redearslider.com

Hi
I'm new to owning turtles so any advise would be good I have aqquired a 7yr old slider and she has been very good up to now. All of a sudden she is just floating in her tank and for no reason will start to spin wildly round and round then stop. She seem active enough other times and seems to be eating ok. Any advice is welcome[/quote]

Welcome!

I think everyone is going to want some more detials in order to help you out....

How big is the tank?

What kind of lighting?

Filter?

What is the turtle eating?

Could you provide a few more specific details about her habitat such as size of tank/how much water, water/basking temps, UVB light, heat light etc? This might help someone pinpoint the cause of her behavior.

If it's a female (referring to the "she" in your post) does she have an accessible nesting area?

The only things I can think of for erratic swimming would be signs of RI but usually that is more lopsided swimming not circles, I think or a female RES that swims erratically trying to leave the tank to nest when they need to lay their eggs.

Hope someone can help you more.

Okies
The tanks is a 60 gallon with a large basking area with a filter system and no gravel on the bottom. 40-60W incandescent light bulb above the basking area.

Any thing else you require

Can the turtle swim straight, or only in circles?

Can she submerge herself, or does she just float?

Do you have a UVB light?

40-60 watts isn't really much. i'd go for atleast 75. i have a 100 watt on mine but sometimes i think that's a bit too much.

no that that has anything to do with your problem. but just for fyi

ok

She floats bacwards with her head submerged and can sink to the bottom ok. She can swim straight but most of the time just floats backwards and then spins wildly like a top.

And I will look at upping my lamp size

Thanks for all the advice guys

Here are a couple of older posts where people have talked about their turts swimming in circles...could be nothing out of the ordinary.

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewt ... ht=circles

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewt ... ht=circles

Also, you can ask Steve, he had a turtle that had coordination problems that had to be vet treated. He talks about it in this post.

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewt ... 0&start=15

Swimming in circles is definitely not normal. Is it always in the same direction? Is he having difficult grabbing his food? In general, is his orientation off?

If he is having a hard time swimming normally, then you should take him out of the tank. What is the room temperature? Is he near an air conditioner?

Temp is what's important, not watts. If your temp is okay, keep it the way it is.