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New red eared sliders and respiratory illness

22 16:30:03

Question
Dear Mark:
  I recently received a 125 gallon aquarium from my brother and decided to get some red eared sliders for it. I did a lot of reading of books and internet resources and spent a considerable amount of money setting up my terrarium. I am middle aged and had turtles when I was a kid and they ended up dying as did so many kept in the little plastic containers with the palm tree.
  My situation is this. I stupidly ordered three hatchling RES on the internet with guaranteed overnight delivery. I received them at work and they came in a cottage cheese type container with damp strips of rag and bits of food. I put them in a little warm water and noticed that one of the turtles was relatively unresponsive and floated crookedly. It was also smaller than the others with a couple of white scutes on the edge of its carapace.I took them home and put them in my large aquarium that had about three inches of water in it with the required lighting. I had two "islands" of clay pot bottoms filled with gravel and artificial plants and logs to provide hiding places.
  After the first couple of days, I noticed that two of the turtles were pretty active but that the small one was not as responsive. I put them in a small container each morning for approximately 15 minutes to eat, but none of them seemed too interested for the first few days. I started reading about diseases and symptoms and I figured that the small turtle had a respiratory ailment. He had a hard time opening his eyes and kept pawing at them. I read the book by Vosjoli (sp) and he said that turtles with this ailment should see a vet, but that if caught early by supplying heat, this could be effective.
  I made the basking area warmer. from 80s to between 90 and 100. I put barriers up to keep the turtles in the warm part of the 125 gallon tank and got a heater to warm the water from the 70s to the 80s. (Subsequently I have a lot of algae on the rocks, which I read is OK.)
  I monitored this little turtle closely and he seemed to improve. His eyes opened and he exhibited a little more movement, although one morning I found him floating upside down. He seemed more interested in food as the others were discovering food. I bought live crickets and mealworms and also Reptimin pellets and freeze dried mealworms. I also fed a little bit of collard greens.
  I got these turtles on the 25th of September and had to take a hamster to the vet on Friday October 5th. My work schedule is erratic; I work evenings and I have been working double shifts. I asked to take the turtles there on that day, but the exotics vets were not in. (One of these vets tends to my parrots and is excellent.) I had difficulty making additional appointments for this hamster and I figured that if my turtle seemed to be making improvements, there didn't seem to be a crisis. I tried to make another appointment for the following week for the turtles, but my schedule didn't seem to mesh with the vets'.
  To make an already long story short, my little turtle died overnight on Sat/Sun, October 10/11. He had been gasping for the last two days occasionally, but was swimming better, even though he was still lopsided and floating.
  I really feel badly that I did the wrong thing. I take the best of care of my pets and, as I said, I have spent about $200 on an old dwarf hamster that losing his hair. I need to know if the turtle could have gotten a respiratory illness in transit or am I just a victim of receiving animals from a less than reputable business? I figured that if the turtle caught the RI in transit, I could "fix it" with heat therapy as Vosjoli suggested. (One of the other turtles got swollen eyes and seemed a little sluggish, but is doing much better. The third seems fine. I am taking them to the vet's tomorrow.)
  I guess I feel guilty and am "pissed off" by getting sick turtles. Let the buyer beware. Thank you for your input and attention to this rambling email. Hopefully you and others have made bad judgement calls in the past, too.
  Thanks a lot.

      Randy


Answer
There is a on-line vendor whose ads can often be found on this and other sites who has a less-then-sterling reputation- I cannot help but wonder if this is the site you bought from.

Your turtle seems to have had a Respiratory Infection (RI) that developed into a full-blown pneumonia. That is very difficult for a vet to treat. While I have no way of knowing if it started with you or the dealer, shipping a marginal turtle can easily cause RI.

I did notice a few things in your account that suggest that the other turtles might not be getting what they need- mostly in terms of water volume and warmth. You said you did internet research, but I would like to suggest a couple sites I find really help-
- http://www.redearslider.com
- http://www.austinsturtlepage.com

The book you mentioned is excellent, but these sites might offer some insights that will help.