My Red Ear Slider Turtle Is Throwing up White stuff.. ? HELP?

Question

Okay so for about 2 weeks now ive noticed my turtle is throwing up white stuff, and its mouth bubbles I'm not sure what is going on. But its only happening to the one turtle, there are two of them in the cage, and only one is having this problem. PLEASE tell me what i should do. We feed them turtle palettes that were purchased from the petstore.

any help, ideas are apreciated thankyou.

10pts to best answer

Answer 1

If you had been throwing up for two weeks, I'm sure you'd have gone to the doctor by now. You NEED to get the turtle to a vet, no one can tell you for sure what's wrong with it here. It could be because you're temperature's off and it's having trouble with digestion, it could be an infection, who knows?

And just because the other isn't exhibiting symptoms (yet) doesn't mean it's not sick already too. So really, they should both go to the vet.

Sooner rather than later.

Answer 2

You said cage so I would have assumed that these are land turtles.  But you say RES in your Q, so I'm hoping you meant their tank.  Throwing up white stuff could be anything from digestion problems due to incorrect temperatures and/or parasites, to pneumonia/respiratory problems, etc.

This is not something to just 'guess' about, especially if it has been going for two weeks.

Reptiles are very slow to show signs of illness.  By the time they are exhibiting symptoms, it's usually pretty progressed.  Reptiles are also very slow to heal, so time is an important factor.

They need vet help, and ASAP.  Bacterial and respiratory infections are contagious.  If you haven't already, I would recommend separating the turtles immediately (and keep both warm).  I'd suggest removing the one which isn't throwing up white stuff from the infected habitat to a clean one, and hope it hasn't gotten infected, or isn't as sick yet and can be cured/treated more easily than the other.  

If you don’t already know of a qualified exotics/reptile vet in your area, google: “Herpetological Society” -or-

http://www.herpvetconnection.com/  for the one closest to you.

Get them to the vet, and get them the help they need before it's too late.

Good luck, and I hope they are feeling better soon.

Answer 3

CAGE,,you did mean fish tank,right?

seperate now.

Is he eating at all??

Increase sick turtles water to 80 degrees.

sounds like a bad 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.”

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29035692@N0...

Contact the “www.anapsid.org/societies, for a turtle vet /  rescue in your city and state.

I wish you luck.

PS..

The bigger the environment the bigger the healthier the turtle. Remember 10 gallons for every inch of turtle. I have used kiddy pools and plastic pond liners from most nurseries and worked great.

Did you know that they need to bask under a reptile light UVA/UVB for 8 to 10 hrs a day for the vitamin D that they need to grow. So that means getting a turtle dock also.

Leave the heater on 75 to 78 degrees always. These turtles in captivity do not hibernate their eating may slow down some but they will not hibernate.

Their water needs to be clean otherwise they get sick easily from dirty water cause they p**p allot.

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

Males have the longer front nails and are used in mating. And are considered mature at about 5 yrs old. You can’t start sexing till about  3” across.

You need a good filter system! Gravel larger than they can swallow.

You need to feed them feeder guppies, goldfish or minnows for protein and calcium daily drop 20 or so in the tanks and watch them disappear in a few days! When I got these two 36 yrs ago all we had in back then  were goldfish to feed , so after 36 yrs and still going strong. They can eat goldfish! I spend about 175.00 a month on fish ,goldfish and minnows. An Extra  75.00 on leafy greens and dried cubed tubiflex worms.

This way when they swim for their dinner they get exercise also!

They sleep at the bottom of rivers, streams. lakes or ponds or your tank to avoid predators like coyotes,  foxes, owls, hawks, possums, raccoons and even some wide mouth bass.

TOSS in a bird cuttle bone in the water for calcium. it will dissolve real slow and if they eat it that’s fine!!

They can have garden worms, meal worms, snails, crickets, flies, crayfish small frogs, dragon flies and  anything that moves, but only as a treat.

They need leafy greens Romaine, Butter lettuce. (Iceberg and cabbage are bad for them, any other leafy greens will do) for vitamin A that they need at least 3 to 4 times a week.

You probably already know that they get sick easily, shell rot, respiratory sickness, lopsided swimming, coughing, blowing bubbles from their nose.

**Swollen cloudy eyes means lacking in Vitamin A. Which we all need for good eyes. Google ‘vegetables with Vitamin A.

Contact the “www.anapsid.org/societies, for a turtle vet /  rescue in your city and state.

I wish you luck.

Answer 4

Take it to the vet!  

It should be obvious what you should do when your animal has a health issue.

Find a herp vet Here:

http://www.herpvetconnection.com/

Or Here:

http://www.anapsid.org/vets/