All Turtles Message Board

Rennifer · Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2007 1:09 am Post subject: Female Baby RES acting strange

Lemme just start by saying I'm only 16. Okay, so my mom thought it'd be a good idea to get me some of those baby turtles you see at the mall one day because I'd mentioned one day while passing by that they were cute (though I felt horrible for them being confined all together like that).

So she brings me home this baby male and female turtle in this little plastic tank and I'm sitting here all "...What do I do with it?" because I had no earthly idea how to care for these things. I did a lot of research on them and I'm trying my best to give them the best home I can. (I named them Soup and Crackers Razz

)

Well, Crackers (the male) died about a week after I got him. After the fact I'd realized he was probably sick since he was rather lethargic (I'd figured he was just shy) and it doesn't seem like he ate much (because the female is fat now Razz

). I noticed he had white spots on his shell and when he died his shell was extremely soft. Any ideas on that? I'm worried because I'm not sure whether it was shell fungus or not and if I should treat the remaining female for shell fungus.

Okay, now, moving on to the female (Soup). She too was rather lethargic when we got her, though she'd burrow occasionally. One of the strange things she did was she used to push herself under the male turtle. I'm not sure if she was trying to get him out of the water because she knew he was sick, if maybe she was just playing, or if she was looking for a place to hide.

Now lately (within the past few days or so) she's been a lot more active, even somewhat hyperactive. She keeps trying to climb out of her cage and at one point she managed to flip herself onto her back when trying to use the clip from the clip on UV lamp to climb up (needless to say I moved that out of the tank). She runs all over the tank and almost always has her head out of the water (which is strange because she used to never do that, though it could've just been because she was shy). Sometimes she'll spaz if she sees me turn to look at her and retract herself into the water, but if I'm not looking she'll be going crazy all over the place. She still burrows into the gravel and even into me when I hold her.

But the weirdest thing I've noticed her doing is sticking her head out fully and stretching out her neck and then this little flap of skin will expand and unexpand and then expand and so forth. Since I'm new with turtles I'm not sure if that's normal for them or not.

I think one of the things I need to do for her is give her a place to hide in her tank. I'd actually read an earlier post and someone mentioned putting colored construction paper around the tank to give baby turtles privacy. Would that be okay for my turtle?

One thing I'm worried about is if she might have a respiratory problem. Sometimes I think I hear her making noise but I can never be certain cause its always a pretty faint noise and there are a lot of people and other animals in and around my house so things make noises all the time. But I'm worried that her keeping her head out of the water is because of a respiratory problem or something, but I don't really know.

Oh and one other thing. I have a skink that likes to hang around in my room and eat bugs. I don't mind him, especially since he's helping me out, but he likes to hang around the tank (for the heat I guess) and I'm worried if this is okay for my turtle. I mean, the skink never goes on or in the tank, he just hangs out on the shelf next to it and stuff.

I think that's everything, hopefully I didn't forget something. I'm sorry for making this such an excrutiatingly long post, but there're just a lot of things I'm worried about. ---Oh, I think I just heard Soup sneeze. Can turtles sneeze? She definately made some sort of noise that sounded like a sneeze or something.

Anyway, enough of my endless ranting. Please help Sad

(P.S. Are turtles social creatures? I mean should I be getting her another turtle friend or will she be fine on her own?)

turtle_grl77 · Level 4 Joined: 18 Nov 2005 Posts: 985 Location: Florida

Turtles are not social creatures. They like being alone. Plus you dont have to worry about seperating them later. Sounds like your little guy who died had shell rot. Your other turtle sounds fine.

Rennifer · Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2007 3:31 pm Post subject:

Is the thing she does with her throat normal then? I'm just really worried because I know the water isn't as warm as it should be. We really need to get a heater or something for it, but we're so broke. I'm trying all I can to keep the water warm. I change the water every day to fresh, warm water. I tried putting a heating pad under her tank but it would shut itself off after an hour or so so that got kind of annoying. I keep her basking light on at night because it provides some heat and if I don't the water gets way too cold.

I'm just really worried about her, I don't know what to do.

turtle_grl77 · Level 4 Joined: 18 Nov 2005 Posts: 985 Location: Florida

You can use a regular house light to help promote heat. And it sounds perfectly normally as my turtles do it to. I think they do that while breathing deeply.
Keep an eye on your turtle if your hear squeaking or your turtle swims tilted to one side, basking alot more than normal and just acting lathargic take them to the vet to make sure he doesnt have Resp infection.

Rennifer · Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2007 4:01 pm Post subject:

Should I continue to change the water daily? I'm not sure if it stresses her out too much or not, but it does give her fresh, warm water every day. I could start trying to do it while she's feeding so that she doesnt have to be moved out because she'll already be in the feeding container.

turtle_grl77 · Level 4 Joined: 18 Nov 2005 Posts: 985 Location: Florida

With changing the water everyday she loses some the stabilization in the water. Change the water every couple of weeks. or sooner if necessary.

Rennifer · Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2007 4:12 pm Post subject:

Well I already have to clean the tank every other day until I can afford a filter, so she doesn't have much water stabilization anyway Sad

luvturtles · Guest Joined: 19 Mar 2007 Posts: 4

I have a little turtle that is active like this. He loves to dart back and forth and then run whenever you come into the room. They DEFINITELY like to have a place to hide.

I bought some little plants with flat leaves so he could hide under. They were only $2.99 at petsmart. If you don't have the money, go to your yard and find some good sticks or rocks (wash thoroughly) that she could hide under or behind.

Also, Wal-mart sells a little calcium block that looks like a little white turtle, you just put it in the tank with the turtle and it slowly dissolves, this gives them the calcium they need for a stronger, healthier shell. Also, for a few dollars, buy the canned worms at petsmart to give your turtle variety in its food. (Remember to refrigerate, they stink when they go bad). A good idea is whenever your home to put a desk lamp close to the water so she can bask when you're home.

Also, remember turtles are VERY curious, they want to see what's going on, they can hear the noises and can even recognize your voice. My little turtle loves to stand on his tiptoe and stick his nose out of the water so he can see what's going on. Have fun with your turtle!

turtle_grl77 · Level 4 Joined: 18 Nov 2005 Posts: 985 Location: Florida

That little turtle shaped thing is calcium sulfate drop a piece in every other water change and helps keep your turtle healthy. It is not the calcium they need. You can buy a cuttle bone for birds. Pull the hard shell off and drop a piece of that in the tank for your turtles to mucnh on. That gives them the calcium they need.

Rennifer · Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2007 5:32 pm Post subject:

I already have some calcium powder stuff that I coat her food in, I got it from the pet store. She's got a basking lamp and I have the desk lamp on her too for heat. Now the biggest thing I need is a place for her to hide until I can get her a bigger tank.

Thanks for all your help, guys Smile