My baby red eared slider turtle died last night. I left my house about seven am and got back about ten pm. When I got home, he was flipped over on his back, his eyes were somewhat sunk into his head, his back legs were stretched out almost all the way, and he had bright red spots in a parenthesis shape on his belly shell. He was probably about seven weeks old.
Usually, I had him in a large fishbowl (he was really small; probably about two inches long). That was dirty, though, so I had him in his feeding bowl, which is smaller. His basking rock was probably 6-7 inches away from the lamp. It was a regular desk lamp, not a heat lamp.
I'm really confused as to why he died. He was a healthy turtle who loved to swim and ate regularly. Any help at all will give me a little more peace of mind.
Answers & Comments
Verified answer
The Shredder is back.
Baby reptiles are more susceptible to diseases and other health issues than adults. It was not good that the tank was unclean because that meant he was swimming in his own fecal matter with no filtration system or access to clean water.
For aquatic turtles you should do 10 gallons per inch of turtle; despite their size they need room to move around. A fish bowl is not adequate home for them, especially because there is no filtration system. A filtration system is key for keeping an aquatic turtle healthy.
They also do require proper heat for their basking spot. A regular lamp would not have provided much aside from light. That is not the point of basking. They need that warmer temp so they can control their body temps because they are cold-blooded and their body temp depends upon the temps around them. They need to be given choices. They need a basking spot of about 90 degrees.
I don't know where this turtle came from. Petstores tend to not take very good care of their reptiles. Many are not fed properly and/or have parasites. Reptiles do not show signs they are sick until it is bad.
I'm sorry about your turtle. I'm afraid we cannot pinpoint a definite cause. If you do wish to get another in the future, please do buy a book on their care to give it the best conditions possible. :)
Two inches is not 7 weeks old, most turtle eggs are smaller than two inches and my Res is 2 inches and I've had him for almost two years,(and yes he has grown a lot) I think over heating is the problem, young turtles won't normally know how to control body temps as well. And there is not two much room in your container for it to move. A 20 gal tank is what would have suited you best, (except for something larger of course). And I would not have feed him in the same container he slept and lived. As another answer-er said, baby turtles are more susceptible to health conditions and over heating. As for the spots, Red eared sliders normally differ in shell patterns, especially on the plastron, and I've seen a few with odd colors but bright red spots on plastron is not very common