

[bradmeisel]

i like your pics. Veru nice looking turtle. Does she let you hold her and stuff?

[Brearune]

sorry for delay in response, I went cross country to visit my sister

but yeah, she lets me hold her... she "swims" and i carry her around wherever she wants to go hahaha it's funny. it takes a lil for her to warm up to me each time, though.

[papoopeepoo]

sorry for delay in response, I went cross country to visit my sister

but yeah, she lets me hold her... she "swims" and i carry her around wherever she wants to go hahaha it's funny. it takes a lil for her to warm up to me each time, though.

a side note on that "swimming." thats actually very stressful for the little one, it's best to keep a hand under her so she isnt swimming in air, just for a little mental security on her end.

[bradmeisel]

Also make sure to warm her up (in your hands) when you take her out of the water.
Just like us, turtles are cold when they come right out of the water and if you cup them in your hands until they warm up a bit they get much less stressed and uncomfortable.