Urgent Care :: Floating, live baby RES

[Aqua&turquoise]

My new baby RES was floating, unable to touch the tank bottom. There is no way I can see the vet now, and I am worried it will die overnight I just changed the water and my mom filled the tank with freezing water. I have been tapping turquoise for half an hour now, and he seems better, but I need to know the condition urgently to ensure s/he will not die overnight and how to treat this properly. Please respond fast, and hope s/he will not die. I wrote this knowing that I may have only one night left with him/her.

[Aqua&turquoise]

Plz post

[Aqua&turquoise]

How big is your turtle? A bit more than an inch.
How long have you had it? Since jan. 4th, 2013

What is the water temperature? Can't find my thermometer, but my estimate is 64-70
Did you use a thermometer? No
Are you using a water heater? No
How much water is in there? 2 inches
Are you using a water conditioner? No
Are you using any filtration? Not yet.

What is the basking temperature? About 70-80
Is there a basking light? Yes, but I switched it off. It's night here now.
Is there a basking platform that is easy to climb on? Yes, I think (they never use it)
What kind is it or what is it made out of? The platform is a plastic palm tree anchored to the tank floor. The light is a table lamp
Is there a UVB light? Not yet.

What have you been trying to feed it? Nutrafin pellets and red leaf lettuce.
When was the last time your turtle ate? From 8:00am-6:00pm

How big is the tank/pond/enclosure? 3inches in height, 3 inches in wtdth and 6 inches in length
Is the tank near a window? Not really
Is the tank in a room with a lot of activity? Not regularly

Have you read the Basic Care section? Yes
Have you searched the forums for similar situations?yes

Is there any other unusual activity/symptoms? Turquoise floated while alive and i had to repeatedly tap her/him before he could go down. He could not get lower by swimming. He was also responding to me making a popping sound by clicking repeatedly and swimming away very fast earlier.

[steve]

RES can float and surface. Why was the water changed? If the water is too cold, keep them out of it and dry docked.

[Aqua&turquoise]

The water was cloudy and smelled horrible

[Aqua&turquoise]

It attempted to go down but couldn't. It's nose was angled downward and it paddled frantically, but couldn't go down at all.

[steve]

If he's having trouble swimming, take him out of the water into a dry dock area... especially if the water is still cold.

[Aqua&turquoise]

It's a bit cooler than room temp now... I think. (approx. 68 degrees water temp). The water tempurature was colder before, it felt nearly 5 deg. Celsius gotta get a heat pad sometime, do they sell those @ reptile stores without turtles? (and turtle filters...)

[steve]

Tank -> As big as you can get
Heater -> Absolutely necessary unless you live in the tropics
Filter -> All indoor setups require one. The type well depend on the tank
Basking area -> Big enough to hold all the turtles, enough room for them to move around and very easy to get on to
Basking light -> Necessary to entice them to bask, allows them to thermoregulate
UVB light -> Necessary for them to produce Vitamin D3, which is necessary in the absorption and metabolism of calcium

These sudden changes in temp is not good for them. Hatchlings should have water that is about 78F, older RES can have cooler water. Most people clean their filters once a month and do a complete or partial water change.