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looking for some reassurance...

for the past few weeks my 9 year old RES sesame has been doing some occasional loud breathing. it's not all the time, sometimes more frequently, sometimes less, i'd say from about once an hour to most frequent (which is right now) every 5-10 minutes or so. he does not act sick at all, and he is completely fine in every other respect - eating, activity, pooping, habitat - no changes whatsoever. also no changes to the external environment except for the change of seasons.

any thoughts?

thanks!

Debby & Sesame

Can happen with either overweight turtles or when they surface after a long, deep swim. I'd keep an eye for any other symptoms.

maybe that's it and he's just so active when he swims he has to take some deep breaths when he comes up. we're going to the vet tomorrow just to be sure. thanks steve!

It happens, I can sometimes feel them breathing or even hear a little whistle. Good luck with the vet visit but watch out for the usual offers (salmonella test and vitamin shot).

the vet said it may very well be climate based, and advised to keep his heater 80-85 and get a ceramic heating element for at night. any thoughts on this? i always kept the temp 78-79. we're also getting a higher powered filter that was probably overdue.

i also made the observation that about 3-4 weeks ago it started getting colder here and i kept my windows shut, versus having them open all summer. so with the noise from outside, i honestly don't know how long he's been doing this so it may not be all that new. another thing is i had to get him a new tank cos the old one broke in the move here in May, and this tank allows me to put another couple inches of water in, so he is diving deeper. goes along with the deep breaths after a long deep swim theory...

thanks for the input!

How would the climate affect him though? The ceramic heater is for the basking area? I don't know why you would use one unless you were dry docking. Would you say he's an overweight turtle?

no definitely not overweight. i guess it was an assumption that it was maybe climate related because of other associations like the diet fluctuating with the season changes. the vet seemed to think that was legit. now that you directly ask the question though, i'm not totally sure how physiologically his breathing would be affected by the temp. especially since i don't recall him ever having this problem and really nothing has changed in his environment really except for the slightly increased depth of water in the tank.

I do think they are perceptive to certain climate changes even if they are kept indoors 24/7, but aside from some moodiness, I don't think there has been any physical changes as a result. Has he had melanism yet?

i guess? his shell may have been brighter when he was younger but i can't really remember and i don't have lots of pictures. still pretty colorful.

Looks great. I can see a few spots showing up on the head though. Is he still doing the loud breathing?

less frequently from what i can tell! so far just bumped the temp up a little on his tank heater, so that seems to be having some effect. his new filter just arrived so going to set that up and do a good tank clean tomorrow. spots of melanism? is that ok? i guess i never inspected his head that closely.

I would need a closer look but they lose a lot of coloring and lots of stripes become spots. It's a pretty weird and drastic change.

i haven't noticed anything significant. is melanism bad for the turtle? is there anything to be done about it?

finished installing a big Aquatop canister filter today. both sesame and i are happy that he has more space and cleaner and warmer water! haven't noticed the loud breathing that much, but if i do it's usually after a long dive, like you say.

Melanism is just something that happens with male RES. I haven't tried the Aquatop before, glad you are liking it!

there's a bit of setup required but wasn't too hard. i did a full water change with putting in the new filter and now it's a little cloudy and junky. i was worried, but i was told this was a "biological bloom" of new good bacteria developing and it should clear up in a few days and then help with breaking down the junk. going to give it some time before i discount it.

i did a little more digging about the breathing, and actually found this in a post on another turtle forum site. it is a big reassurance!

It's perfectly normal to be able to hear a larger(4"+) turtle's breathing if you pay enough attention. It's one of those things you may hear unintentionally for the first time in 5 years, and then you'll hear it every time afterwards because your actually listening for it. Same with the hissing, he's just expelling air to make room for his extremities.

When a turtle is swimming around and comes up for air, it's heart rate is up from the activity and it breathes heavier, that is why you can't hear it while he's just chillun' under the basking light.

While those can be taken as symptoms of an RI, they must be taken in context with the general wellness of your turtle. You...as his owner will know when something just isn't right with him. If he's acting and eating normal, he's probably doing fine.

Besides, you ever really look at a turtles nostrils? You would whistle too if you had to breathe through those tiny things! D

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