When in doubt, a vet visit never hurts anything but your wallet!

Whether the cost of your Red Ear Slider was small or large, you should try to provide the best care possible. When providing it with a suitable aquarium, cleanliness, healthy diet, and a warm stress free environment you can minimize a huge potential of health problems. Find a veterinarian who is qualified to offer care and treatment of a Red Ear Slider. The first thing you should do if your turtle seems sick is take it to a veterinarian!

General rules you should follow when sickness is suspected:

•Make a vet appointment immediately, turtles do not show symptoms until they are EXTREMELY ill.

•Raise temperatures about 2-4 degrees.

•Keep the water very clean.

•Keep offering different food items to the turtle.

•Catch stools for a stool sample at the vet.

•If it is a shell problem, remove the turtle from the water.

•If the turtle has difficulty swimming, remove the turtle from the water or lower the water level.

Signs of Illness

•cloudy, closed, red or swollen eyes

•swollen cheeks

•open mouth breathing

•bubbly mucus around the nose or mouth

•runny stools

•loss of appetite

•listlessness and basking too much

•spots appearing on plastron (bottom shell), carapace (top shell) or body

•soft shell

•excessive shedding.

•lopsided swimming or floating

•noises while breathing

•difficulty diving to bottom

newly acquired turtles are under a lot of stress and may be riddled with bacterial or parasitical infections that may be passed along to you or your kids. Always take a sick turtle to a reptile veterinarian, and have your children checked out by their physician if they begin to exhibit any signs (nausea, stomach aches, vomiting).

Respiratory Diseases

Respiratory infections are very deadly in turtles. Some of the symptoms are:

•runny nostrils

•gasping with the mouth open

•wheezing

•bubbling at the nose or mouth

•lopsided swimming

•inability to float or dive

•lethargic

Any of these problems, single or in combination, may represent a serious respiratory infection. Antibiotic treatment is necessary immediately.

Treatment

Call the vet right away. Raise the turtle's water temperatures to 80-82 degrees F. The vet will give antibiotic shots which will either be injected into food or into the turtle directly.

When you go to the vet, make sure to take ALL the turtles with you that live in the same tank, and get them all started on antibiotics. In many cases, the turtles that are not showing symptoms are already infected. Many turtles have been saved because even though the first turtle to show symptoms succumbed to the illness, the remaining turtles were already 2 days into antibiotics when their symptoms appeared.

Pyramiding

Pyramiding is when a turtle's normally flat shell becomes bumpy, as though each scute was forming a little pyramid. Turtles with pyramiding can also have internal issues as well. This condition comes from a high protein diet.

Treatment

while it is not possible to reverse the existing damage, it can be stopped by changing to a lower protein diet. Over half of a turtle's diet should be plant matter.

Vitamin A Deficiency

Lack of Vitamin A can cause puffy eyes (swollen membranes). It's important to regularly feed vegetables high in Vitamin A, like carrots. Too much Vitamin A is toxic, so don't overdo it. Additionally, the symptoms for too much Vitamin A are also puffy eyes. If the eye problem is caused by lack or excess of Vitamin A, it will clear up very quickly with a change in diet.

Treatment

Change the diet to include veggies high in Vitamin A, like carrots.

Salmonella

Like other animals and people, turtles carry all sorts of bacteria on them. The same way that you should not let your dog lick your face, you should not kiss your turtle. Small children should not be allowed to touch the turtle. Always wash your hands with hot water and soap after handling turtles or any of their supplies. It is possible to treat turtles for salmonella, but it can come back very easily. Always assume that your turtle has it. Don't worry, he's fine.

Fungal Infections

Red Eared Sliders and other turtles can develop fuzzy gray and white patches that are fungal growths. One of the major causes of this is poor water quality and an improper basking area. Make sure you have a good full spectrum or UVB Light that gives off some good heat. Sliders need this for the prevention of fungal infections. Fungal infections can also develop if the water quality is poor. Make sure you have a really good filter!

Treatment

Make sure the turtle's basking area is positioned so they can get completely dry. A fungal infection will require medication from a veterinarian, and it will also require dry docking your turtle for a prescribed amount of time.

Ear or Cheek Infections

The most obvious symptom of an ear or cheek infection is the asymmetrical appearance of the head whereby one side will appear more swollen than the other. The causes of these infections can include unsanitary or inadequate husbandry, inadequate maintenance temperatures, superficial lacerations and inadequate diets.

Treatment

Treatment involves draining the infected area through a small incision. The abscess will be flushed clean. Do not attempt this procedure yourself; always see a veterinarian to lance abscesses! The turtle may need to be dry docked until the infection heals.

Shell Rot

It's usually of bacterial origin and has haunted keepers for years. It usually starts off by an injury, bruised shell, burn or a crack in the shell surface. If your tank isn't clean and well maintained, shell rot will spread very rapidly. Clean water will also prevent this infection from happening.

Treatment

A complete sterilization of the aquarium and appropriate medication from your veterinarian is needed. This is one problem like I said that could spread very rapidly. Make sure to take the turtle to the vet. Also try a Betadine solution until the infection has healed.

Algae on your Turtle

If algae grow in your rocks and tank decorations, unless they disturb your sense of beauty, you can let them grow. An exception is the long, hairy kind which also makes the water slimy. Those, you should remove. Algae grow in healthy water with enough light. They are a sign that you are doing something right. Do not use chemicals to kill algae!!! If you don't like the algae, brush them off every time you change the water, change the water more often, use a stronger filter, and add a little salt to the water (see further up). In the wild, it is normal for turtles to grow algae on their shells. It helps them camouflage! In captivity, the algae should be removed every once in a while, since they can encourage growth of fungus in a confined environment.

Treatment

to remove the algae, hold your turtle under warm tap water and gently brush it with a soft vegetable brush.

Obesity

This is very dangerous to turtle and should be monitored very carefully. Obesity in turtles can cause the functions of liver and other organs to become impaired.

Treatment

Correct the Sliders diet in both quality and quantity.

Swollen Eyelids

Vitamin A deficiency and overdose causes swollen eyelids, which can result in vision problems and bloody skin patches. Swollen and shut eyes used to be a common symptom in baby Red Eared Sliders fed an inadequate diet. Swollen and shut eyes can also be symptoms of a respiratory infection and may require antibiotic therapy.

Treatment

Check with your vet immediately to determine the cause of this symptom.

Gaping and Yawning

Gaping can be either totally harmless--turtles do yawn, or a sign of a serious respiratory problem, including pneumonia. You have to watch the turtle carefully and put all the different signs together. If the animal gapes and yawns frequently, and especially if there are any other symptoms, like swollen eyes, a runny nose, rasping while breathing, or loss of appetite, have a veterinarian evaluate the turtle immediately.

Treatment

often a veterinarian will do an X-Ray to determine whether a gaping turtle has pneumonia and water in its lungs. If a water turtle swims lop-sided, mention it to your veterinarian. This is a pretty sure sign that the turtle does have water in its lungs.

Shell Shedding

Turtles shed occasionally the outermost layer of their scutes. They are thin, translucent scutes. If the whole scute is shed and the bone becomes visible, or if shedding is continuous, you may have a fungus problem and you should have your turtle inspected by a veterinarian. As an immediate measure, remove the turtle from the water except for a 30 minute bath twice a day; keep it warm and dry; soak twice a day for 15 minutes in iodine solution or sponge off with Nolvosan.

Skin Shedding

A little peeling occasionally is fine. Turtles shed their skin like other reptiles, but more continuously. Mine usually shed more for a while, then less or not at all. As long as the shed skin is thin and translucent, and you don't see anything unusual on the skin, and the shedding is not excessive, don't worry. If the shedding is continuous, or the skin looks sore or red, or the shedding is very heavy, you may have to deal with a skin fungus. Have your turtle checked by a veterinarian. You may also soak the turtle in an iodine solution twice a day for 15 minutes and keep it warm and dry outside the water overnight for a while.

Silvery Spots under the Top Layer of Shell

The silver spot is most likely air trapped under a scute that might shed soon. (Not the whole scute to the bone, just one layer, which turtles shed periodically.) Just keep an eye on it. Sometimes, the spot turns green from algae that grows on it. You may try, gently, to see whether the scute (just a transparent layer) is loose and comes off.

Prolapses

It's basically the Slider's intestine coming out of its anus. It usually goes back right in, but you have to be very careful that it does not bite it or other turtles do not bite it. If they do it can cause serious damage. If the prolapse does not go back in, take it to the vet and they can stitch it up so it doesn't happen again. A lot of turtles will at some point in time prolapse, (i.e. turn inside out and outside of their body) their cloaca or for males their penises. Occasional prolapses are common and more annoying than dangerous if dealt with properly. There is little pain involved for the turtle. It is not known for sure, what causes prolapses. Diet, stress, parasites and intestinal infections, general disease, obstructed intestinal tract, and weak cloacal muscles have all been suggested, but there are no final conclusions. And, too much sex... (No joke). So, there are no known preventive measures, either. If your turtle seems otherwise healthy, an occasional prolapse is nothing to worry about. If the prolapses happen frequently and cause too much distress to you and your turtle, you might consider asking a herp vet to apply a purse string suture. If you catch your turtle in the act, watch and keep dirt away from the exposed parts. If they don't go back in immediately, make sure, they stay moist (you may even want to put the animal in a pan with a little luke warm water) and massage the surrounding area gently and make the turtle move. For water turtles, keeping the parts moist is less of an issue than for land turtles, but putting the turtle into clean water is still recommended. With water turtles, other turtles might try to bite the prolapsed body part which can lead to heavy bleeding and ugly consequences. Land turtles may step on their intestine, or tear it with their hind feet when trying to remove the 'thing' extending from their body. The turtle is not aware that this is a body part. Observe the turtle, until the prolapse has gone back inside. Purse String Suture: The suture basically keeps the cloaca from opening too wide, and so the intestine should stay in. The turtle can still pass feces, of course. If the intestine does dry off, usually, the vet will put a suture around it and eventually remove the dead part completely. This is done under anesthesia and can be more or less complicated, depending on the size of the dead parts. This operation has a guarded prognosis.

Wounds

It's important to determine HOW your turtle got injured. If they are with multiple turtles, it may be time to separate them. Aggressive turtles will maim and kill their tank mates.

Treatment

if the cut is minor, dry-dock the turtle and put on some antibiotic ointment until the wound is healed. If the wound is more major, seek veterinary care immediately. Separate the injured turtle PERMANENTLY from any aggressors.

Metabolic Bone Disease

In hatchling turtles, this used to be known as soft-shell disease. It was one of the more common causes of deaths during the days of the large scale sale of baby Red Eared Sliders in the 1960's. The causes of metabolic Bone disease are inadequate calcium and/or inadequate calcium/phosphorus ratio and/or a vitamin D3 deficiency. This disease used to be common at a time when worthless turtle diets such as dried flies were commercially marketed in pet stores. The earliest symptoms are the softening of the plastron, underside of the shell, and the rear marginals, back edge of the shell. When examining for metabolic bone disease, apply slight, gentle pressure to these areas. Applying too much force and pressure can injure the turtles. Be gentle! By feeding your turtles an adequate diet your turtles will not have metabolic bone disease. Symptoms in larger animals include soft shells, deformed shell growth, and the inability to support themselves on their hind legs. As long as your turtles still appear active and are feeding, this disease can easily be handled. If caught in the earliest stages and treated early on, no long term effects will be present. In severe cases, a veterinarian should be consulted to administer inject-able calcium gluconate. In more severe cases, the effects of the disease will not reverse and skeletal deformities and abnormal shell growth will remain for the rest of the turtle's life.

Treatment

Providing an adequate diet and treatment by supplementing the diet with a calcium/phosphorus/vitamin D3 supplement such as Osteoforme will stop or end the progress of the disease.

Internal Parasites

Red Eared Sliders can harbor many parasites including roundworms, flukes, and protozoans. If your turtle is stool-less, not feeding well, has poor weight, runny and/or bloody stools, stools with large amounts of mucus, stools with worms present, then you should consult a veterinarian to perform a stool check for parasites. A qualified reptile veterinarian will be able to prescribe and perform the best course of treatment.

Treatment

See a Veterinarian!!

If Your Turtle Will Not Eat

Is the turtle kept warm enough? If turtles get too cool, they will stop eating. Does the turtle like the food you offer? Try out different foods. Some turtles can be very finicky eaters, especially in the beginning. And they have definite likes and dislikes. Most turtles will eventually take small earthworms that are wiggling in front of their nose. Start feeding favorite foods, and then slowly introduce other items. Is your turtle exposed to too much stress? This is often a cause in new animals. Stress can be caused by handling, traveling, and tank mates. New turtles will often not eat properly for several weeks. Be patient and keep trying. Is your turtle healthy? Not eating can be a symptom of other problems. If your turtle has been eating well and suddenly stops, a health problem is a likely reason. Take a fecal sample to your veterinarian. Fecal samples need to be no older than 4 hours, and you need to store them in water in the refrigerator. Don't panic! A turtle can go without food for weeks, even months, and when it feels well again, it will eat again. See a veterinarian, if you think you are doing everything right, and the animal does not eat for more than 2 weeks.