General Care Discussion :: Unexplained vomiting?

[BullDog]

Last night about an hour after Frankie's light went out, I heard her rustling around. That's a bit odd, since usually after dinner she falls asleep. So I flipped on a light to see what she was up to, and I saw she was on the bottom of the tank. I took a closer look, because from a previous post, I mentioned she might be gravid. Anyhow, she was fine, but I saw a BIG clump of what looked like partially-digested lettuce on her sleeping platform.

It was about 3-4 hours after she ate (romaine lettuce was on the menu last night).

I also noticed a few pellets, and the last time she had pellets was two nights ago (Sunday night).

Clicked a couple of pics, then scooped most of it out.



Some was sitting on the platform, and some was floating. The colour is a bit off in this pic (it was the same colour as the pic above), but you can see the pellets in this one.


The whole clump was about the half the size of my palm. When I scooped it out, it had no smell (yes, I smelled the barf).

Frankie has been otherwise completely normal, and there was a new, "normal" poop in the tank last night.

While I was thinking about it, I realized I've seen something like that in Frankie's tank before. I've seen a few pieces of decaying lettuce in the tank, but I just thought it was a piece of lettuce that got trapped under a rock and I missed scooping out. But now that I've seen this, I suspect it was from vomit as well.

Any thoughts on what could have caused this? It looked like a lot of stuff for a turtle, so could it be I fed her too much, and her vomiting action was just delayed?

It's not urgent, but here's the standard questions if it helps:

How big is your turtle? 8.5"
How long have you had it? 1 year, 2 months

What is the water temperature? 76 F
Did you use a thermometer? Yes, stick-on and digital
Are you using a water heater? Yes
How much water is in there? ~90 gallons
Are you using a water conditioner? When I do a water change, I use a dechlorinator.
Are you using any filtration? Fluval FX5

What is the basking temperature? Light isn't on right now to confirm, but last time I checked it was About 86-87F
Is there a basking light? Yes
Is there a basking platform that is easy to climb on? Yes
What kind is it or what is it made out of? Eggcrate
Is there a UVB light? Yes

What have you been trying to feed it? Yes
When was the last time your turtle ate? Last night, 3-4 hours before vomiting, romaine lettuce about the size of her shell or a little smaller.

How big is the tank/pond/enclosure? 90 gallons
Is the tank near a window? No
Is the tank in a room with a lot of activity? No

Have you read the Basic Care section? Yes
Have you searched the forums for similar situations? Yes

Is there any other unusual activity/symptoms?
The other day, she was sitting on the bottom of the tank, sort of spaced out, and occasionally digging with her hind legs. I suspected she might be gravid, but there were no other symptoms. Other than that, Frankie is Frankie.

[TheComputerGremlin]

I'd say that since Frankie may be gravid, that could explain random vomiting. Otherwise, she probably just ate too much too fast. Keep an eye on her, but she'll probably be fine. It's also possible that something was "wrong" with the lettuce, like it was bad or something. I know my turtle won't eat the lettuce if something is wrong or bad about it. I suppose something else could have startled her or something as well.

[BullDog]

Hmm, morning sickness, eh? Bummer.

I'm definitely keeping an eye on her. She's been otherwise normal, and ate like a pig again tonight (headfull of pellets).

That's a good point on the lettuce. The tip of it was brownish, which I ripped off, but it's possible I missed some.

I might try letting her roam inside a bit, see if she tries digging anywhere. I did try to feel in front of her legs, but didn't want too put too much pressure, and couldn't feel anything.

[SpotsMama]

In the second photo, I see the pellets and I think I see lettuce. I also see something that looks like....I don't know what. Is there anything in her tank that she could be nibbling on that isn't supposed to be eaten by a turtle? Maybe a piece of wood or a foam basking platform?

[BullDog]

No wood or foam in the tank, but there are two aquarium ornaments plus a plastic plant. I'll inspect them for damage. When Frankie is in food mode, nothing gets between her and her food, so it's possible in the frenzy of eating she bit off a chunk of the plastic plant or something.

[BullDog]

So I woke up (or I should say, Ralph woke me up ) to find that Frankie vomited again. It wasn't there last night after the light turned off, so it must have been some time over night.

My first theory was that she was allergic to carrots, since she threw up one night I gave her carrots. I didn't give her carrots for a while, then thought I'd try them again, but she didn't throw up again.

She hasn't thrown up for a while.

Her meals for the last three nights were:
Sun: Jello shot (sweet potato, turnip greens, apple peel, pellets, tuna) which she ate half of it without chewing But I would think if that was the problem, she would have thrown up that night.
Mon: Spoonful of reptomin pellets (I've been cutting these down a bit)
Tue: Small handful of turnip greens. She ate about half of them.
I'm not sure if it was turnip greens or lettuce in her vomit (the last time she had lettuce was 5 days ago), but it looked basically the same as in the picture.

I'm going to check the water quality today, though I did a 50% water change a week ago.

Another thought is that I'm just plain feeding her too much again. I cut down for a while, especially on lettuce, but it's been creeping back up recently.

I let her outside a couple days, and she didn't even try to dig a hole.

It doesn't seem to be affecting her (she acts normal otherwise). But we all know it's no fun to throw up.

If anyone else has any thoughts or has gone through something like this before, I'd be happy to hear!