All Turtles Message Board

Snappy · Level 1 Joined: 05 Dec 2005 Posts: 16

Hello, I'm new. I have 3 RES, two males and a female who are 1.5 years old. My one male has stopped eating (well, only eating 2 pellets over the past 2 weeks). He spends the ENTIRE DAY and NIGHT on the basking rock. When he does occassionally dive off, he seems not to be able to sink, his hind end seems higher.

I watched him very closely tonight and he let out 2 big gulps of air as he was trying to get to the bottom of the tank (maybe to eat something?). He couldn't do it and the female came around and he got so scared he swam right up and out onto the basking rock again.

The female hurt him the other day - she tends to bite their penis' when they are exposing themselves. She made him bleed a little, but he had stopped eating before she did this. (She's very aggressive at times, she runs the show). I'm wondering if he's constipated. If you think so, how would I un-constipate?

contact444 · Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2005 12:05 am Post subject:

Usually not being able to swim evenly or being lopsided and gasping for air is a sign of a respiratory infection. Basking alot is also a sign of sickness. If he has been injured recently this could have contributed to his immune system being lowered. These sites have some a pretty good descriptions of diseases/illnesses-

http://reslider.free.fr/sickness.html
http://www.klsnet.com/sickturt.html
http://www.redearslider.com/index_health_4.html -this one is good

These sites do advises treating it yourself if it's not very advanced, however these are usually deadly left untreated. Definitely seperate your turtles- and you might want to make this a permanant arrangement since your femal is aggressive. Increase the temp and watch all your turtles very closely. This could lead to pneumonia and from the way your turtle is swimming may have already done so.

I hope this helps and good luck.
_________________
2 big RES, 1 Flowerhorn Cichlid, 1 Cockatiel. I will alway hold a place in my heart for Daphne, my albino RES.

dixieee · Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2005 9:40 am Post subject:

and i'd suggest u take him to a vet. i hope he'll be fine. good luck and keep us posted about ur little guy plz
_________________
Wed 10/27/2004 is the worst day..i lost my best friend Leo

so now i have a female RES, Green, and a cute stupid male YBS, Mint

5/4/2006 RIP Lemon, u were my first rescue and i'm so proud of u. will never 4get u

Snappy · Level 1 Joined: 05 Dec 2005 Posts: 16

Thanks for your advise. I'll put him in his own tank tonight and raise the temp. From what I was reading, they said to soak him in warm water for 1/2 hour to induce the bowels. (One of the sites said that if he is flicking under his tail with his back foot, it could be a sign of constipation - which is what he does). Does anyone know how "warm" it should be. If the water temp should be 80-85, is 90 ok or is that too hot?

Don't worry, I'm not going to rule out RI, I just don't see any other signs at the moment, so I'll treat him one strp at a time.

I've had a bad experience with a vet, and like to avoid them if possible. The reason why my female is so aggressive is because of the vet mistreating her, I believe. She nearly died after her visit. So if I can handle things at home, I'd much rather. (Don't worry, I'm not anti-vet, so I would never let anything die, I just have to find a new vet.)

dixieee · Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2005 2:31 pm Post subject:

look up for herp vets in ur area. here's a list that may help u finding one http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/vetlisting.htm

low 90's is ok for the temp and u'll have to soak him for 30 min twice a day so he doesn't dehydrate, could drink water, extract wastes, and eat if possible. try tuna with him maybe he'll be interested cz if he eats his immunity will boost and it'll help a lot.

good luck
_________________
Wed 10/27/2004 is the worst day..i lost my best friend Leo

so now i have a female RES, Green, and a cute stupid male YBS, Mint

5/4/2006 RIP Lemon, u were my first rescue and i'm so proud of u. will never 4get u

deesygirl · Moderator Joined: 12 Sep 2002 Posts: 1232

Another thing it could be is an impaction from gravel ingestion.

Now I am not saying that treating at home should be done but I also understand some peoples flustration with vets also some people have no access to qualified herp vets (for example the 2 in my state one is 2 1/2 hours one way the other is 3 hours one way) and are trusting their turts to vets with no more experience than the owner has. SO I am going to post some info that you can try at your own risk of course.

Take a syringe with needle removed and put a small amount of fish oil. I would recomend a turkey injecter baster. For a juvie RES I would say about 1/2 oz or a little less. I would force the critter to take small amouts at a time. Now I mean small. You could hurt him trying to force all that oil in him at once. I would do this as often as you possibly could. If you are home all day try a little every hour or so. And yes raise that temp up there. Get rid of the pellets and offer tuna in oil instead. If he does not go pretty soon I would take him in.

A little more info on forcing him to take this. Grab him behind the ear area. You need to hold him firmly. Once he smells the fish oil 'usually" they will snap at the smell and you can squeeze a little of the oil in his mouth. If he is really compacted he may not snap at the smell so you will need to be persistant. Gently but firmly work the tip of the syringe into his mouth. Sometimes this will anger him enough to get a anger bite and there again you will have it made. Either way a little persistance pays off just don't give up. If you can't or won't than please take him into the vet or if there is no results in a day or two please take him in.

Snappy · Level 1 Joined: 05 Dec 2005 Posts: 16

Thanks everyone, I put him in his own aquarium lastnight. I raised the temp, and provided him a place to bask. He's a little cramped in there, but he's not into swimming right now anyways.

I believe he slept underwater (which is more normal for him), because he was still in the same place he hid at night. But then he came out to look at me this morning! He wasn't floating anymore! He was able to walk on the floor. I was so happy Smile

I changed the water, put food in - some shrimp and a hunk of Romaine. No poops yet, but he's acting more himself already. If there is none when I get home from work, I'll soak him in warmer water to try to stimulate. I will definately feed him some tuna tonight soaked in fish oil, hopefully he'll go for it.

I do not have any gravel in the tank he usually lives. I'm going to check the temp, I know I'm cold at night, (I'm Canadian - 'tis the season)so maybe it's too cold and the heater can't keep up with it.

It's crazy, the vet I took my female to advertized that he was an exotic vet. I asked if they helped turtles before I went there (I've taken my dog there for years), but they teased her so bad and the whole trip stressed he out she vomited repeadedly for the next 24 hours and slumped into a depression so bad that she wouldn't eat or come up to us. She perked right up and ate immediately after I put her back in the main aquarium. Since then, whenever I need to hold her, she hisses, snaps and tries to bite me. She got me a couple of times *ouch*. She is getting better with it, with time. I'm sorry, my point was: the place I bought them from has recommended a different vet who they go to - so if I need to, I can find one.

dixieee · Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2005 3:02 pm Post subject:

i hope things get even better. let us know if he eats
_________________
Wed 10/27/2004 is the worst day..i lost my best friend Leo

so now i have a female RES, Green, and a cute stupid male YBS, Mint

5/4/2006 RIP Lemon, u were my first rescue and i'm so proud of u. will never 4get u

contact444 · Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2005 10:16 pm Post subject:

I hope that she improves on her own, but am glad you have a vet on stand-by.
_________________
2 big RES, 1 Flowerhorn Cichlid, 1 Cockatiel. I will alway hold a place in my heart for Daphne, my albino RES.

Snappy · Level 1 Joined: 05 Dec 2005 Posts: 16

I'm so happy, tuna did the trick! Laughing

I still haven't see a poop, but if he's not eating, there's nothing to poop out. He's not eating a lot, but he's has a few bites two days in a row.

I'm also turning up the tank water in the main tank, even though I haven't changed the setting - if feels cool. Since the snow has arrived, it feel colder in my house too (even though I didn't change the thermostat). Hopefully this is the only problem. Still watching closely though.

dixieee · Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2005 2:14 pm Post subject:

that's great! waiting for the even better news Smile

_________________
Wed 10/27/2004 is the worst day..i lost my best friend Leo

so now i have a female RES, Green, and a cute stupid male YBS, Mint

5/4/2006 RIP Lemon, u were my first rescue and i'm so proud of u. will never 4get u

STRAYKINGFISHER · Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2005 2:49 pm Post subject:

Good to hear that he's eating. Very Happy

_________________

contact444 · Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2005 8:45 pm Post subject:

We're all in anticipation for poop. lol. you don't hear that everyday. Razz

_________________
2 big RES, 1 Flowerhorn Cichlid, 1 Cockatiel. I will alway hold a place in my heart for Daphne, my albino RES.

dixieee · Posted: Sat Dec 10, 2005 2:00 pm Post subject:

_________________
Wed 10/27/2004 is the worst day..i lost my best friend Leo

so now i have a female RES, Green, and a cute stupid male YBS, Mint

5/4/2006 RIP Lemon, u were my first rescue and i'm so proud of u. will never 4get u

Snappy · Level 1 Joined: 05 Dec 2005 Posts: 16

Well, I put him temporarily back in the big tank because his "hospital" one had no filter and I had to clean it 3x/day. He really seemed to panic around the other turtles, they smelled him a lot, and the floating began again. Sad

I've got him set up in a bigger tank now with a filter, he calmed right down, slept in the water, he seems to have regained the sink/float thing a bit better, and he's eating again - even shrimp and pellets (that's my kid, I told her fruit)!

I'm anticipating poop soon. But like I said before - no eat, no poop. The temp is around 80 in the "hospital" tank, I've got a lid on it so the air is warm too. The other tank is more like 70 and I keep my house at 65-68. Come to think about it, the warmest place in the main tank would be on the basking rock where he spent most of his time.

Could it be that he has slowed the eating because of the hibernation thing? Or am I just trying to justify? Confused

dixieee · Posted: Mon Dec 12, 2005 3:32 pm Post subject:

can u at least call the vet and ask? it's not good to keep guessing on him. i don't think it's a matter of hibernation.

good luck and keep us posted
_________________
Wed 10/27/2004 is the worst day..i lost my best friend Leo

so now i have a female RES, Green, and a cute stupid male YBS, Mint

5/4/2006 RIP Lemon, u were my first rescue and i'm so proud of u. will never 4get u

deesygirl · Moderator Joined: 12 Sep 2002 Posts: 1232

Turtles kept in a range of 66-72 for a long period of time can develop respiratory infections and stop eating. This is commonly refered to as the death zone. as it is to warm to allow them to hibernate and yet to cool to stimulate hunger as well as to cool for the immune system to function properly. That is why you found him in the basking area so much.
With a warmer basking area the other turtles should be ok. I personally would raise the water temp to at least 74 preferably 78 but as long as you do have a good warm basking area they should be ok.

Snappy · Level 1 Joined: 05 Dec 2005 Posts: 16

I wish that when you purchased a turtle, the store would be provided with a fact sheet. I was just warned about the size. Can you believe I've read so much, got books out of the library, surfed the web, and have never read WHY the temp has to be at a certain tempreture. Mad

Thank you. I will put the lid on the main tank to keep any heat in so the air is warmer and I will purchase a bigger heater before the weekend.

This makes perfect sense because he's as happy as a lark (if lark's are happy) in the smaller tank, he's eating - he even hand fed lastnight! He looks healthy, his shell is hard and a nice colour, he can swim and submerge properly too.

deesygirl · Moderator Joined: 12 Sep 2002 Posts: 1232

Oh I know. The pet stores hate it when they see me coming. I have all these really nice care sheets. With the real info on turtle care. Like what type of habitat they need and how big they get. But I think it is unfair to the potential owner and the poor turtle to be uninformed. Some of the owners would not buy the turtles if they knew the facts and then the turtle ends up suffering for it. I know I have rescued many of the poor things. I am just glad we were able to figure out what was wrong with your baby and he is happier now. So along with a warmer tank and getting away from the girls he should be one happy guy.

Those nasty women are always picken on the boys in my tanks too. I had one that was so bad the boys and smaller girls would tuck their limbs inside whenever she would come around. I finally got a bigger tank for her.