Urgent Care :: Red eared slider making funny noise

[mollymags]

Hi there, I have 2 red eared sliders which I got as hatchlings in June 2015, so they are still babies. I have noticed that recently the bigger one (3ish inches) has been surfacing and making a noise which sounds like he's crying or whimpering. His mouth is always shut when I hear it and it's not all the time. When I pick him up and let him hang out and crawl on my bed, he stops making the sound. He eats fine, is very active and the lighting/heat/basking areas are all good. I've looked up respiratory infection symptoms and he doesn't have any other symptoms. Is this normal? Should I be worried?

[steve]

Any chance he's a bit overweight? Some turtles can make a whistling sound through their nostrils when exerting themselves. I can sometimes hear it when my RES surfaces after a long dive... so I wouldn't worry about it but do check their diet to make sure they are not overfed. 3" in a few months is a bit fast.

[mollymags]

ok thank you, yes the other RES is about 1.5" so maybe he's getting too big too fast

[steve]

Yea, you might want to presort their food and feed them separately.

[mollymags]

i feed them pellets and died shrimp, crickets and meal worms, i can sometimes get them to eat some greens but not always. I throw in some meat occasionally too. do you suggest i feed the bigger one (crush) something different or just less?

[steve]

No meats and use worms/crickets/shrimp/fish as treats. They should be fine on mainly greens and pellets.