**edit i rewrote this whole post**
i think my res may have some issues that im not exactly experienced enough to diagnose myself,,, (cross posted on another turtle forum)
ive been trying to look into my turtle's mouth after i noticed him behaving a bit strangely earlier ( frantically rushing into the walls of the aquarium for seemingly no reason and then going back to normal, which ive seen him do once before after he spit out some sort of red substance. im thinking maybe he did it because i just did a water change and those seem to stress him a bit ). i havent gotten a very good look, considering i have to have him open his mouth by getting him to chase and try to bite my finger (which hurts when he catches it `), but i think he has a bit of bright red under his tongue while the rest of his mouth seems to be a healthy pink. i also dont have the best vision, so im really hoping im overreacting here. i dont think i can get a picture either
i also dont think hes pooped in the last day or so, because i usually see it on the bottom of the tank and i havent seen any since i think monday or tuesday
he seems to otherwise be very healthy; he eats, sleeps, basks, is attentive and behaves like any other curious turtle but ive also occasionally heard him poke his head out of the water and wheeze (might be a sneeze tbh) and like i said above, hes spit out some sort of red substance twice now in the few months ive had him and has fallen out of his tank twice which makes me think he may have an internal injury, plus he has a few lighter/whitish patches on his shell that i think may be shell rot but im not sure and plus i have no clue what his medical history was before i got him
im trying to schedule him a vet appointment, but it's very difficult to align an appointment with a specialist with my parents' schedules and i cant drive myself. is there anything i can do in the meantime for him? how concerned should i be? because right now im honestly about to cry because i have no idea what to do and dont want to wait any longer for him to see a professional
if it helps: he has a staple diet of red lettuce and a mix of mazuri aquatic turtle pellets, omega one turtle sticks, omega one koi wheat germ pellets, and a few other assorted pellets that his previous owner used that i switch around for variety. i try to make sure he gets lettuce daily, but sometimes we dont have it in the house.
when we have lettuce, i alternate between days when it's the only thing i feed him , and days where i feed him a small amount of pellets plus the lettuce. on days when i dont have lettuce, he gets assorted pellets or veggies (zucchini, carrots, and butternut squash but only rarely because i know theyre not to the best staple foods).i also occasionally throw in some hornwort or anacharis
i might be feeding him too much, because he seems to have put on some weight so im going to start cutting down on his pellets and might start fasting him one day of the week like i do my fish
his tank is mostly bare bottom, but he has a few silk plants and some rocks and a fake log hide
he gets a weekly water change, and i use prime to dechlorinate the water
his filter currently isnt the strongest or best, but it keeps ammonia levels down where they should be and im going to be setting up a bigger, better tank with a good filter soon. i scoop out solid waste daily