General Care Discussion :: yawning or gasping w/ no RI signs

[ibanezwiz79]

Hello! My wife and I have two four-month old RES. Over the past week... week and half, one of them has started coming to their platform and opening and closing mouth every now and then. Yes, I have read MANY posts describing respiratory infections, but mine is not showing any other signs. It (not sure if male or female yet) eats great, swims straight, swims as much as the other, and does not have any mucus/bubbles. I could not find any other answers as to why a turtle would open and close mouth. It does not happen all the time, and have never seen it happen when lights are out and they are sleepin. Does anyone know any other reason that would occur?
They have a huge tank, have a diverse--proper diet, proper temperatures... the works. We take care of them and the tank. We just want to be sure nothing is wrong.
Thank you very much!-David

Oh... as a last question... anyone have any tricks to keeping food from sinking to the bottom? Try to feed them a little cooked chicken... and it drops right to the bottom. Thought about making another platform just a few inches under the surface to feed them on... havent seem either of them hunt the chicken down when it goes down... they just float on the surface and look at me.

[Jeremiah]

Turtles can yawn without actually being sick. If all your other care parameters are fine, I would just wait it out and see if any other symptoms arise later (i.e., wheezing).

If you're going to feed something like chicken, I recommend a separate feeding tub. That way, the turtles have less space to lose the food in. As far as meat goes, however, I would think it's a little more natural for RES to eat fish like rosy red minnows.

[steve]

I agree with Jeremiah. A feeding tub helps too (with something messy as chicken) and they probably don't realize where it went. I often have to point/lead my turtles to where their food it.

[ibanezwiz79]

Two days ago my wife told me that she heard him wheezing pretty bad. That's the only day. We have not seen any yawning or other signs since. He is seperate from the other w his own heat and uvb light and shallow water just in case. Taking him to a vet tomorrow (that can hopefully help. Not many in okinawa) He is still eating and basking a lot but not quite as active. May just not like the smaller setup he's in at the moment. I'm not sure if we caught it in early stages or what.
We have them "trained" where to eat. They know their corner With the anacharis is their feeding area. Makes it easy for us to clean also since it's one area. And whatever falls is usually hanging out in the plant until they eat it later or I suck it out. We have only fed them chicken a few times but do have feeder fish for them to eat and chase around. But have only eaten 3 ever. Not sure how to get them to eat them... Other than feeding them a little less by hand...??
Thank you guys for your reply!!!

[steve]

Hopefully the vet will have some ideas. Are they able to catch the feeder fish?

[Jeremiah]

If you want them to eat more feeder fish, you'll actually have to increase hand feeding. Hold the fish, and let it wiggle in front of their faces.

Personally, I would love to find a non-fish-eating RES--it would make for a much nicer enclosure, in my opinion!