General Care Discussion :: Baby Red ear sliders

[sfranke31]

Okay so I have Two new baby red ear slider that I bought in China town last weekend. They are adorable and I have gotten them everything they need I think.
Filter, appropriate lights, water temp at about 77, basking temp at about 88. i feed them properly, one isnt eating really, but not too worried from what i have read he will settle in and start eating soon.

I have two things tho that really concern me. FIRST, both turtles are breathing with their neck, like when they are out of the water it bulges a little with each breath. I dont know what that is about.

second one turtle has two white spots on the shell, and they dont exactly look transparent, and I want to make sure it is not shell rot but instead shedding. I dont have a good camera so I took a pic with my phone and it is below.

PLZ HELP

thanks soo much

[sfranke31]

http://s740.photobucket.com/albums/xx46 ... G_0425.jpg

sorry that is the link to the pic

[F4iguy8621]

The two babies that i got in china town do the same thing with the neck breathing, its just something they do nothing to worry about

[SINI5T3R]

yeah thats just them breathing and the white spots look like shedding

[TheComputerGremlin]

You can check for shell rot by three ways.

1) Dry the turtle off completely. Do the spots still remain? Smell the turtle. (I know, sounds gross.) If you smell rotting meat/flesh, you likely have shell rot.

2) Gently press on the shell. Since these are babies, the shell will naturally be soft, so don't press hard. Are the white spots softer than the shell around it?

3) Take a Q tip, very soft toothbrush, or washrag and, using warm water, try to rub the spots away. If they rub away, it is likely a fungus or mineral deposit.

On that note, it could be a fungus, so keep an eye on it. If it's shedding (which they shouldn't be shedding their scutes that young), it will be like an air bubble trapped under the scute. If it's a fungus, you will need to apply an antifungal for treatment.

[papoopeepoo]

Keep the aquarium water very clean. I'm not assuming you don't already, but you can never be too sure.

How often do you need to do water changes? Is there gravel in the aquarium?