Urgent Care :: Help my turtle isnt moving

[gcraft5143]

The temperatures in my area have dropped dramatically in the past week or so and my turtle seems to be trying to hibernate. I have been low on funds, will be getting him a new heater this Friday. Is it safe to just wake him up once I get the water warm? Whats the safest way to handle my situation?

[gcraft5143]

Someone please help

[steve]

What are the water temperatures? How big is he? Is this outdoors or inside? If he's kept indoors, this might not be related to hibernation and it could be some other illness.

[cgao5137]

Hi sorry to take over this post but my turtle is in a similar situation and I'm freaking out a little because he seems to be dead but I'm in denial about it.

It's gotten pretty cold around here lately but I have a thermometer and I've noticed the temperature never falls below 68*F. I'll still be sure to bring it up at different points throughout the night though. He basks every morning around 9 to 12 which is when the most sunlight falls on his tank. The rest of the day he likes to swim around and sleep on rocks and on his basking ramp (underwater). He was perfectly normal yesterday.

This morning i noticed that he was in the same position as he was for several hours last night - simply resting at the bottom of the middle of the tank. I'd poked his limbs several times and they'd reacted so I thought he'd just decided to sleep there. I was concerned this morning though because he wasn't basking, so I picked him up and he felt a lot heavier/denser(?) and did not react. Usually it takes a couple seconds before he starts kicking but nothing happened this time.
His eyes are half open and they don't react to anything. I jiggled him slightly and his head shook around limply but when I touch his limbs they pull back immediately and then slowly come back out after a few minutes. I am always in huge denial about sad things so the fact that his limbs are still reacting is giving me slight hope... He's been doing pretty well lately so I don't see any reason for him to suddenly kick the bucket

Other information:
He is probably a couple months over a year old, weighs 10 grams and is 1.5 inches.
He usually has a very small appetite, but due to some changes, has barely eaten in the past week.
About a month ago I noticed he was gasping when I took him out of his water, and there were slight bubbles. However, I watched him closely for the next couple of weeks, and I never saw him gasp or see bubbles form again. That was when I bought my filter and upgraded to an appropriately sized tank.
He had soft shell a couple months after I first got him, so I invested in a basking ramp and UVB light. Since then only the 3ish back scutes are soft.

[steve]

He should be a bit larger for his age and should have a bit warmer water. How accurate is your thermometer? I don't know what could be the cause of his problems, it's very hard to know what's going on when they're that small. Does he have a regular vet you could take him to?

[Kansasslider]

I'm not sure what's going on but wish you luck.

[cgao5137]

No, I have never taken him to a vet because the biggest problem I have been able to detect is the soft shell, which I thought I was able to fix by feeding him with calcium tablets and buying a UVB lamp and a ramp. I had to show him how to bask at first but he eventually started doing it himself and his shell toughened again.

I have been told by other turtle owners that the tank size has been stunting his growth. As soon as I upgraded to a decently sized tank, his shell seemed to start growing more and looked ready to start shedding (I wouldn't know though since I'm still a beginner and haven't actually seen a shell shed). He also seemed a lot happier and swam around a lot.

I just went to check on him and he was still in the same position that I placed him in this morning. I tried putting him where he usually sleeps- mostly underwater on the ramp- but as his body hit the water it flipped slightly and floated to the bottom of the tank right side up. His limbs still react when I touch them.

This next question is a bit of a stretch, but... how deeply do turtles hibernate?

[steve]

Tank size does not stunt growth, it just causes stress and possibly injuries. Different turtles hibernate differently. If the water is around the 60's, he would not be hibernating. When was the last time he ate?

[cgao5137]

Oh, perhaps it was his small appetite that stunted his growth then?
Like I said earlier, there were several changes that I think caused him to not eat very much, but the last time he ate was two days before he died/before I first posted (or one day if he died at night). It wasn't even a full meal, I just wanted to let him try a dried shrimp treat that my friend gave me, and he barely finished one. That was monday night. Before that, I believe the last time I fed him was Thanksgiving day, he only ate a couple pellets then so I tried to feed him again on Friday but he didn't eat any.

[steve]

RES are very good at hiding illnesses, it's possible he was sick for a long time and did not exhibit any symptoms.