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I bought 2 RES turtles in October of 2004. One was Milky Way (male) and one was Snickers (female) because that is the candy I was eating at that time. Snickers was (we thought) a very calm and layed back turtle, and MilkyWay was energetic, Snickers died 1 month later, and i never found out how. Milky way is still alive, and I bought a new one (RES) and named it Snookumz (Snook-ums) they were healthy until now. Neither of my RES turtles are eating, I keep water Temp at 80 degrees, clean filter once a week, and clean plant, rocks, heater, filter, and basking rock and I change the water once every 2 weeks. I do not know what is wrong. I feed them in the morning and at night, 2 sticks each, but now they aren't eating any and later in the day I see them at the bottom of the tank dissolving, please, help!

Oh yes, I almost forgot, also when they are under water, they ALMOST open theyre mouths over and over, but not wide, you cant even tell but then you see the throat and mouth move. please tell me if this is an illness!

Ok, we'll need a little more info. What size is the tank? What's the basking temp? 80 is a little high for the water. How old/big are your turtles? Are you noticing any other abnormal behaviour? eg. bubbles coming from the nose, excessive basking, general laziness, swimming lopsided, puffy eyes? Those are all signs of a respiratory infection, in which case they'd need a vet asap.

The more you tell us about the setup/behaviour, the better we'll be able to help

the tank is 15 gallons and I turned the heat to 75, there is rocks at the bottom (to big to eat) wich they love to dig in and there is a plant. I have a filter, heater and basking dock, and light for basking. The turtles eyes are very clear no bubbles. they swim straight, its just the way they open their mouths underwater that troubles me. when they just start swimming their butt is lower than the rest of the body but they straighten themselves. hope this helps so I can get information, thanks!

Ok, the fact that you know the sex of your turts tells me that they are at least 3-5inches in size...leaning more towards 5. A fifteen gallon tank is FAR too small for two large RES! The rule of thumb is 10 gallons of tank for every 1 inch of turtle. Let's say they are both 3inches, thats 60 gallons...you have 1/4 of what you need in that case. How big are they actually? P.S. When they open their mouth over and over underwater, they're just drinking. It's opening of the mouht ABOVE water that's a bad sign.

Oh ok, how can they drink that disgusting water? lol anyways, I THINK they are male and female cuz one used to be smaller than the other and it just got bigger than it and the smaller one has longer nails. But they are 4 inches long each, how many gallons would that be? 80!?

yes, it would be a minimum of 80 gallons. Please upgrade asap. Turtles love lots of water and yours don't have any room to swim. What bothers me more tho is when you asked how they could drink that disgusting water. It is so important that your turts have clean water. How often do you change them? Is the water brown and messy? Getting a bigger tank and a strong filter will help keep the water clean. Until then, make sure you change the water as much as you have to. Even if it's every other day.

I changed the water every 3-4 days. But my turtles aren't eating the sticks or the broken up carrots I give them.

dont worry about them eating....WORRY ABOUT THEM SURVIVING. Get a bigger tank TODAY. THEN get a filter for the tank rated for 240 gallons. then worry about them eating.

My dad said he is going to build a 220 gallon pond outside for the summer, but where could I put them in the winter?

That's AWESOME! In teh words of Napoleon Dynamite, "LUCKYYYYY!". Winter...hmm......if you're getting a pond, you can put a couple feet of debris (bark, peat, other organic stuff) on the bottom, the turts will bury themselves when winter comes on and hibernate. Visit the sticky in the outdoor habitat section for more ideas.

are you sure this is safe?

its what they do in the wild. just make sure the debris is deep enough so that even on the coldest say in Rhode Island winters, the temperature where the turtles are buried does not drop below 38 degrees fareinheit.

ok, just dont want to be in my warm house when theyre out in frozen water lol

you can always bring them in for the winter. That's what I would do.