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I have a four year old male RES who started acting funny today.

Yesterday, he acted normal, ate fine and was swimming and basking like normal.

Today, he is not eating, and will not stop basking. He gets in the water, makes a quick lap, and then right back up on his dock. I've seen him do the yawn/open his mouth super wide thing twice, but that is it. I put a piece of green leaf lettuce in the tank and a piece of red pepper (his favorite) and he didn't even eat it all. Normally he eats it really quickly, but this never got touched, nor did the lettuce. There are no bubbles or signs of mucus near his mouth or nose. He doesn't list while swimming. I did notice a very large amount of poop in the tank this morning. An unusually large amount, but it looked normal.

His water temp is around 79, and I just changed the heat bulb and UVA/UVB bulb about 2 hours ago, and haven't rechecked the temp yet (just did and it's 90). He's in a 40 gallon breeder tank that is 3/4 full. He is currently shedding his scutes. His lights are on a timer for 12 hours a day.

My husband has had the house open the past couple of days, but he is off to the side of the living room, and it never got cold in the house.

I did make a vet appointment for in the morning...but I fear he's ill and I'm worried.

Any thoughts?

You are very observant and a good parent. This is your turtle / child. Doing the vet in morning is good because of your concern for illness. Be paticent and observe see what the vet say's. All may be ok. As turtles age I had some that basked more to help loosen the scutes when shedding. The yawn , with no other symptoms , may have just woke up from a good catnap. My Piggley does it once in awhile and he's good. Yawn's just like we humans do sometimes. Observe well if any other signs may show up. The not eating for the day and big normal looking poop ? May of eaten a little too much and got constipated the day before or just felt a little off. Being he's older now you may want to adjust his diet some , it does change with age. You know your turtle , nothing like a good well balanced diet thats nutritious.

Did you or can you save the poop for a sample for the vet?

You are doing what you need to ease yourself with the vet , wish you both peace of mind.
Thanks for the 2014 rescue !!! What's his name ? Piggley says Hi.

His name is the Hulk. I didn't save any poop, but he's gone some more. Lol

He did swim about 10 to 15 minutes earlier and ate a little lettuce. I'm still concerned and I'm still taking him in. I'm hoping that in the morning he will be acting fine and the vet will call me crazy.

And I normally feed him lettuce every other day with pellets once a week. Yesterday was pellet day. Maybe he had too many?

So, I picked him up and rubbed his back a little... Every single scute on his back peeled off. Lol. All of them. Maybe he was just drying them out? I put him back in and he immediately jumped in the water and went to eat.

That's OK crazy Mom , your are a good parent for your child ! LOL

All , even the marginals that's great. Some only do a few at a time.

What type lettuce ? Hopefully not round head type very little nutrition in that type.

Look here for more varied veggies : http://www.redearslider.com/plants.html


Get some pic's and post Hulk's new shell ?

He eats green beans, red bell pepper, green leaf lettuce, red leaf lettuce, zucchini...he really loves the green leaf lettuce and the red peppers!

He eats green beans, red bell pepper, green leaf lettuce, red leaf lettuce, zucchini...he really loves the green leaf lettuce and the red peppers!

That's great !

Hulk's lucky to have a good Mom ! He will share a lot of great times with you.

Sorry, it took me a bit to get the photos uploaded so I could add them. Photobucket is not cooperating. LOL

Here's his cute little face:
[url=http://s748.photobucket.com/user/jod-dog/media/20180911_201752.jpg.html]

His new shell:

His shedded scutes:

Another shell photo:

Photobucket does not do third party hosting any more , it's now a pay service.

Very good shed , those marginals will come off later that's ok and normal to be last.

Good luck and many happy years with Hulk.

He looks very good. I would maybe bump up the temperatures a bit and keep observing him closely.