Help Lethargic Turtle

[Sapanga]

Hi,

I have a baby yellow bellied slider just over a year old. She has become pretty lethargic and spends all day basking/sleeping on her dock. She hardly ever opens her eyes. There doesn’t seem to be any sign of illness but I did notice a little swelling on one side of her upper body where her neck and arm meet. There are no abrasions to the skin but it looks a little stretched. She has now stopped eating I am worried there is something wrong.

She has a heater and UVB light plus 2 filters an external and internal filter. There isn’t anything she could have hurt herself on in the tank. Water temp is 27C and her basking area is the same.
She gets feed bloodworm, dried shrimp and pellets every couple of days

She’s normally pretty active I don’t know what’s wrong

 

[Paschendale52]

It would be most helpful if you can provide some pictures of your setup. Maybe someone can see something problematic,

 

[Toddrickfl1]

Hi,

I have a baby yellow bellied slider just over a year old. She has become pretty lethargic and spends all day basking/sleeping on her dock. She hardly ever opens her eyes. There doesn’t seem to be any sign of illness but I did notice a little swelling on one side of her upper body where her neck and arm meet. There are no abrasions to the skin but it looks a little stretched. She has now stopped eating I am worried there is something wrong.

She has a heater and UVB light plus 2 filters an external and internal filter. There isn’t anything she could have hurt herself on in the tank. Water temp is 27C and her basking area is the same.
She gets feed bloodworm, dried shrimp and pellets every couple of days

She’s normally pretty active I don’t know what’s wrong

Spending all day basking with eyes closed while also not eating is the classic sign of illness. You'll need to take your Turtle to an experienced exotic Vet if at all possible.

 

[Sapanga]

Spending all day basking with eyes closed while also not eating is the classic sign of illness. You'll need to take your Turtle to an experienced exotic Vet if at all possible.

Unfortunately there is no vet anywhere nearby that’s is experienced to treat a turtle

 

[Sapanga]

It would be most helpful if you can provide some pictures of your setup. Maybe someone can see something problematic,

This is her setup there is a UVB light in the lid. Some of the stones are a little discoloured as we had an issue with a faulty filter about 4mths ago, they have been sterilised so not actually dirty (I know that what it looks like)

I have attached her photo this morning she doesn’t actually look at puffy today

 

[mark1]

sterilized substrate is not really a good thing .......... you need "good" bacteria in it , been my experience really "clean" filtration is not what works for me ............ you should make it easier for the turtle to get in and out the water ...... bird vets can treat turtles , and from this pic it appears his best shot ..... if this were mine , i have no doubt i would get him an ADE and B vitamin injection and a course of ceftazidime ........in this picture your turtle looks pretty unwell to me

 

[Sapanga]

Thank you for your response I thought the turtle dock was ok as it slopes down into the water. I have rang round a number of vets in the area but they said they can’t treat a turtle as they have no experience

 

[jeff kushner]

I was hoping someone could give you a path forward but if there are no experienced Vets within your reach, then it's time to look into other options;

I will share this as I did on another thread;
Then....take a leap of faith & Trust me on this one;
Carrot soaks, once to twice a day......20 minutes in a bowl of yup, warmed to 83-86F Gerber baby carrots. Let her get good and covered. Do this for a week. You will see a difference in days. Don't ask me how it works, I was very much a skeptic until Matilda got lethargic and I tried it. She will thank me, you will thank me, then I will tell you to thank the forum...amazing trick that works wonders!

My Matilda was like your little guy, laying around, not eating or moving and losing weight.................I thought the "carrot soaks" was some old bullsh*t wives tale......but when my little girl was wasting away....I was desperate enough to try it.....it worked amazingly well!

good luck!

 

[Markw84]

Your turtle Is being kept too cold and needs a basking light to provide a very warm spot where it can warm its core body temp up to at least 30°. The basking dock under that light should be about 38°. Be sure there are also good bright lights on the tank that are on 14 hours and off 10 hours. If you have a UV light in the hood, it is probably a compact fluorescent. They can really degenerate UV out put quickly so you most likely need to replace with a new bulb if it is over 9 mos old.

Where you live there is so little light this time of year coming into the room and the days are way too short for a turtle to be active. Without compensating for that, the turtle will constantly be lethargic and want to brumate (hibernate).

Is your turtle eating? What is it eating. With the lack of heat, light, and enough room to really swim, you turtle will certainly be lethargic and prone to developing illness. The picture does look like it is already ill.