Hello everyone,
I posted here many years ago (I guess it was around 2017) about an issue with one of my three red-eaered sliders and you guys helped me a lot - better than any vet advice I've got at that time. I hope you can save us again this time.
I've two males and one female. The female are 25ish, and the males are 20 years old each. All of them lives in separate tanks, and they took sun bathes daily together or alone, it really depends on how they are feeling. They have been healthy since forever now. The last issue was a clog in the cloaca, that, bleed a bit, until the poop managed to get out and all went back to normal - the user/admin steve who called it that time, local vets thought it was an infection and managed antibiotics. That's their medical history.
However, I moved into a new appartment recently - which is much better prepared. The tanks are larger, with better infrastructure, there is more sun exposure. This was two weeks ago. But now the claws of the two males started bleeding at the tip - which looks like a damage by scratch on rough surfaces. After carefull investigation, they only 'new' surface was the bottom of the tanks, which I've built with porcelain titles (like the one in the previous appartment, but a rougher one, I guess). So I added PVC plates at the bottom, and holded with weights - it's now super smooth. But as I write, one of the males is back to bleeding from a different claw.
Important to add:
- the males are extra, extra active this time of the year. I live in Brazil and we are on our spring. They simply cannot stay still. One of the males is super interested in the female, so I placed the female in a spare plastic tank next to the protected place I created in the floor so this injuried male can dry it out its injury, and that seems to hold a bit his energy. The other one has no interest in the female and I have no such 'cryptonite' to hold him quiet when needed. Seriously, how can I calm them down a bit?
- the currently bleeding male already injuried 3 claws from the rear, but seems to be all good now - the currently bleeding one is from the front.
- the other male was bleeding briefly from one of the rear claws, and more insistently from one of the front claws.
- I've to travel tomorrow. My mom's is in town and she will be looking after them, but she has not the experience or patience that I've to take care of them.
Questions:
1. is this normal when they are extra active and I simply never noticed?
2. should I continue with the strategy to place them in dry and safe places until the bleeding is done before returning to the water, or, in the water is just fine for blood clog formation?
3. is this in risk of any infection?
4. how can I calm down these hyper-active males?
Thanks in advance!
