Is my red eared slider turtle sick?

Question

I have a baby red eared slider (I don't know how old he is because the previous owner randomly gave him to me not really knowing how old the turtle was) and he keeps digging holes into the gravel/rocks. After he digs a deep hole, he just sits there for a long time and when he's hungry or something, he walks out of the hole. Is he trying to keep warm or cool? Is this a sign that my turtle's getting sick? My turtle is also forming small rough-looking white spots on his shell. My friend told me that he is just shedding(?) and will form a new shell soon, but I am still concerned. Someone please help.

Answer 1

Turtles should not have gravel in their tanks as they often eat them and become impacted.  Gravel also makes tank cleaning very difficult, and tanks need to be kept extremely clean.  Do you have a water filter, water heater, basking light bulb with correct heat temps (90F basking), UVB lighting on for 12 hours a day?  Do you change the water frequently?  Is he in at least a 30 gallon tank?  RES will eventually need a 100 gallon tank or larger.  

White spots on shell can be shedding, shell rot, fungal infections, or calcium deposits from water.  Here is a link to learn more.  If in doubt, a trip to an experienced herp vet is definitely needed.

http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/me...

Answer 2

Your Turtle Has The AIDS.

sorry

Answer 3

they usually dig to find worms in the wild ..make sure the gravel in the tank is larger than what she can swallow,K. Very important

Shedding is thier scutes (which are what form the top of his shell) will fall off ON THIER OWN as they grow. White dots as long as they are not fuzzy and hes not is blowing bubbles its probably nothing. Keep a watchful eye.

Do you have a filter to make dure the water is clean? That is the biggest issues with sickly turtles. Is he eating?

I know others have put down alot of reading on this question of yours and I will do the same. Hopefully we can all help ya.

Email if you need any help,K?

Sliders are great for decorating ponds or large tanks. I have had two for 36 yrs now plus a 8 yr old and a 5 yr old. This is how I have taken care of them for 36 yrs. Great pets.

I have had them in a stand alone 150gal pond from sears..for about 6 yrs now..

**Here is some important and a lot of info. If he or she is small get feeder guppies or small feeder goldfish, frozen brown worms ..or live brown worms from a fish store. petco and or petsmart do not carry live worms..

**Red-eared sliders, Gender especially juveniles, can be difficult to s*x. Gender in adults is determined by external physical characteristics and behavior. Males have longer fore claws (which are use in courtship), a longer tail length, a longer distance from the body to the vent opening, a tail that is thicker at the base and generally a smaller body size and shell length. Turtles are considered juveniles till after 5 yrs old.

Their Home **The tank  size for small  2” re-eared slider should be a 20-gallon aquarium minimum. As a general rule, the water depth should be at least 2 times the turtle's length, with several extra inches of air space between the surface of the water to the top edge of the tank to prevent escapes. So if your turtle is 4” around  he needs at least 10 to 12” of water to swim. For ONE 4 to 5 inch long sliders, the recommended minimum enclosure surface area is 50 gal plus tank with an extra square foot for each additional turtle.

What they EAT. ****In the wild, re-eared sliders eat both fish, crickets, worms basically anything that moves and  plant sources of food. However, juveniles are mainly meat eaters but still love the greens. The  diet for the lil guys \s should consist  of a commercial aquatic turtle pellets and small feeders guppies or goldfish or minows. Hatchlings and juveniles should be fed on a daily basis. The diet can be supplemented with live fish of an appropriate size (guppies, goldfish), tubiflex worms and earthworms. Plant matter, in the form of  leafy greens or finely chopped mixed vegetables romaine and butter lettuce, can be offered once weekly.

Fill tank with approx 20 feeder guppies and or 10 to 15 small goldfish. you’ll know when to replenish the live food supply. just count what’s left and then fill it up again. Get a cuttle bone from the bird dept and drop in the water for added calcium. Hopefully they may eat it and that’s what you want. They need the calcium for shell growth and a good healthy turtle. Adults diet may consist of some commercial turtle pellets. Plus 80% of their diet is fresh alive fish to catch in their water which also gives them exercise when trying to catch to eat. Adults should be fed greens , romaine, red leaf lettuce, mustard greens, dandelion, watercress, parsley. Swiss chard, shredded carrots, shredded squash, thawed frozen mixed vegetables and miscellaneous fruits. Adults can be fed every two to three days. NO iceberg or cabbage!!

Total Body length: 5-8" average, up to 12 inches max. Life span: 15-25+ years

Males have the longer foreclaws..

Water quality and Filtration ***Sliders are voracious feeders and tend to foul the water real quickly with their messy eating habits and frequent pooping.  You need a  filter for good water quality. Partial to full water changes can be performed. Many different filter systems are available.

*** Health Problems.  If you take proper care of your red-eared slider by providing excellent housing, nutrition, lighting, and heating, it is unlikely to ever become ill or injured. However, it’s still important to familiarize yourself with ailments common to sliders so that you can quickly identify them in your own slider, should it become ill. The following are some of the most common medical problems among red-eared sliders.

“Fungal infections” are fairly common among red-eared sliders, especially younger ones. If you notice what looks like a light layer of cotton on your slider’s shell or eyes or in its mouth, this is most likely some form of fungal infection. Although their appearance can be alarming, most infections in their early stages are fully treatable at home. If a fungal infection remains untreated, however, it can spread across the entire body and cause serious harm to your turtle.

To treat a mild fungal infection, immerse your red-eared slider in a warm saltwater bath for about half an hour each day, using a soft sponge to gently scrub the infected regions. You can also treat patches of fungus with topical applications of a mild antiseptic, such as povidone-iodine. As long as the problem isn’t severe, you should notice signs of recovery within a day or two, and a full recovery in about 10–14 days.

If your turtle has a persistent fungal infection that home treatment isn’t curing, take it to the vet for treatment. Several medications are available that can address a fungal infection if it hasn’t spread too far.”

**Shell Rot. *** First make a dry box to keep the turtle in, shell rot needs water to grow.

Keep it warm and give it plenty of light. Scrub the shell gently with a toothbrush and water. Let the turtle swim for about 20 minutes a day in something other than his pond or tank that has real  clean water. 1-2 times a day take a cotton ball apply Hydrogen Peroxide to it then to his shell. It'll start bubbling which means its cleaning it. it. DO NOT get it in his eyes. Then clean the shell and apply providone-iodine solution to the shell, coat the shell and don't clean it off until he is ready to swim the next day.** Keep this up for several weeks and it should go away. . MOST important !!! TOSS in a bird cuttle bone in the water for calcium. it will dissolve real slow and if they eat it that’s fine!!

Respiratory Infections *****Sliders, cooter, map, painted, yellow bellied and other aquatic species are susceptible to respiratory infections. Many respiratory infections that can affect sliders are mild and easily treatable in their EARLY  stages, but there are also some particularly virulent infections that can kill a turtle very quickly without veterinary attention. Sliders usually develop respiratory infections when their tank is too cold. **Symptoms of an infection include a runny nose, wheezing, lopsided swimming (an ailing lung changes the turtle’s buoyancy), lethargy, and a refusal to eat. If you identify the illness in its early stages, you may be able to treat it by removing the sick slider from its quarters into a new, clean tank (especially if you keep multiple sliders, since the majority of respiratory infections are contagious) and keeping it a few degrees warmer than normal. Warmth is the most crucial factor in treating respiratory infections in the home. If the condition persists for more than a few days or worsens, bring your slider to your veterinarian, who will treat the infection with antibiotics.”

Contact the “herpetologicalsocieties.com, for a turtle vet in your city and state.

Ps..I have arthritis in my hands, so I have  pasted my answer for you. I just try to help you the pet  owner as much as I can. I wish you  Luck.

Answer 4

Well, turtles do shed, but not it's shell. That is usually a sign of low calcium. start feeding him higher calcium food. If that doesn't work, take it to a vet, an exotic one, the normal ones usually dont know anything about turtles. If you think it is cold, then get a water heater. I hope this answer is good!

Answer 5

The white spots don't sound normal.

Are the gravel rocks on the floor of the tank, under the water?

Does the turtle have a basking area? Are you providing correct heat for health and digestion? Are you providing UVB light?

How long have you had the turtle? Is it in stress from the move, or did it do this with the other owner, too? How long did he own the turtle? If you can, guess at its age, and also tell us how big it is (the shell across x long) in inches.

You have a lot of research you will need to do, to learn about your turtle, and proper care for it. It's not hard, once you know what the reptile needs, but you will need to read up on it all.

To start, here's a recipe for gut loading insects, and I'll post some sites below to get you started. But, don't forget to add some more information here, so we can help you.

GUT LOADING CRICKETS for REPTILES:

The number one problem:

Dried up and malnourished pet store crickets and mealworms. These food items are essentially useless. A dehydrated and unfed cricket contains almost no nutrients at all; refrigerated mealworms are even worse. A lot of the variety in nutrients found in wild insects is actually in the stomach content - usually plant material. We need to duplicate this to provide the best for our reptiles; without the risk of illness/disease/parasites which can result from feeding our pets wild insects.

Please note that wax worms, while fattening, are not nutritious.

Basic Dry/Staple Cricket Food:

Equal amounts of dry Iguana food, dry dog food, chick starter mash, oatmeal (you can add dry baby food wheat/rye/barley, etc. as well; even shredded wheat - no sugar).

Grind these items together. Place in a small lid/bowl for the crickets to eat. Store the unused portion in the refrigerator or freezer, until needed.

Supplement daily with one of the following: sweet potato, bananas, zucchini, oranges, carrots, strawberries, assorted squashes (acorn, yellow, etc.), grapefruit, green beans, apples, kale, spinach, cactus pads, and just about any other nutritious item you can think of (do not use white/yellow potatoes - these are starchy and only good if used as a moisture source during shipping, and NEVER use Avacado - it's poisonous to most animals).

Provide the dry food and kale at all times (kale is readily available during the winter months, too), rotating the other food items through in succession. The key is variety, and to provide an assortment of varying nutrients. What you are trying to do is offer your reptiles crickets with guts 'loaded' with fresh foodstuffs.

The crickets should be gut loaded for 2-3 days prior to offering them to your reptiles.

Also, provide fresh clean water in a lid/bowl, adding a sponge or folded paper towel to prevent drowning.

Don't offer more crickets than the reptile(s) will consume within: 1.) a few hours if it’s a lizard, salamander, frog/toad, or 2.) a few minutes, if it’s a water turtle, so you know the crickets will still be full of the good stuff when eaten.

Be sure to remove any uneaten crickets so that they do not soil your pet's environment/water or bother your pet, once it is full. Crickets CAN turn the table - and feast upon your pet! Or aggravate them, causing stress and even cessation of eating.

There are many opinions on how to meet the dietary requirements of your RES (and other water turtles). You can consult your vet for their recommendation, too, and google turtle breeders/sites to see what they feed. This is what I have found to provide a happy/healthy reptile:

In the wild, red ear sliders eat both animal and plant sources of food. However, juveniles are mainly meat eaters, and eat less plant matter than they will as they grow.

In captivity, the diet for juveniles should consist of a commercial aquatic turtle pellet product (like Reptomin floating food sticks); aquatic plants (research which are safe for consumption); gut loaded crickets; and very small feeders guppies/goldfish/minnows. Hatchlings should be fed small amounts spaced several times over the day (they are growing quickly) and juveniles should be feed on a daily basis. The diet can be supplemented with frozen tubiflex worms and earthworms. Plant matter, in the form of leafy greens (like curly kale) or finely chopped mixed vegetables, can be offered once weekly but may not be readily accepted until they grow a bit older, or curiosity sets in.

Get a cuttle bone from the bird dept. at a local pet shop (you can easily cut this to a desired size or use whole for larger turtles/tanks) and drop it in the water for added calcium. Turtles are curious, and eventually they'll bite at it.

For adults the diet is relatively the same (amounts increased as they grow), but more of the diet may consist of commercial turtle pellets and plant items. All my turtles, regardless of age, enjoy their gut loaded crickets. Offering fresh live fish supplements their diet, and provides a good source of exercise as they swim, stalking and catching them. Adults should be fed assorted greens several times a week. Adult turtles may not eat daily, but most will if offered the opportunity.

Alternate/rotate the greens to provide a variety of nutrients: kale; romaine/red leaf lettuce; mustard greens; dandelion greens/flowers; watercress; parsley; Swiss chard; shredded carrots; shredded squash; mixed vegetables (fresh is better, but thawed frozen can be used) and miscellaneous fruits. NO iceberg; brussel sprouts, or cabbage!

You can reduce your task of keeping their environment clean by removing your turtle(s) to a small tank/plastic water filled container (water turtles primarily feed in the water) for feeding. Turtles shred their food with their beak and front claws, and tend to be quite messy eaters.

For a local vet in your area, contact  "herpetologicalsocieties.com“.

I hope this has been helpful.