General Care Discussion :: Bored, stressed, or neither?

Taking care of your turtle's overall health.

Post Posted: Mon Nov 20, 2017 3:05 pm   Re: Bored, stressed, or neither?

Saw you get on thread and read it so for fun I changed it , you know that ego thing. :) We can make forums fun too ! Post some pic's !
Haha ! yes he taught me well. Took him awhile to teach me the turtle language and Piggley truly didn't think I got it but our objective's are the same .
litefoot
 
Posts: 1647
Joined: Nov 7, 2016
Location: New Orleans
Gender: Male

Post Posted: Thu Nov 23, 2017 10:12 am   Re: Bored, stressed, or neither?

Well Sedge definitely approves of the exit ramp more than any previous left "exit" ramp. He's still not basking that much but I'll give him some more time. After he tested it out I added another plant in front to give him some more cover. I updated the Flickr album.

https://flic.kr/s/aHsm9PiVii
User avatar
Kingbird44
 
Posts: 256
Joined: May 2, 2016
Location: Northeast USA
Gender: Female

Post Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2017 2:48 pm   Re: Bored, stressed, or neither?

Alright, nothing major has changed in his behavior. It seems like, every time I make a change, he seems interested for about a day. Then he goes back to hiding at the bottom of the tank.

Do you guys still think this is normal? Any thoughts on if this would warrant a vet visit at any point?
User avatar
Kingbird44
 
Posts: 256
Joined: May 2, 2016
Location: Northeast USA
Gender: Female

Post Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2017 4:58 pm   Re: Bored, stressed, or neither?

Think you tried everything ? Re think everything again ?
I'm grabbing at straws here but winter is coming and you water heater is on more and at a higher rate to keep water stable. Try and unplug it for a day or two and see what happens. I remember in the past a turtle was getting a very small tingle from one at the center. Not enough to trip a GFI but enough to feel if a turtle. Not enough for us to feel but did effect the turtle in odd ways . Not enough to chase him out the water but maybe ... We didn't find out until it got worst and stung us. Like I said grabbing at straws here. When on bottom is his tail tucked in , legs in , head in ? Does he look around like he's always checking for something? On the other side , your light fixture , some bulbs get and or have a 60 cycle hum with them. Extremely low for us to hear but may be able to feel it as a vibration on fixture. Sedge goes to bottom to get far away from it ? It may be something so simple we just don't see it.
Kingbird I'm trying . Will keep racking my brain ! He may just be that teenager stage , hasn't found the right poster for his wall yet and just being a headache about it ?
Your call on a Vet !
litefoot
 
Posts: 1647
Joined: Nov 7, 2016
Location: New Orleans
Gender: Male

Post Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2017 7:45 pm   Re: Bored, stressed, or neither?

Tail tucked on the bottom in the plants. Comes out when he sees me but like he's just waking up.
User avatar
Kingbird44
 
Posts: 256
Joined: May 2, 2016
Location: Northeast USA
Gender: Female

Post Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2017 8:37 pm   Re: Bored, stressed, or neither?

I'm going back to the beginning , take one step at a time again. I know you changed to prime and before had reptisafe then the fish started with problems. That was just a coincidence. Prime is so much better/ safer than reptisafe especially for turtles. You can see that on there MSDS report. Or use search box and see all info on this forum about reptisafe. Can you think back since some fish showed a problem first then Sedge caught the weak one's and his problem started . What may have been going on with the fish? When I have a sick fish and died I dissect it to see what was going on. Are the other fish well today ? Did you ever take his poop out and check it ? Or maybe ate one and he has a bone stuck in his system ? That one reason I use Rosy Red minnow's , very soft bones. Does he eat normally today and poop's good ? Does his pee have a good color? Just may be something internal , I hope not but something to think about ! It's now 10 days we need to find an answer !
litefoot
 
Posts: 1647
Joined: Nov 7, 2016
Location: New Orleans
Gender: Male

Post Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2017 11:27 pm   Re: Bored, stressed, or neither?

Yeah, more than 10 days... my first post about this was almost 6 weeks ago! Thats why I was wondering if I should bring him to the vet.

But all the signs of illness I've read say look for not eating and excessive basking- and neither of those things are true here!

Everyone here said maybe it's just seasonal, so I don't want to overreact, but it does seem a little concerning to me.

I can't dissect the dead fish- generally, I get a fish acting weird, then it disappears, so I assume Sedge ate it. I have 8 Serpae Tetra in there now. I have no more Danio's (I had one left and it seemed miserable on it's own, so I gave it to someone and added a few more Tetra so I'd just have one kind of fish and they would be OK in a little school). There were then 9 Tetra- one is gone now- it seemed like it was being bullied a little and I thought maybe it was a little bloated, but I wasn't sure. Then it disappeared, so presumably Sedge ate it. But that was after Sedge was already acting this way.

I did throw the dead fire shrimp into the tank when they didn't make it, and that was a while ago. The 8 Tetra in there seem OK now.

He is eating fine, but it did take him a little longer to go through a piece of cuttlebone I put in there recently. After that, I took him out and examined him head to toe. He didn't like it, but I made sure there were no injuries or soft spots on the shell, etc. I also put my finger near his mouth so he would open it, and looked inside his mouth, and nothing looked out of the ordinary to me.

I'm not 100% on the poop. I think it's fine but I guess it could be a little flaky- it gets broken up by the fish pretty fast usually. I don't usually see his pee unless I have him out and he's upset...
User avatar
Kingbird44
 
Posts: 256
Joined: May 2, 2016
Location: Northeast USA
Gender: Female

Post Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2017 12:17 am   Re: Bored, stressed, or neither?

I'm sure you may know but a turtle can't digest the backing on the cuttlebone , must/should be removed! Google for videos on how to remove. Do you quarantine your fish a week before you put them in Sedge's home ? One never knows from some LPS what condition they are in because they move them in and so fast. Yes at first look ok but as you said you get some in time acting weird . A bloated fish is sometimes due to worms not good and Sedge eats it ? I never let a turtle eat a fish that died it comes out the tank. Why it died ??? Only if I killed/stunned one so a baby could get to it. We may be making some progress here. That cuttlebone backing is my first concern then the sick fish.

Just a note on my experience with fish , most all Tetra's I had do much better in a larger school. Too few then fin pick and harass others , I always kept minimum of 12 in each group , after that no problems. Actually a schooling fish.
litefoot
 
Posts: 1647
Joined: Nov 7, 2016
Location: New Orleans
Gender: Male

Post Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2017 9:00 am   Re: Bored, stressed, or neither?

Would it cost a lot to do a check up at the vet ? Besides the seasonal thing I have no clue why your turtle would act this way. It's been a long time like you said.
User avatar
PokePony
 
Posts: 276
Joined: Aug 27, 2017
Gender: Female

Post Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2017 9:24 am   Re: Bored, stressed, or neither?

I removed the backing. Yeah I might call the vet. My tetra are usually ok other than that one they bullied.
User avatar
Kingbird44
 
Posts: 256
Joined: May 2, 2016
Location: Northeast USA
Gender: Female

Post Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2017 9:53 am   Re: Bored, stressed, or neither?

Agree , time for the vet ! Sedge and Piggley are our kid's ! If nothing , the peace of mind is worth it ! Hopefully just in one of those phase's .
litefoot
 
Posts: 1647
Joined: Nov 7, 2016
Location: New Orleans
Gender: Male

Post Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2017 9:24 pm   Re: Bored, stressed, or neither?

Alright, updates in a few days!
User avatar
Kingbird44
 
Posts: 256
Joined: May 2, 2016
Location: Northeast USA
Gender: Female

Post Posted: Fri Dec 01, 2017 11:32 am   Re: Bored, stressed, or neither?

Well, Sedge got a clean bill of health from the vet. The vet said it does sound like he's trying to start hibernating, and probably best to try to avoid it. He recommended a slight increase in protein, slightly longer photoperiod for the lights, and maybe a half hour or so of forced basking a day, to see if that changes his behavior. I'll also bring a stool sample if I can get it to check for any parasites.
User avatar
Kingbird44
 
Posts: 256
Joined: May 2, 2016
Location: Northeast USA
Gender: Female

Post Posted: Fri Dec 01, 2017 3:23 pm   Re: Bored, stressed, or neither?

Good News ! Told someone on another post just last night that his turtle may just be getting older and feels it more . Maybe the same for Sedge ? You must feel better ! 8)

PS : Sedge is what about 4" now ? Going to keep track of size and or age to see if it's related to others having same symptoms.
litefoot
 
Posts: 1647
Joined: Nov 7, 2016
Location: New Orleans
Gender: Male

Post Posted: Fri Dec 01, 2017 11:16 pm   Re: Bored, stressed, or neither?

Yeah he's about 4 inches and probably about 2 years or so. He did do some more basking than he has lately after I put him in his tank today, after I dry docked him with lights today. So we'll see! :)
User avatar
Kingbird44
 
Posts: 256
Joined: May 2, 2016
Location: Northeast USA
Gender: Female

PreviousNext

Return to General Care Discussion

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 22 guests