Is my hatchling ill?

[dacaptain1978]

Hello, For the past week one of my hatchlings seems to hardly ever leave its basking platform. Then I noticed that for two days its eyes seemed to be getting stuck shut as if the eyelid was sticking to the eye. They are not puffy or red, and I have’nt noticed him scratching at his eyes. I am not sure if his eyes are just getting really dried out and sticky from being out of the water for long periods of time, or if he has an eye infection or worse. For example, I picked him up to feed him yesterday off the basking platform and he had trouble opening his right eye and his left eye did not open. As soon as I put him in my feeding tank and his head was sumberged in water his left eye opened fine. I checked him out this morning and his eyes were open and looked good. He was still on the basking platform though. When I put him in the water he swam around for a minute and then he climbed right back on the platform. This behavior is a complete contrast to the other hatchling that shares his tank. The other hatchling I have loves the water and rarely comes out. This contrast in behavior and the problem with its eyes has me worried. Do these sound like symptoms of a bacteria infection? If so, are they contageous? Please let me know. Thank you.

[rcftx]

is the hatchling eating well? what is the basking area temperature? what is the diet you have them on? rcftx —————————————————-This mailbox protected from junk email by Matadorfrom MailFrontier, Inc. http://info.mailfrontier.com

[dacaptain1978]

He is eating fine. I have been feeding them Zoomeds Hatchling turtle food and Wardley dried shrimp once or twice a week. I usually feed them twice a day. The water temperature is 80-82F and the basking temperature is 88-90F. They are in a 75 gallon tank a little over 3/4 full. I have been checking the water quality every 2-3 days and it is fine, no ammonia, nitrate/nitrite, ect. — In diamondbackterrapins@yahoogroups.com, “rcftx”

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