My Turtle Has a Softish Shell and Doesn't Open Eyes?

Question

Ok. my friend gave m her turtle. It was kept in a small container with some water before she gave it to me. That was a couple of weeks ago.
Now, in my tank, I have a BIG tank, turtle pellets, heater, some gravel,and a filter. My turtle is very healthy and active and eats LOTS of food. But this turtle, I have to break the pellets into very small pieces.
Recently I just noticed that it's not opening its eyes. They are swollen. So I ordered eye drops. I don't know if they'll work. Also, its shell is soft. It's about as flexible as your fingernail. I know it's lacking calcium. Where can I obtain this?
Also, what kind of turtles are mine? Both are from Chinatown from NY. HELP!!!! and
Thanks!!

Answer 1

As are most of the the turtles sold in Chinatown, the turtle is sick, most likely with respiratory infection. If it's a tiny hatchling the soft shell is the least of its problems. The eyes swollen shut are an idication that it is very sick and it needs antibiotics ASAP. Because they are so tiny it's best to just use oral, but your vet will decide on the best course. An antibiotic eye ointment may help the eyes as will a proper set up, but do seperate it from your healthy turtle until it is better. If it's a bacterial infection you don't want to pass it on to yours. For now make sure the water is around 72-75 and a hot basking area of 85-90. If you can't get it to eat try breaking up small pieces of cooked chicken or shrimp. If the turtle will eat, feed it gutloaded bugs like crickets or superworms. Feed the bugs good nutritious foods like dark leafy greens dusted with vitamins so the turtle will get them indirectly. Good luck, I hope you can save the poor thing. If it has the little red stripes behind it's eyes it's a Red ear slider.
Julie, Director
Turtle Rescue of Long Island

Answer 2

First off, it's really hard to tell you what kind of turtle you have without more of a description. I'm guessing it's a red eared slider (they have read streaks on their heads where their ears would be) and are imfamously sold in China Town with diseases. It's lacking UVB lighting which senthesizes the calcium and produces and senthesizes vitamin D3 which helps prevent metabolic bone disease, which turtles with shell rot can easily get. It has an eye infection, which results in it not opening it's eyes. Eye drops for turtles should work fine. A big tank for a turtle..hmm, I doubt yours is, not to be rude, but turtles need 10 gallons of water per square inch of shell. So, a 4" turtle would need a 40 gallon tank. You should up the heat in the tank to about 80* to help it heal. They heal faster in the range of 80-85*. You might want to research your species too.

Answer 3

First thing, your older turtle cannot catch soft-shell from the sick turtle but I would suggest separating them for the safety of the sick turtle. To help with the soft shell, soak the sick turtle in whole milk for 10-15 minutes once or twice a day. Make sure that the milk is room temperature or on the warmer side. Also, make sure that your turtle gets plenty of UVA/UVB light and a nice dry basking area. Except for the milk baths, do not handle the turtle if you can help it because soft-shell is very painful for turtles. If you can afford it, you can take it to a vet and they might be able to give it a calcium injection.

Answer 4

How big is this turtle? If it is under 4 inches they will have soft shells. The shells harden as they get older, and get on a good diet. Shell rot looks like white spots or fungus on the shell. One thing you can do is get a turtle calcium block..not hte medicated ones these ones are white...or if you cant find those, break off a piece of a cuttle bone made for birds and put it in his tank. Also do not feed him goldfish as they are high in Biotin which will rob your turtle of calcium.
I am guessing he is a RES red eared slider as well...visit the link I sent you...and good luck! Shaz

Answer 5

it incredibly is prohibited to purchase a turtle that length for a reason. Turtles would desire to be (i've got confidence) 6 inches in the past they could be offered when you consider that they regularly have wellbeing issues like that. in ordinary terms a tip: study up on turtle rules

Answer 6

Does the turtle have a way to get out of the water and bask in the sun?? If not, try that. A big rock or something it can crawl up on.

Answer 7

1. Species is probably Red-ear Slider (http://www.redearslider.com)

2. Eye drops won't do much. The best treatment for both the eyes and shell is good general cares and diet.

Turtle pellets are a good start. Supplement them with some things like worms, insects, snails, krill, shrimp, and other 'fish foods', either live or frozen/thawed. Krill is a great favorite, and a lot of young Red-ears like bloodworms.

You can learn more about care, diet, etc. at http://www.austinsturtlepage.com

Answer 8

GET THAT TURTLE TO THE VET!!! Stop monkeying around with home remedies. He is obviously suffering.

Also, it's April. Even if he were a wild turtle, he should be coming out of hibernation by now.

Don't wait. Get him to the vet. Do the right thing for his sake.

Answer 9

Boil some water, chop up some carrots, celery, and...

sorry that probably isn't funny. I really don't know much about turtles, snakes are more my thing, but I can tell you that you might want to separate him from your healthy one. With any new reptile you should keep them separated from your other animals in order to make sure there is nothing that they will spread to the healthy ones.

Answer 10

The poor turtle is obviously sick. Separate him from the other turtle and take him to the vet, or give him to someone who will