7. Tips. Health care of red-eared slider and star tortoises

• Eye infections: The eyes are closed and eyelids are swollen and puffed up. Usually a bacterial infection or lack of Vit A .
  
  Consult your vet as early it needs a topical antibiotic. You need to upgrade the tank's filtration system to increase to double the rate of water changes or change water more frequently.
  
• Soft shell:  Your turtle's shell is soft. Most apartment owners in Singapore do not provide regular sunlight for basking or the UVA-UVB fluroescent light bulbs above the tank to enable the turtle to synethesize Vit D3 to absorb calcium from the diet. Sometimes, the bulbs are located far away or hidden by the tank glass. Light bulbs to be changed 6-monthly. Hatchlings will need caclium and Vit D3 supplements if the commercial turtle pellets are not of good quality.
  
  Red-eared sliders are omnivorous and in captivity, a good commercial pellet diet supplemented by meal worms, freeze-dried shrimps, small fishes and other water plants add var
  
  In some cases, the turtle's basking dock (area) may be too small or the water may be too deep. Sometimes, the turtle is too weak to climb onto the dock. Contact your vet. the turtle has metabolic bone disease.
• Furry mouth and refusal to eat: Check the mouth for tongue ulcers and white plaques. Your turtle has a bacterial infection in the mouth. Consult your vet for an antibiotic treatment. Red-eared sliders are omnivorous (vegetables and meat) but star tortoises are herbivorus (coarse grass are best, with lesser vegetables and fruits which may cause diarrhoea). Red-eared sliders are semi-aquatic and need a basking area with a heater lamp to dry out. Star tortoises are terrestrial and a shallow dish of water will be all right with sometimes soaking in shallow waters esp. for juveniles. In any case, Vit D3 and calcium supplements may be needed if there is no natural sunlight or UVA-UVB lights.
  
  As a guide for the aquarium tank, red-eared sliders need 10 gallons of water for one inch of carapace length. A basking dock below the basking lamp (UVA-UVB rays) and good filtration system is advised. They are messy eaters and produce a lot of waste. Water need to be changed daily if they are kept in smaller tanks or tubs.  Feed in tanks separate from sleeping tank to keep the water clean as they can then mess up the feeding tanks.
  
• Gasping for breath, wheezing, and breathing fast: This may be a respiratory infection, such as pneumonia. Immediately take your turtle to the vet and increase the tank temperature (ideally 24 C to 32 C or 75F to 90F). Expose your turtle to natural sunlight for half an hour daily to boost his immune system and aid digestion.
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• Wounds: Terrapins may fight when housed together or introduced to another tank. Sharp objects inside the tank. Bitten by dogs when outside the tank. Remove the cause, treat the wound with antispetic and keep it clean. See your vet for more advice.