General Care Discussion :: if one turtle dies will the other get lonely

[jonwoas]

i have two very young res and one just died im not sure why my dad is taking care of them while im at school he separated them and tried to feed it but he wasn't eating he was very lethargic and he died its very sad, but now im worried about the other one, hes eating, hes normally an aggressive swimmer but now he isn't, im not sure if hes basking as much, im going to keep a close eye on him when im home this weekend, but i was just wondering if this is normal, if it is bad for this other turtle, if he can get too lonely or if he will eventually be his old self

[SpotsMama]

Turtle's don't get lonely for other turtles. They are naturally loners and get along perfectly well on their own. Actually, two turtles living together often wind up fighting and cause each other stress, which is not good.

If one turtle was sick and the other now seems to be slowing down, it's possible that whatever the first one had was contageous and now the second one is coming down with it. tht's pretty common. If he's acting lethargic and eating poorly, and the temperature in his tank is normal (75 to 78 degrees), then he's probably not feeling good and should go see a vet. Caught early, many turtle illnesses are treatable, but if they go on too long, then the prospect is not good. Better safe than sorry - if you're not sure, go ahead and take him in.

One caution for people taking their turtle to the vets. If the vet offers to give a vitamin A shot, first make sure the vet is positive your turtle really needs vitamin A and then discuss other alternatives to shots with the vet like eye drops with vitamin A, cod liver oil or food supplements. Several turtles have recently had very bad reactions to vitamin A shots and I think it's best that if vitamin A is needed (and often it's not) the safer methods be used instead.

[Joel]

No dude, they enjoy being by there selves..
i know i wouldn't

[jonwoas]

thanks ill consider taking him in, the water's above eighty at all times though and he is eating. my dad said he wasn't basking but he always basked until you got close to the tank and he would get off the rock anyways so it might be that too. ill observe him this weekend and see if i need to take him to a vet

[Daniel3507]

the reason he isnt basking could be because the water is too warm