My turtle's sick?

[0f2s5]

I am so sorry your Turtle is sick and the grownups in your life have let you down in its care. I hope he gets better soon. On a positive note red eared sliders are very hardy. Give him as much water to swim in that you can, and a nice warm spot that he can get out of the water and bask in. Even a rock can work for basking. You don't need an expensive dock. Best wishes.

Thank you.


Today I noticed that he's moving a bit more and the eye that was swollen has gotten a bit better and has opened up a bit.

Either way, I will still be buying a much larger tank with all the equipments needed and try to bring him to a vet.

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Hi Natasha:

You don't have to buy expensive things to make your turtle comfortable. You can start with a large plastic tub. You can buy them for around $10 (not sure of prices in Canada). Then get a clamp-on light fixture that you will attach to the side of the tub. Get a brick or large rock and wash it real good. You place the brick at one side under the light. Then add water to the top of the brick (so the top of the brick is out of the water). The light gives him a place to warm up, then he jumps back in the water when he gets too warm.

I think to get rid of those worms, all you have to do is clean out the bowl well. Rinse off the turtle under the faucet and wash the bowl. The worms are probably just in the water, and not in the turtle.

If you don't want to buy a filter, then you MUST change the water when it gets dirty (probably every other day or so).

Seeing the second picture you've posted, I can tell the little guy is somewhat deformed. This is from not enough heat/sun and the wrong kind of food. He should have some live food occasionally. Worms, crickets, etc. Pellets are ok too, but not every day. So one day give him some worms. The next day toss him a chunk of zucchini. The next day a few pellets. Maybe a strawberry the next day. Give him a nice variety and his shell will start to grow more normal-looking. But he has to have either the sun or some good heat from a light.

Good luck and keep us informed!
I'm glad you are now thinking of giving your turtle a better life. They can be very rewarding pets.

Thank you for all sharing all this information.

I will try my best to provide him with all of these as soon as I can this week.
I will also buy a filter sometime in the future, but right now I've been changing his water once a day.

My mom's not a big fan of the idea of having the turtle eat live food but I'm sure I'll be able to convince her.

As for the sun, I do know for sure that he hasn't got enough of it because of where he was placed at my aunt's place.
Right now I've placed him under a lamp with half of the tub covered by a piece of cardboard for shade.
When the new house we moved into is finally clean and the weather's not as cold, there's a patio where I can bring him out occasionally for some sun.


The good news is that his swollen eye has opened a little bit today and he's been moving around more.

 

[LindaF]

So glad he is making progress. Just one little note, if you are changing his water daily you will need to add a conditioner to the water that removes chlorine. Tap water can be hard on their eyes.

 

[0f2s5]

So glad he is making progress. Just one little note, if you are changing his water daily you will need to add a conditioner to the water that removes chlorine. Tap water can be hard on their eyes.

I've been using boiled water (that's cooled down to a warm temperature).
Would that be okay or should I still get some conditioner?

 

[Laura]

if you put him outside and you have aglass tank... BE VERY CAREFULL not to cook him!

good luck with him!

 

[0f2s5]

if you put him outside and you have aglass tank... BE VERY CAREFULL not to cook him!

good luck with him!

I'll be watching him while he's outside and I'll bring him back in after a while so I think he should be fine.

If we're able to bring the old kiddie pool we have in the backyard right now to our new place, I can clean it up and let him go in there while I'm letting him out for some sun.

And thank you.

 

[Floof]

Good luck getting your little guy back to health! The important thing is that you're trying to do right by him now--better late than never, right?

So glad he is making progress. Just one little note, if you are changing his water daily you will need to add a conditioner to the water that removes chlorine. Tap water can be hard on their eyes.

I've been using boiled water (that's cooled down to a warm temperature).
Would that be okay or should I still get some conditioner?

From what I've heard, you can "age" the water--let it sit in an open container for at least 24 hrs (or something along those lines)--to get rid of the chlorine and ammonia... An inconvenient, but free, alternative to water conditioner, if it does work.

As for boiling, I've never heard of heat destroying chlorine and/or ammonia, and can't think of any reason why it would, so I'd say play it safe and assume it doesn't help at all.

 

[0f2s5]

Good luck getting your little guy back to health! The important thing is that you're trying to do right by him now--better late than never, right?

So glad he is making progress. Just one little note, if you are changing his water daily you will need to add a conditioner to the water that removes chlorine. Tap water can be hard on their eyes.

I've been using boiled water (that's cooled down to a warm temperature).
Would that be okay or should I still get some conditioner?

From what I've heard, you can "age" the water--let it sit in an open container for at least 24 hrs (or something along those lines)--to get rid of the chlorine and ammonia... An inconvenient, but free, alternative to water conditioner, if it does work.

As for boiling, I've never heard of heat destroying chlorine and/or ammonia, and can't think of any reason why it would, so I'd say play it safe and assume it doesn't help at all.

Okay then.

I guess I'll just get two tubs/tanks and alternate between them while letting the water sit if I don't manage to find some conditioner.

Thanks for the advice and support.

 

[0f2s5]

Hi Natasha:

You don't have to buy expensive things to make your turtle comfortable. You can start with a large plastic tub. You can buy them for around $10 (not sure of prices in Canada). Then get a clamp-on light fixture that you will attach to the side of the tub. Get a brick or large rock and wash it real good. You place the brick at one side under the light. Then add water to the top of the brick (so the top of the brick is out of the water). The light gives him a place to warm up, then he jumps back in the water when he gets too warm.

I think to get rid of those worms, all you have to do is clean out the bowl well. Rinse off the turtle under the faucet and wash the bowl. The worms are probably just in the water, and not in the turtle.

If you don't want to buy a filter, then you MUST change the water when it gets dirty (probably every other day or so).

Seeing the second picture you've posted, I can tell the little guy is somewhat deformed. This is from not enough heat/sun and the wrong kind of food. He should have some live food occasionally. Worms, crickets, etc. Pellets are ok too, but not every day. So one day give him some worms. The next day toss him a chunk of zucchini. The next day a few pellets. Maybe a strawberry the next day. Give him a nice variety and his shell will start to grow more normal-looking. But he has to have either the sun or some good heat from a light.

Good luck and keep us informed!
I'm glad you are now thinking of giving your turtle a better life. They can be very rewarding pets.

Hi, I have a few more questions if you don't mind.

My turtle's doing a lot better and he's showing some interest in wanting to eat again.

Today I tried feeding him some green leaf lettuce because the reason he wasn't eating seems like he wasn't interested in his turtle pellets anymore.
But, I have a little problem.
When I give him the lettuce, it just seems to float away when he tries to bite it.
I tried holding onto it and letting him eat but he doesn't seem to like it when I do that even though he's fine with me holding or touching him.
Is there any way that I can make it easier for him to eat?

I will be buying a wider variety of food for him but I was just wondering how to fix this problem if it happens again with other food.

Also, how big can their food be?

 

[Yvonne G]

They usually have pretty sharp edges on their beak, and can bite off chunks from large pieces. Find some kind of clip, like a clothes pin and clip it on the side with the piece of lettuce in the clip.

I forgot to mention that they really love water plants, especially water hyacinth.

 

[CtTortoiseMom]

I think you are really brave for being so honest even though you felt guilty and ashamed. I also want you to know that you should not hold yourself accountable for the mistreatment of your turtle as you are just a child. Save the pics of your turtles enclosure and general state. Then after you get all of the suggested items and get the little guy all better you can post before and after pics!! Keep up the good work!

 

[SnakeyeZ]

You're tank doesn't need to be flashy - but to keep em healthy you need a good filter, heat and UV. I have a Megaray hanging over the basking area and two good filters running all the time as well as a submersible heater.

This is my old turtle setup. This was just a 20 gallon tank - he has since moved into a 50 gallon setup (Sorry I don't have pictures right now but can take some).

 

[0f2s5]

They usually have pretty sharp edges on their beak, and can bite off chunks from large pieces. Find some kind of clip, like a clothes pin and clip it on the side with the piece of lettuce in the clip.

I forgot to mention that they really love water plants, especially water hyacinth.

Ah, okay then. I'll try it out the next time I give him lettuce.

And thanks for all the tips and advice. I'll be on lookout for potential food for him when I go out.

---

I think you are really brave for being so honest even though you felt guilty and ashamed. I also want you to know that you should not hold yourself accountable for the mistreatment of your turtle as you are just a child. Save the pics of your turtles enclosure and general state. Then after you get all of the suggested items and get the little guy all better you can post before and after pics!! Keep up the good work!

Thank you for those bits of support and encouragement - it really means a lot to me.

And yea, I guess I shouldn't beat myself up too much over this but it's hard knowing that something much worse could've happened to him but I'll try.

When he's all better and I have everything he needs, I just might post them here on this website.

---

You're tank doesn't need to be flashy - but to keep em healthy you need a good filter, heat and UV. I have a Megaray hanging over the basking area and two good filters running all the time as well as a submersible heater.

This is my old turtle setup. This was just a 20 gallon tank - he has since moved into a 50 gallon setup (Sorry I don't have pictures right now but can take some).

Thank you for those pieces of information.
I will be buying those sometime this week.
As for the Megaray, I'll look for one of those.

You can take pictures if you want to however you don't have to.
I've been researching these past few days and I think I have a pretty good idea of what it should look like in the end.