General Care Discussion :: My baby turtle has trapped air??

[disosgirl]

Hi all, I am sort of new to this red eared slider world as I got two little guys (or gals, who knows ) only about four months ago. They were given to me as a gift and I know they were very little, both slightly bigger than a quarter (illegal as I learned later). Fast forward 4 months later, one of them is just awesome, super alert, super hungry, super huge. The other one is the trouble. He hasn't really grown too much, he's now about three times smaller than his bro, doesn't eat for days on no end and isn't very active, mostly sleeps. The biggest problem - aside from his troubling eating habits and size compared to his bro - is that he clearly can't even get to the bottom of the tank if he tries. His butt is obviously floating and everytime he does want to eat, he can't even get to the bottom to grab the food. I of course 'serve it to him' on something little higher. He seems to also be trying to 'cough out' air mainly right after eating, kind of dry heaving under water with his mouth wide open. I'm really worried because some days he looks like he's really struggling and is giving up on his little life he has. This has been happening for about 4 - 6 weeks. Some stats for you guys to evaluate my situation: tank is about 10 gallons, water about 3 - 4 inches, two lamps UVA and UVB, I change water couple of times a week and try to pick up leftover food to keep tank cleaner. I feed them mini floating food sticks or blood worms once an day, have given them some raw fish as well, they have rocks to hang out on and under, I turn lamps on in the morning and turn them off for the night. Any advice would be amazing.

Thank you for reading and I appreciate all feedback!



Martina

[steve]

Welcome to the site Martina. Your situation sounds similar to my experience. First you need to separate them... I know it's a pain but its not so bad because they're still small. Their size difference alone is a good reason. The fact that the other one is not too well and is probably not receiving his fair share (could also be why the other one has grown too quickly).

How much are you feeding him? What's the water temperature? Do you have a water heater?

It's possible the smaller one has a respiratory infection, though I would not make that conclusion from the symptoms described above.

[khg002]

When reading this, the first thing that jumped out at me was that you had two turtles in a 10 gallon tank. Depending on the size of your healthy turtle this may not even be enough of a tank for him alone. The water level is also too low. You should have enough water to allow for swimming but not escape. You said you had two types of UV light which is good but you also need a heat lamp which is a different lamp all together. You need a turtle dock, I recommend a floating turtle dock. You will need a water filter, if you keep the 10 gallon tank you will need a filter that filters for 30 gallons. AVOID ANY FILTERS MARKETED TO TURTLES SPECIFICALLY. These products are usually overpriced and worthless. You need a submersible water heater rated for whatever gallon size your tank is. With two turtles I would recommend at least a 55 gallon. You can keep the sick turtle in your 10 gallon and put the healthy turtle in the 55. I know that these tanks are expensive and I cant expect you to go out and buy a 150 dollar tank off my advice. But these turtles will eventually need something much bigger. Until then you can purchase a very cheap rubbermaid-type container meant to hold water and put you turtle in that. They're not as pretty and you can't view them while they're underwater but it gets the job done for about 1/8 of the price. I hope this helps. Ill be checking back on this article to help as much as i can because I was sold an illegal turtle as well and Im doing my best to take care of him too. Good luck and I hope the sick turtle gets better.

BTW, avoid raw fish, they can contain many different types of parasites. Stick with pellets, comparably enough to match the turtles head excluding the neck. I also feed my turtle turnip greens and she likes to float on the leaf while eating it, its literally the cutest thing Ive ever seen.

[marisa]

To me, it sounds like he has a chronic respiratory problem. He needs to be separated from the larger one and given his own set-up. Water should be warmer than usual, about 82F, and the basking area 90 - 91F. I'd keep the water level lower (but at least high enough so that if he flips over he can right himself). Keep him out of drafts and breezes (this includes AC).

I'd try to have him looked at by a herp vet.