Air bubble?

[Peteandem]

Have 2 musk turtles and have reported on here about one going crazy. Have now got a basking lamp in and done regular water changes and still no change.

Have spoke to the place where i got them from and they are telling me that it could be an air bubble under the shell but have no idea how to get rid of it. This sounds about right because after watching the turtle today have noticed that she can not swim under water and she just floats when she stops swimming

Has anyone heard of this before and know how to get rid of it

[Graham]

This sounds very much like trapped wind, which may sound a bit odd but it's actually quite common, especially in hatchling turts. It's not an air bubble under the shell, that's impossible as the turt is attached to it's shell, if there was air under it the turt would almost certainly be dead!

The usual cause of wind is a disturbance of the natural gut flora, which can be caused by something as simple as a change of diet, changing it again can sort it it out but it can take a little while for normal balance to return. When it does, and the wind is expelled via the normal route, your turt should be OK again.

What diet do you have them on, and what did they eat before you got them?

[Peteandem]

They have 2 foods on opposite days.

Day 1 they have nutrafin max Turtle gammarus pellets and have about 8 - 10 pellets between the 2 of them.

Day 2 they have king british freeze dried bloodworm and have a small pinch between them.

Before we got them we have no idea what the shop was feeding them but they did recommend the food we use.

Are we best changing the food?

[Graham]

I think I would stop the bloodworm for the moment, and probably reduce the amount of the pellets as that seems rather a lot.

You could try changing to a different pellet for a while and see if that helps, but also replace some of the pellets with fresh protein such as small aquatic snails, various crustaceans and inverts.

[Peteandem]

Ok will try that. Any recommendations on a different pellet food. Is there one that is better for them than the rest

[Graham]

I feed mine a variety, mainly ReptoMin and Zoo Med, and Koi wheatgerm pellets for the extra Vitamin A which is good for their shells. The extra fibre in wheatgerm may help with your problem too.

[Peteandem]

I have ordered all three you mentioned. Will start to get them into a routine with it as soon as it arrives.

Thank you again Graham. You are a star

[Peteandem]

Just wanted to say my thanks again. Has been almost a month of taking care of her but following the advise worked. Shelly can now swim straight and go underwater again. We have 2 happy musks again

[Graham]

Glad to hear it!