Urgent Care :: my poor turtle

[slipknotfreak69]

Okay so I need advice. I came home today and my turtle was just floating really close to the filter. (kind of like a dead fish does)
So my first thought was that she was dead but to my surprise when I got her out she was still breathing and will move her feet when i touch them. however she is usually kind of aggressive and iis not acting right not trying to bite not wanting food none of those thing i thought maybe temp so i turned up her heat light a littlle in hopes that would perk her up but nothing so far so i need help now i dont know what else to do...

please help me help my baby turtle she is only maybe 3 or four inches maybe the size of the plam of you hand

she is in a 20 gallon tank
has a heat lamp
water stays about the same around 75 80 basking is about 90

[steve]

Dry dock her if she's having trouble swimming. Bump up the water temperatures and try some treats. Could she have been trapped by the filter or something earlier?

[slipknotfreak69]

i dont think so any way

[steve]

Has there been any improvement? You might want to consider taking her to a vet if her condition does not change.

[roxanap]

Hello!! First of all, I am new to this forum and I have never used one before so I don't know how to create a topic. I do need advice as much as slipknotfreak69 and I would say I have quite a similar situation. I adopted my baby turtle from a friend who knew nothing about turtles, someone brought it to her kids and she had it next to a window in winter without light, heating or anything, just floating in the water, I thought it was dead when I realized she had it. She then gave it to me as she didn't want to deal with it, and here i had my 10th adopted animal.
I did my research, bought the heating lamp, big tank (compared to the little box it has been living in), nice rock for basking, thermostat and filter. It has been more than happy, swimming, eating and of course making a mess all over.
I recently brought a nice branch I thought the turtle might like to bask on and changed the water and installed it nicely. The next day my baby turtle has not been moving, not been eating and even floating in the water like a dead turtle. I immediatelly pulled it out, cleaned the water, threw the branch away and changed everything inside. Now I am looking for advice online as I don't know what's wrong with my turtle, it is still alive, but not really moving. I am really stressed out and I would like to know if anyone had a similar situation and it turned out not to be something serious or should I just take it to the vet.

[roxanap]

and i forgot to add the turtle is maybe 2-3 inches big, and when I adopted it I noticed it has this pyramidal shell which I am also worried, no idea if it's uncomfortale or how it could be treated. Not sure what exactly has caused it.

[steve]

Can you post a picture of your turtle? What are the water temperatures?

[roxanap]

This is baby turtle when happy and stretching its legs in the basking light

water temperatures are 75 F

Today after coming from work, it has finally dived in the water at the bottom of the tank and it's sleeping. before it would just float like a dead body. I'll give it a few more hours then I'll wake it up to see how it's acting, maybe it can eat a bit. I'm still really stressed

[roxanap]

I've also noticed for the past couple of days that it's shedding, which after reading about it, it's not normal for it to shed. I can assume that maybe it has a fungus infection from that wooden branch but I really know so little about these creatures that I can assume anything I read, which is why I'm looking for some guidance from RES lovers that deal with them often and have experience.

Thank you Steve for the quick response!

[roxanap]

I just checked on it cuz it just wasn't moving and I realized it has sadly passed away. I think it might have had respiratory infection because it was opening it's mouth in a weird way. I feel terrible, I have never lost a pet this is one of my saddest moments in life. I wish I had rescued it earlier from my friend...

[unclejoe]

:x I just checked on it cuz it just wasn't moving and I realized it has sadly passed away.

Soo sorry for your lost. Please try and forgive yourself, you did the best you could for this little guy. RIP little Turp

[steve]

I'm very sorry to hear it