Red Ear slider not eating with some symptoms

Question
Hi

I have a baby red ear slider and he/she hasn't been eating for the last two to three months. I'm getting increasingly worried because it just stopped one day.
Its eyes are swollen shut and before there was even a drop of blood which I cleaned away with water. It hasn't opened its eyes since.
I keep it and another turtle under a basking lamp with warm water provided for their need enough for them to swim around comfortably and bask when wanted. I feed them once every day fish pallets and sometimes spinach leaves which they like a lot (they hate and ignore cabbage)or frozen worms. My other turtle is fine and healthy, a lot bigger than the sick one though I keep watch over it almost 24/hours and doesn't seem to bother the other turtle much.
Listed bellow are some things my sick turtle does:
1. Wheezing and I think a little whining when I pick her up to put her away from the other turtle or try to get him in water so maybe he would eat
2. Panicking in water and preferring to stay under lamp.
3. A light light brown dust over the top of his shell though its not growing or anything so I'm not sure if its anything to be concerned over
4. Eyes shut 24/7
5. Little or no movement, though when he does move its not a slow sluggish pace but normal
6. Sometimes it would go in water but wont stay for long

If you have any advice I'd really appreciate it. We don't have any vets here and I don't trust the shop keepers seeing how they prefer to keep the baby turtles (5 to 10) in a single fish bowl filled with as much fish pallets as cold water and with no basking areas.

Also there is a faint strange smell starting to emit from him, which is really making me uneasy. Please help.

-Sarah

Answer
Hi Sarah,

It sounds like your turtle may have a respiratory infection and will need to be treated by a vet, but it's also very likely that they're not being kept in optimum conditions for their health.  You didn't give me specific information on how you're keeping them--for instance, how big the tank is, what kind of filter you're using, exact water and basking temperatures, type of UVB bulb, etc.--so it's a little hard for me to say exactly what the problem could be.

Red-eared sliders can grow up to 12" long, and require very large tanks as adults.  For two, you will need at least 150 gallons with an external canister filter rated for twice (or more) of the capacity of the tank.  Even when small, they should still have plenty of room.  One hatchling (2") needs a minimum of a 20 gallon tank; two should really have 30 gallons or more.  I'm not sure how big your turtles are, but a rule of thumb is 10 gallons for each inch of turtle, so if you have two 3" turtles they need at least a 60 gallon tank--with a filter to match.  This is *very* important.  It doesn't matter what else you do; if your turtles don't have enough room or excellent water quality, they'll have health problems.

You also need to have correct basking and water temperatures.  The water should be about 76-78 degrees, and the basking area 88-90 degrees.  There should also be a source of UVB, which requires a special reptile bulb--UVB doesn't penetrate through window glass.

The diet should be mostly carnivorous when they're young, but offer greens at least a few times a week (turnip, dandelion, collards, mustard, kale, romaine, etc.).  I'll provide some links below that have complete diet lists.

The wheezing, lethargy, loss of appetite, and reluctance to swim are all symptoms of respiratory infection.  Other symptoms include runny nose, constant yawning, and stretching the neck out to breathe.  If there is a reptile vet available, it would be a good idea to take your turtle in for diagnosis and treatment.  If no vet is available, there's unfortunately not a lot you can do if it is a respiratory infection other than to wait and see.  Making sure the habitat is set up correctly will help, but it won't cure an infection.

Here's detailed information that will help you to make sure everything is right:

http://www.redearslider.com
http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/caresheet-red_ear_slider.htm
http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/care.htm
http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/waterquality.htm
http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Articles/filtration.htm
http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/housing.htm