Posted: Tue Sep 19, 2023 4:15 pm Closed eyes and general health
Hello.
I have had my red-eared slider for about a year now. We found him in the middle of our driveway and took him in. Our previous fish had just died (they fought to death) and so we gave him their tank. He hasn't really grown at all from when we first got him, and he's tiny (about 2.5"). We thoroughly cleaned his tank and tried to do what we could with what we had. We had a desk lamp that get hot on top with a glass sheet so he can't escape off the edge. He hasn't shown any signs of sickness until this week.
We feed him dried worms, like chicken food, because that's all he'll eat. We feed him maybe twice a week. He won't climb up the rocks to bask if he is hungry, so that's how we know when to feed him. For a while we would just empty all his water and replace it every month and a half. For about 2 months now, we've had our previous fish filter in there and run it for a few days every week. (It's kinda loud). We've never had problems with him eating, and during winter he did the brumation thing.
This week, I noticed he was in the water so I fed him a few worms. An hour later, I noticed he had not moved and his eyes were closed. I picked him up and he kept his eyes closed, but moved around like he usually would. As far as I've been able to look up, it's a vitamin A defficiency. I cleaned his shell with a soft toothbrush and he kept rubbing his eyes. Eventually he got them open.
We have old red-eared slider food that we tried to feed him at first, but he would skip the pellets and just eat the worms. I've started giving him the pellets again since they say they have vitamin A, and he'll eat a couple.
I also measured the amount of ammonia in his tank, and the result was 3.0. This concerned me a lot, so I dumped the water and replaced it. I also put am ammonia clearing fizz tablet (before I put him back in his tank) and let it dissolve overnight next to the filter. I haven't measure the ammonia since, but the PH, nitrite, nitrate, carbonate, and general hardiness was fine.
Is there anything I need to change urgently?
(I don't know how to add pictures, sorry! His tank has fake rocks on the top half attached to the wall)