Urgent Care :: Red Eared Slider just won't eat!

[Kelsey_Rose]

Ok, here is my problem.
About 2 years ago i bought these three red eared sliders. 2 of them died and now i am left with one, it has been doing great! growing rapidly, and swimming and such. I dont know if its a boy or a girl.
But for abought 2 to 3 weeks now it just wont eat.
I keep the water at 78 degrees farinhiet using a water heater to do so
I use filters and will be washing the tank this weekend
I have a nice little basking area that has a UVB light and is easy for him to get to.
I feed it tetromin turtle pellets, tryed feeder fish once but they never were eaten, only died from starvation
My turtle ate one pellet this morning instead of its usual amont of like 15
and this has been whats been happening for quite a while now
It has been kind of lazy and it has been sleeping alot lately even though its warming up weather-wise.
I also think that i will be needing to buy a bigger tank soon. Does that help with it eating?
the tank is left in a hallway upstairs, not by a window, and i heard about the tuna juice method and was wondering if that works and other methods I could use.
Please help, i am quite young still a child and dont know how to help it. Is this normal? Why is this happening?
Do turtles get sick of turtle pellets? Oh, please help me.

[marisa]

Are his eyes swollen at all?

What's the basking area temp?

It's possible for a turtle to become sick of the same food all the time, although from what you said about your turtle sleeping a lot sounds like something else could be going on.

Has your turtle been exposed to an breezes or cool drafts when you take him out of the tank to clean it?

How big is he?

[Kelsey_Rose]

when i clean the tank he sits in this little carry cage that i fill up with a medicated sulfa dip which cleans him from bacteria and stuff and prevents sickness, so he isnt exposed to any breezes. I think the basking temp area is around 82 degrees? Im not sure if his eyes are swollen but when he opens his eyes from sleeping he looks a little swollen-eyed. i think he is almost fully grown, maybe 5 inches long?

[megcornell]

It sounds like part of the issue is his imbalanced diet. You should start supplementing him with vegetables, specifically carrots to help with his eyes.
Does he have UVB light? I'd also assume that after so long without proper lighting he's probably not getting enough calcium. Buy some cuttlebone and look into getting him proper lighting (UVA and UVB) or at least getting him unfiltered sunlight when the weather allows for it.

Start reading up on the nutrition section to see what a good turtle diet includes. It's good that you noticed his change in behavior. Hopefully with some modifications, things will get better.

[Kelsey_Rose]

just tryed feeding him a carrot. he wont eat it either, im not sure why, maybe he doesnt realize your suppose to eat it? i even cut it up into little peices. I'm getting kind of worried. I'll try the cuttlebone and maybe buy a feeder fish. I hope he's not sick. It might be because his tank is too small, I'll be going looking for a new tank very soon.

He wont eat anything, i guess my main question here is how should i make the food more attractive to him so he'll eat it?

[Irina]

I have the same problem with my turtle. I have two of them: male and female. Female had not eaten for 4 or 5 days, but then started eating again. Right next day after that, the male turtle stopped eating, he is basking all day, I even had to leave the lightt on for the night because he would not leave the basking island. He refuses to eat. He used to be very active and would react when we came into the room, but now he just doesn't care. The temperature is around 75. He used to eat carrots, pellets, raw fish, strawberries. No bubbles in his nose, no shedding. I feel so bad for him. Could it be seasonal, like spring depression?

[Kelsey_Rose]

maybe, i wish i could get in his mind, to help him-you know?

[TheComputerGremlin]

If he continues to not eat for much longer, you may want to take him to the vet. He could have gotten internal parasites or something else.

[Kelsey_Rose]

ya, well i just checked the temperatures with my dads special thermometer and it was only 71, i am going to buy a new heater, but thats probably the cause for all this, hey?

[TheComputerGremlin]

It's very possible, yes. Get that new heater asap and see if his condition improves. If it doesn't, consider a vet.

[marisa]

A fair difference between 78 and 71F (although a turtle that's healthy should do OK in the latter water temp). Get a better heater to warm him up and help get his immune system going. Basking area temp should be 88-90F.

Carrots are more attractive to my turtles when they're offered in thin peels that look like worms. You might try a little plain cod liver oil on the eye lids (apply with a q-tip) once or twice a day for a few days to see if that helps (some of the Vit A will be absorbed into his system).

Smelly food and/or food that moves is often more tempting to turtles. You could also try something like pieces of earthworm (cut up). Read up on foods that can be offered.

[Kelsey_Rose]

Thank you so much you guys, I'll be getting that new heater asap and i will change the variety of food, I'll keep posting if i need any more help

[Kelsey_Rose]

Hey umm, one question, How do i get my turtle to eat carrots? She just looks at them like they are rocks, even when i cut it into thin little strips

[rachel16]

Try cooking them thats what works Bravery and Scardey-cat

[SpotsMama]

My turtle wouldn't eat carrots for several years - they just didn't appeal to him. He would eat lots of other things though, including fresh basil, blueberries and steamed sweet potato. And red and green leaf lettuce. Recently, I guess he's matured some more because he will now eat carrots and tomato in addition to the other things.