Urgent Care :: RES Hatchling tooooo fat

[siburjunkee]

Hey guys, hopefully you guys can help me out.

I have had a RES for about a month, my girlfriend's sister brought me back a hatchling from North Carolina. I've noticed he was getting larger over the past week, but just today finally took him out to look at him (he has been basking but runs away when I walk in). He's about 2 1/2 inches long and quite thick. I've been feeding him once every morning but was not aware that my girlfriend and her sister have been also feeding him daily/bi-daily. He cannot get inside his shell and has fat pockets along the side of his legs when he tries to do so. Furthermore, his shell is bulbusy and quite round and shedding. Furthermore his tank (30 gallon's with a Fluval 3 Carbon Filter) is a mess and I've been forced to perform bi-weekly water changes too keep it clean.

I'm assuming I should do something quickly to fix the problem before he develops serious liver issues. Should I just reduce his food intake to a small about a day until his weight stablizes, or should I put him on a diet. If a diet is the way to go, what types of foods should I feed him and how often? Thanks in advance for all your help -- I'm a new RES owner and hope you guys can help put my mind at ease.

[jenaero]

I had to cut back on feeding but not til my girls were about 6 months. They were showing signs of pyramiding. For now, since he/she's still very young, I'd say feed him the amount that would fit inside his head once a day and do whatever you can to make sure no one else is feeding him in between. My husband was doing that too, because he swore they were hungry (they're great beggars). Hide the food if you need to. I had to show my hubby pics of severly deformed/pyramided turtles and tell him all about the internal stuff that goes on when a turtle grows too fast. He finally understood.

Start him on veggies if you haven't already. It's a good filler, and he's not going to get fat by eating salad. Check the What to Feed list on this forum and figure out what he likes. Also, throw in some feeder fish (rosy red minnows or guppies). That will help him get some exercise.

It's not too late! I put my res on a strict mon/wed/fri feeding schedule with veggies every day and their shells are evening out nicely and their growth had slowed right down (they're 5 inches long each at 1 year old and that's just too big). I've seen very little growth, if any, in the last month or so.

measure and weigh him now. Start the new feeding schedule then check his weight/length again every couple of weeks for the next few months just to make sure it's making a difference.

good luck

[LoveTheColdBlood]

So- if one of my res hatchlings is 'fatter' than the other (and I know they're the same age), not to mention grown to be 50% larger in shell-length over the 4 months ive owned them - does that mean (she) is over-fed? I initially wrote it off as her being female, and the the other hatchling to be male. But I have read it is nigh-impossible to tell gender until around 4 inches of shell length. I dunno I doo see the fatter turtle eat more during feeding time. Maybe that is the only difference and I should feed them separately.

[ataraxiamb]

So- if one of my res hatchlings is 'fatter' than the other (and I know they're the same age), not to mention grown to be 50% larger in shell-length over the 4 months ive owned them - does that mean (she) is over-fed? I initially wrote it off as her being female, and the the other hatchling to be male. But I have read it is nigh-impossible to tell gender until around 4 inches of shell length. I dunno I doo see the fatter turtle eat more during feeding time. Maybe that is the only difference and I should feed them separately.

Yes, feed them separately. Try feeding the larger one outside the tank and the smaller one inside the tank. Most likely the bigger one is food dominant.