I was cleaning out my turtle's aquarium earlier today and thought that using a cleaner (called Fabroso, which had a bleach alternate) to do so would help clean off the grime and slimy stuff off. In the past, I have used something called 'Awesome' to clean the aquarium and it did wonders and didn't hurt my turtle. (I have a painted turtle by the way) So, I cleaned the aquarium thoroughly, no suds in the water or anything. However, the moment I put in the turtle, he began acting strangly, swimming towards the filter and the water sprout. I never seen him do that before. But, what really scared me was his behavior soon afterwards. While swimming, his eyes shut tight and his head seem to lower, as if he had collapsed for a few seconds. I was very concerned when I saw this for a minute or so and quickly pulled him from the aquarium and put him into the bathtub.
I feared that I had no cleaned the aquarium as well as I thought I had, even if there were no signs of the cleaning agent I had used, but I began to think my turtle digested some of the cleaning solvent, mixed with bleach and that was causing him to act strangely. (I know, it was stupid of me to use any cleaning agent with bleach, but I didn't realize it had it until it was too late!) I don't know if he is poisoned or not, when I put him in a smaller aquarium we have, he seemed to be okay. But, watching him in the bathtub right now, he moves around normally but still occasionally drops his head and shuts his eyes tightly. Has this sort of thing ever happened to anyone before and does anyone thing he might be poisoned? Any suggestions what I can do before I call the vet? (its 8pm here so nothing is open right now)
I am worried about my turtle, any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Merc
