Red-Eared Slider Illness?

Question
Recently I have Received two baby Red-Eared Slider
Turtles, not even a year old. I have been keeping them
in a nice warm environment, caring for them, following
all precautions. They've been healthy for a long time.

Recently, we got another turtle in the tank. He's a
Eastern Mud Turtle and is a bit larger, but loves the
other two. There has been no problems. This was 3 days ago.

This morning, I woke up at 10am to find that one of my
baby slider turtles was on his back. I quickly flipped him
over hoping he didn't drown.

I looked at him and he wasn't moving. His arms were stretched
out, his head tucked in a bit, and he wasn't breathing.
His eyes are red and swollen.

My question is what could've happened. I want to prevent this from happening to my other turtles.

I know that the temperature is fine, he's never had a problem with the other turtles, etc. and he's been so healthy.

I looked up information on drowning, and it's plausible. But he's been able to get back up off his back many times before.
The water isn't deep at all, it's perfect for him. I also looked up information on puffy eyes, but the day before, he was fine and didn't have puffy eyes. He was perfectly healthy before I went to sleep. But when I woke up, he is now dead.
I followed the drowning procedures just in case he did drown, but it seems that nothing happened.

I'm really worried about this, and I would like to prevent this from ever happening again and to make sure they are safe and secure in the future.


Thank you so much for reading and for your help!

-Brittany

Answer
Unless they get trapped underwater, turtles don't drown. Even baby turtles prefer nice, deep water they can swim freely in.

There is not enough information her to really piece things together- size of the turtles, size and configuration of the habitat, diet, etc. so I can only guess at what may have happened.

It is against federal regulations to buy or sell turtles under 4" long commercially for pets. This law has a public reason and a more private reason. Publicly, it is to reduce the risk of Salmonella. Privately, it is to protect turtles. You see, baby 'pet shop' turtles are usually collected, raised, and shipped in horrible conditions- most will die before they get to the store. Most of the rest are ill. Since sick turtles rarely show many symptoms, it can be hard to know until it is too late.

It is my experience that most baby turtles available for sale in Chinatowns, flea markets, pet shops, etc. are sickly.

Another possibility is that the Mud Turtle introduced an illness it was resistant to. This happens often enough that most keepers strongly recommend against mixing species, or adding new animals until they have been quarantined for a month.

Try using the ish medicine 'Stress Coat' per directions and check out http://www.austinsturtlepage.com for some great care articles and medical advice.

Good luck!