General Care Discussion :: my turtle is sick...need advice or help please?

[vincentapa]

so i have been obsevering my turtles and one seems to be definatly sick. i have two of them and the other one seems to be fine he jumps in the tank once every while but is always baskin with his eyes closed? is this normal or do res turtles bask with their eyes opened? another question is i have two docks where my turtles bask one has a red lamp im not to sure what its call i think its a black like but the blub is red and i was told that i could keep the light on all the time it would be fine for the turtles? now is that true or should i involve the one thats healty with a cycle light on during the day and off durning night? does anyone suggest i quarentine the turtle or take him out asap because his illness or whatever he has thats causing him to be sick will carry on to my healty turtle? iv bee watching the one thats sick very closey and i havent seen him in the water once and mostly in the same spot with slight movement here and there from arms legs and head.. what should i doo i need help..as a new turtle owner im trying to keep them healthy and do whats best but i kinda have a delema? any help would be great thanks


Vince

[SpotsMama]

Hi,

You have a lot of questions! We'll try to help.

First of all - how long have you had these turtles? How big are they? Can you describe the setup? What do you feed them?

Regarding the one that you think is ill, one of the chief signs of a turtle that doesn't feel well is lethargy - that means not moving around much, acting tired, and basking all the time. Turtles sometimes bask with their eyes open and sometimes when they are feeling relaxed they will take a nap on the basking platform and close their eyes. But it isn't typical for them to be like this all the time, especially when they are young.

You should make an appointment for the sick turtle to see a herp vet (a vet that specializes in reptiles and amphibians). Until you can get him in, definitely separate him from the other one in case he has something contageous. Keep him warm, very clean and avoid stressing him (ie don't pick him up unless you have to.) See that he eats too. If he refuses his usual food you can offer him treats like a little tuna in water or boiled chicken or shrimp, things that he would normally only get to eat once in a while.

On the lighting, lighting for aquatic turtles is one of the most important elements of their setup. They require certain light to metabolize the calcium they eat (and they need a lot to maintain healthy shell and bones) and to keep their shells from developing fungal and bacterial infections. Please read through the info on the link below, then come back and ask any questions that come to mind. I don't think you've got the light right yet. And on your specific question, yes turtles need a regular cycle of light like night and day....but that's not all there is to the subject.

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

Good luck. Let us know how it goes.

[vincentapa]

should i turn of the light i have on now which gives off a red lighting becuase its been on most of the day but the salesperso at big als told me it was alright to keep it on over night as well?

[SpotsMama]

It's not particularly harmful to have a red light on at night - it's just not helpful. The red light creates some heat, but usually turtles sleep in the water where the water heater keeps it warm, so the heat from the red bulb is wasted. Other color lights like white would be bad to have on at night since they would disrupt the sleep cycle, but red is not so bad that way.

I'd be very sceptical of advice given by sales reps. I'm sure there are some good ones out there but we've seen so much bad - sometimes awful - advice given by sales people that we've been advising people to be very careful and check out what they hear.

[vincentapa]

so you suggest i should get another light cuz all i have is the flurecent uvb and the red bulbed light which im guess is the uva lighting or the other way around?

[vincentapa]

another thing is i havent really seen my healthy turtle sleep in the water yet....? or maybe im just not around when they are. yet to mention i have cichlids in the tank also!

[SpotsMama]

So... how long did you say you've had your turtles? What's your setup like? How big are the turtles? What do they eat?

On lighting, read up on the info in the link above. You'll need to have two bulbs - both over the basking area. One will be a heat bulb - a regular household incandescent bulb will do. The other has to be a very specialized bulb that emits UVB light. You can only get it from a pet store or pet supply website. Most people use compact fluorescent bulbs for UVB these days. Is that what you are using? If you're using a compact (as opposed to a tube) a good brand is a Repti Glo 5.0 26 watt compact fluorescent. You have to be very careful because there are a lot of bulbs out there that say they are "full spectrum" or "simulates daylight" or "basking bulb" but they do not provide what your turtle needs. Lots of people have spent a lot of money on bulbs only to find out that what they got was useless.

[marisa]

vincentapa, if the room your turtle is in is really cool, it can be helpful to use a red heat bulb at night to help keep the ambient air temp up (I used to use them in the winter). The light doesn't interfere with their sleep cycles. I have in the past used one for heat along with a UVB light (which also produces UVA rays), and that worked just fine. You can just use a regular light bulb for heat during the day, though. If you do, both the lightbulb and the UVB light should, be off at night (and average of 12 hours on and 12 hours off is ok). It's up to you to determine whether your turtle needs the red heat light on a night for the warmth, though.

The turtle that you say is healthy is the one that jumps in the water but basks with his eyes closed? If so, what are the symptoms of the the turtle that's sick? Is he eating?

How many cichlids are there in the tank?

How big is the tank and how big are your turtles (shell lengths down the spine but not including the curve of the shell)?

What's the temp of the water and basking area?