She's currently about 16 years old, and we received her from my cousin's around 4 years ago. They took good care of her, and the only thing we changed about her lifestyle was that we moved her into a bigger tank (she was in a normal sized fish tank). She laid eggs every year, ate normally, and was active both inside the tank and when we took her out of it. This year, she never laid eggs. She stopped eating for 2 1/2 - 3 months around the time she was supposed to lay them and was almost never in the water (almost always basking under the light). After the 3 month mark, we decided it was time for a vet visit, but it took us forever to even find a vet that had little experience with turtles (not really any specialized vets in my area, and we were afraid that a long car ride would scare her even more). She was diagnosed with a respiratory illness and we had to give her medication through a syringe (which took forever to get in her). The only thing that changed with her was that her spastic swimming. The temperature has been kept the same, and she has a basking light and a UVB light. There is a basking platform which she seems to be able to get on fine now. Her skin peels a lot more than normal, and her shell is a bit bumpy and never seems to stop shedding (tiny pieces though).
She eats now maybe 5 pellets a week (huge improvement), and goes into the water more often. Her tank is in the living room of my house, which is where the computer also is, so it's a fairly busy room.
When I went to look at her yesterday, her tail is bent to the left at the base of it, and is slightly curled at the tip. I asked around my household and nobody had taken her out of the tank. I did do some research and all I found was that it had something to do with an injury. She doesn't have any tank mates either, so if it is an injury, she could have done it herself. Any suggestions about how I could improve her skin/shell condition, and if there is anything to worry about with her tail? Her behaviour has been worrying me, and I'm just afraid that her bent tail could possibly be part of something.
