possible choking

my sons yellow eared belly slider that is only about a month old was feed a 1/2 of a live red worm and the turtle appeared to act as if he was choking. we pulled the worm out of the turtles mouth and put him back in his big tank but he started floating sideways and would not go to bottom of tank for an hour or so. now he opens his mouth and swipes his foot like he is trying to get something away from his face. he is swimming ok now but i am afraid he might die.

is this possible.

Comments for possible choking

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Dec 11, 2016

Nothing to worry about
by: Anonymous

First of all it is yellow belly/bellied slider (I think you are getting the ear part from red eared sliders, their more commonly known cousin). I have one too and she does the same thing. She does it when she eats/ tries to eat super worms. The "choking" probably isn't choking he/she is just regurgitating it because their stomach cannot handle food of that size. The swimming sideways was probably just to get around the tank and nothing to be too concerned about, but if it continues alert a vet. Lastly the swiping at the mouth is to help them chew their food and break it into smaller peices, as my turtle has been doing it from day one. Hope this helped and I think you yourself should learn more about turtles and more specifically about yellow bellied sliders before you let your son have one

Jul 16, 2011

Choking
by: Anonymous

Floating sideways usually means a problem with the lungs. But if he's floading OK now, that is not the main problem.

I'm sorry that I can't say why he's swatting at his mouth.

It might be time to see a vet.

Good luck.

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