General Care Discussion :: Eye infection, VitA deficiency, other?/Trying to bite itself

[rancho]

My RES is behaving oddly <a href="http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5129">once again</a>.

I have caught him rubbing his eyes more frequently. Once in the water, twice in the feeding container and a few times while basking. He is still eating, although not much. He seems to have trouble eating, needing to break down the pellets in quarter pellet size and even then, he regurgitates some of it. Also, he has basking most of the day. When he dives into the water from the basking dock, bubbles escape from his mouth and nose. I hope that is normal? He is swimming normally and no mucus.

I did a partial water change on Wednesday. Could it be something in the water that's causing it? T2 is fine. I do use AquaPlus conditioner. Should I do another water change? If so, partial or complete?

I'm not sure of it the eyes are puffy. It does appear a tad bigger than T2, but perhaps that's just because I think there's something wrong. I don't want it to get serious to be sure. How can you tell the difference between VitA deficiency or an eye infection, if it is even so?

Dietry wise, I feed it raffy pellets. I offer it zucchini or romaine lettuce. T1 would eat the zucchini but has rejected the lettuce after the first bite.

I have upped the temperature and I've added baby multivitamens to the container that I feed it in.

I apologize for all the trouble.
Thank you so much in advance!

[steve]

Is he just rubbing his eyes or are they closed? Does his eyes open fine out of water? Does his eyes/eyelids look different compared to the other turtle?

For now I would separate them until there is more information.

[marisa]

How long has the turtle been doing this? You mentioned partial water changes---how often do you do full ones and how often (how big is the tank they're in)? Do you use some of the tank water for the feeding container?

You said you increased the temp (water?)---what was it and what is it now? What's the temp of the basking area?

Vit A deficiency is the result of an unbalanced diet. I'm not familiar with Raffy pellets, haven't even seen them sold here, but perhaps another pellet would provide more balanced nutrition (compare the Raffy with another brand). Rather than zucchini and romaine, try dandelions, bits of carrot and cantelope for added beta carotene (which is converted to Vit A). A bit of cod liver oil applied to the lids with a q-tip would also help if it is a Vit A deficiency.

An eye infection can be from unclean water (why I was asking about the water changes), an injury, etc.

The bubbles when he dives into the water don't sound out of the ordinary. If bubbles were coming from his nose or mouth when he was out of the water/basking, that would be a different story.

[amazingcc]

How big is your tank? And how big are your turts? Mine sometimes rub their eyes after water changes, or if I don't measure the dechlorinator EXACTLY! Too many water changes will stress your turts and upset the natural bacteria that's growing in your tank. Do you have a good filter?

[rancho]

Thank you for all the quick replies!

@Steve: He is just rubbing hsi eyes. They are not closed and open fine out of the water. It doesn't look any different as far as I can tell.

@Marisa/amazingcc: He has been doing this for the past 3 days. He was doing the same thing about two weeks ago but reverted back to normal after a few days. I do partial water changes once a week and a complete one once a month. They're in a 10 gallon tank right now; turtles are 1-1.5 inches long. I'm aware that I need a bigger tank, but I really can't afford it right now. Getting a rubbermaid container would require me to get another heater, filter, UVB/UVA lights... the money would be better spent on a bigger tank.

I don't tank water from their tank, but I have water set aside when it comes to feeding and it is conditioned as well.

It was 78 before; I bumped it up to 82 now. The basking temperature is 85.

I have tried carrots, he would not eat it. I even tried to dip the carrot in a bit of tuna juice. T2 gobbles down anything you feed him. Where can I get dandelions? I'm afraid they might have pesticides.

Thanks again for all the advice one again!

[amazingcc]

From what I read in your post, I'm guessing that the water in your 10-gallon tank doesn't sufficiently dilute the waste from two turtles! Meaning, your turts are constantly swimming and drinking in water contaminated w/feces and urin! All the vitamins in the world won't help your turts eyes, if that's the case. Do you have a filter?
Why would you need to get another filter, UVB, etc. for the rubbermaid container? If you get ONE big one, you can keep the turts together for the time being and don't need to buy additional stuff.
Your water temps are best kept at 78 degrees (eye infections are not helped by bumping up the water temps), but your basking temps need to be at around 88 - 90 degrees. I would seriously consider the rubbermaid tote - I bet your turts eyes will improve dramatically!

[CountryGirl68]

If you are going to get a bigger tank, buying a better filter, heater, etc. now that can be used with the new tank will not be ill-spent money. You'll have to upgrade these items when you get the bigger tank anyway.

The basking temp should always be 10 degrees warmer than the water temp. If I'm not mistaken, you shouldn't have the water warmer than 80F and basking temp 90F.

[rancho]

I have a filter for a 20 gallon tank. And when I take it out to feed, I leave it out until it poops before I put it back in.

If I get a bigger tank that holds more water, would I not have to get a new filter to accomodate the new amount of water, as well as stronger heater, etc?

I have changed the temperature back down. I haven't seen it rubbing its eyes anymore.

---------------

New problem:

The turtle is biting himself. Well, he's trying to. I was watching him tonight and I thought I was seeing things. It was as though he was trying to bite his elbow.

He's not shedding or anything, or at least, he doesn't appear to be. Is it because of the temp change?

[amazingcc]

Turtles urinate A LOT! His skin could start to get irritated, or it could be any number of other things. Dirty water can cause all kinds of illnesses. Yes, you will have to upgrade your filter, if you get a bigger tank/rubbermaid tote. However, that would still be cheaper than having to take the turts to the vet for all the possible health problems contaminated water can cause.

[marisa]

Test the ammonia level.

[SpotsMama]

My turtle has been living outside in a pond for several months now. I test the water from time to time and all the indicators consistently come up zero, indicating the nitrification cycle is working.

We had a cool snap (!) this weekend so I brought him inside to his tank. I've got a new filter on order but haven't received it yet but I thought it would be ok to leave Spot in the unfiltered indoor tank water for a couple of days.

The tank is big - 100 gallons - and is filled to around 70 gallons. Spot's nearly 7 inches long. But after JUST ONE DAY the ammonia level in his tank rose to 1 PPM! I was amazed at how fast it built up!

Fortunately the weather is warm enough that I could put him back outside after a day. I won't bring him back in until the filter is installed, or until the weather cools off again. If I have to bring him back in, I guess it will be DAILY water changes until the filter comes!

Just to let you know how really fast the ammonia can build up.....

[rancho]

What can I use to test the ammonia level?

Many thanks, once again.

[missibsu]

There are test kits that can be found in the fish section of most pet stores.

[amazingcc]

Imagine how fast that will happen w/TWO turts in a ten gallon tank!