alright, here's the deal:
i have two hatchling map turtles, more or less the same age. i've had them both since september-ish and i expected them to grow at about the same speed. my big turtle (klaptrap) is a bit aggressive, but i made sure to get an equally aggressive friend for him and they did quite well for a while, swimming and sunning together. the trouble is, klaptrap has shed his skin a few times and nearly doubled in size, swallowing crickets nearly whole and pellets in groups of five or six. my little guy (buttons) hasn't grown a bit. he can maybe manage one pellet (after chewing) and a lone cricket leg on a good day. he's in the sun constantly and seems to be sleeping most of the time.
a few days back i was trying to coax buttons to eat, making sure klaptrap didn't steal all the food, and he ate a bit and then stopped and seemed to be panting. he even squeaked a bit. being new to turtles i had no idea if this was normal and checked online. some sites said he might have pneumonia and to take him to the vet, and others said to try a sulfur dip.
i've tried the dip (it says to continue for seven days) for about three now and he's better for a few hours after but then lapses back to panting and sitting with slit, somewhat puffy eyes.
i'm loath to take him to the vet for an $80 dollar visit and then that again or more for antibiotics when he's barely the size of a silver dollar, but it seems as if i'm running out of options.
my sister works with a mature res (she's a zoologist) but the lab they have is small and she's learning as she goes with the turtle, so her idea that i'm being hissed at might not be correct.

i have a twenty gallon tank with suitable basking areas, uva/uvb lamp and all. i keep the water at about 78 degrees fahrenheit and have an internal filter for tanks up to twenty gallons and an external hanging filter for the same.
i'm hoping i'm being hissed at and buttons and klaptrap just have different personalities, but if that isn't the case, ack! help!

thanks for reading all of this, any insight will be truly wonderful.

chelsea


p.s.
i just found out that they're false map turtles, and don't fare well in captivity.
oh mannn

Try seperating them. If you can't afford seperate enclosures, at least seperate them when they feed. I have two red-eared sliders. One has gone through two full sheds since October and is just getting HUGE. But, I noticed that the smaller one wasn't getting any larger at all. So, I started feeding them seperately, making sure the small one gets plenty of protein and supplements.

It's made a HUGE difference. It's only been a month and she's already shedding like mad and gaining weight. I don't know much about false map turtles, but this definitely worked for my sliders.

Good luck!

__________________
We call them dumb animals, and so they are, for they cannot tell us how they feel, but they do not suffer less because they have no words.

~Anna Sewell

ahh! i'm so glad your turtle is doing better!
i ended up taking mine to my vet and he had pneumonia! a few injections and some very high protein food later and he's shed and quickly catching up in size to my other.
thanks for the tip though, i'll keep it in mind for the future!

Aww... I'm sorry to hear that, but I'm glad he's getting better now! My little one, Koopa, is doing great. But, like I said, she's shedding like mad. Well, she likes to rub up against her dock and pull the shedding skin off. She's made two places very raw and red that way. So, we've been spraying her down with skin and shell treatment every day. Hopefully this'll help. Have you ever gone through something like this?

__________________
We call them dumb animals, and so they are, for they cannot tell us how they feel, but they do not suffer less because they have no words.

~Anna Sewell

i've never had any trouble with my guys and shedding; they always just ignore the sloughing skin.
the only idea i have other than the spraying you're already doing is to help her out with her skin by tugging off the loose bits you see so she doesn't have to do it her way and hurt herself.
good luck!!

weldl u see the problem with raising baby turtles is size, some will grow bigger and eat more, then u screw the other little turtle who doesnt have the advantage of large size so he wont eat as much and the circle closes