General Care Discussion :: hear my turtle breathing..

[sweetnspoiled55]

im not sure if this has been answered already, i tried looking and i didnt see it anywhere, so sorry if it has. but anyways
i can hear my turtle breathing. when he is floating inthe water, just haging out. ive notcied this for quite awhile now, and havent noticed any changes in his behavior. is this normal?



*i also had another question..(might as well get it out of the way now) i just recently upgraded my tank from a 20 to a 40 gal. and he seems to really like it. but ive noticed that he kinda just hangs out in the one corner alot by the heater. hes eating and basking and ive seen him swimming around so i dont think hes sick. but hes about a year old and the temp is set at 78. i thought that when they got older the temp should be lower.

[grey goose]

A few years back I noticed my Bozo would "wheeze" (more like a short whistleing sound) when he was in the water, not basking. So off to the vet he went, and she said he was just blowing small amounts of water out of his nose, mostly when his head would break the surface of the water. She described it like a snorkling effect. But if your guy is doing it while he's basking, or if he seems to be gasping or yawning excessively, he may be congested.
As far as hanging out in the corner, it may just be his "safe spot" where he feels most comfortable. Do you have any places in the tank where he can hide if he wants to?

[sweetnspoiled55]

he doesnt do it while basking, so i guess there is nothing wrong.


and i dont really have anywhere he could hide. i tried looking in stores for things, but everything is too small for him to fit into. any suggestions??

[grey goose]

Well, depends on how large he is. For babies, it could be something a small as a coffee mug pressed into some rocks. I bought a large (and expensive) cave at a show for my big guy, and he never uses it!
I have three smaller guys in a 65 gal., and I went to Home Depot and bought a 4" PVC pipe fitting with three outlets. It looks terrible in the tank, but they love it!

[SpotsMama]

There's a platform from Petco that I've found useful. It's on sale for under $10. I think it's intended to be partially submerged and partially out of the water as a basking platform, but I've got it entirely underwater and Spot likes to go under it and through it.

Whatever you get, be absolutely sure it's roomy enough that there's no conceivable way your turtle can get stuck in it. Spot got his head stuck in the hole in the bottom of a little plaster alligator once and nearly drowned.

http://www.petco.com/Shop/Product.aspx? ... yID=12632&

ESU Reptile Basking Platform
Natural-looking, river-rock platform provides the basking area for your aquatic and land animals. Stepped sides allow your pets to easily climb up to the platform. Easy clean, durable poly-resin construction.
View complete product info below

ESU Reptile Basking Platform
Small - 12" Length
SKU: 934933

Online Price: $13.99

Sale: $9.97
Sale Ends: 10/31/2006