Latley my painted turtle hasn't been looking so well. He rests on the top of the water with his head up out of the water. His shell is getting a grayish color also! I am kinda getting scared, I feed him, wash his water, and do what i can to make him homely! I hope he doesan't get worst and die! Please help??

It sounds like he's sick. How big is the turtle? How big is the tank? What do you feed him? How often do you change the water? Is the shell soft? Do you have full spectrum lighting? How warm is the tank? The problem might be shell rot or fungus on the shell or some other malady. If you can, a trip to a reptile vet sounds in order. I hope he gets better!

He is about 4 inches big. The tank is a 15 gallon tank. I feed him the turtle/ reptile sticks. I change the water weekly, and i changed it yesturday and i just went out the and the water looks kind of cloudy, i think he threw up, The shell is normal still. I have an awuarium like light. The tank is 85 degrees, and i keep the tank outside and I live in Arizona and the outside temp is 100. I will se what I can do with him. He has algea on his shell. How much is a trip to the reptile vet?

by the way that was me.

He's still young then. See http://www.fishpondinfo.com/hatchling.htm for some information on caring for smaller turtles. The tank is not that big so it may be time for a larger tank. You might want to feed the turtle more variety of foods (the link I mentioned will give you some ideas). The cloudy water may just be from feces. My lizard's water gets a white film on the surface sometimes from her waste. Turtles may spit out food but they cannot physically throw up from their stomach. The turtle's tank is very hot there in Arizona! Are you sure he's not overheating? Is it in partial shade? If he's too hot, that may make him ill too. Don't worry about the algae on the shell. It won't harm him. It's like a disguise for him to hide in nature. Around here, a reptile vet would charge maybe $50 to just see the turtle and then add to that the costs of medications. Nobody said it was cheap! I don't take any reptiles to the vet but with my animals (mostly my 5 cats but also 3 rabbits, 2 guinea pigs, 2 hedgehogs, and even a chicken sometimes) that do go to the vet, I spend about $5000 a year on them just for vet bills!

Well anyways, yesturday I went to the store and bought one of those plastic kiddie pools and put him in that, and went to the pet stor and got this tablet that helps with the turtles health, I also bout gold fish!!! He seems to be doing better!

He/she should like the kiddie pool. What is the "tablet" that you got? You bought the goldfish for him/her to eat? The turtle may not be big enough yet to eat them unless the goldfish are really tiny.

This Clacium tablets he uses. He has eaten these small goldfishes, called Red Minions. He seems to be doing better!

Oh, ok, you didn't get goldfish. You got rosy red minnows. I have web pages on them at http://www.fishpondinfo.com/rosies.htm
They are much smaller than goldfish and a good first fish to try to feed fish-eating turtles. I love rosy reds though! Adding a calcium tablet to the water may help the turtle absorb some more calcium resulting, hopefully, in a stronger shell. Calcium won't help with bacteria, funguses, or other maladies though. Do you add salt to the water? The addition of a tablespoon of aquarium salt per 2 gallons or so would really help fight off shell rot, funguses, and bacteria on the turtle. I am glad he's better!

I just wanted to add: Be sure your turtle has a basking area where he can go to get totally out of the water and dry off, this will help prevent shell fungus and respirtory infections in your turtle. Sounds like he's getting plenty of sunshine which is important, but a shaded area is important as well. I'm glad you got a bigger home for him, 15 gallons is too small for a turtle of his size.
Good Luck!