General Care Discussion :: Baby turtle.. turn for the worst.

[Talon]

Hey guys so I have a baby red eared slider. Basking area is 88 degrees.. what it always has been and he can move to a wide variety of tempatures if he wants to regulate.. proper UVB lightning, very well balanced diet and a great filtration system.. I'm not new to keeping turtles or fish, or anything for that matter. But this turtle all of a sudden has just STOPPED eating.. and sorta sits there with his head dipped into the water and just closes his eyes quite a bit.. but they are clear and don't seem to show any signs of infection. Now the wierd thing is I've had this turtle for about 4 months now and he was doing absolutely perfect. Eating great, basking, swimming everything was how it should be and then one day. He just stopped out of the blue. He has sand for substrate and the water is 80 degrees.. due to him being a pretty small turtle. Anyone have any ideas.. I can't take him to the vet that's out of the question since my buddy gave me the turtle and I happened to have an old tank and all the fixings around and a vet bill will be a little bit too much for me right now. Any turtle experts have any idea what's going on. It's been about 2 weeks since he's eaten one thing.

[steve]

A lot of people suspect that hatchlings are sick when they first get them usually because of their fragility, but also from being farmed and kept in poor conditions. So it's not unusual for me to hear that they become suddenly sick despite doing well to begin with.

Have you ruled out any traumatic events, like getting stuck in a filter or under a decoration? What have you been feeding him? What kind of UVB lighting are you using? What kind of heat lamp are you using?

[Talon]

Actually funny you say that he was stuck to the filter the very first day I got him and it seemed to have zero effect on his motor skills and personality as a whole. The UVB is a Repti-Glo 10.0 UVB that we sell here in toronto that I've used for turtles in the past which they seem to do well on and the heat lamp is a 100 Watt Basking lamp, Which is more then adequate. And the point you brought up about it being sick when I got it is a very good point cause I know the store where my friend purchased it at ... Don't wanna point any fingers *Cough* Asian Fish """"""Specialty"""""""" store *haha*.. I think that may have to be it.. It's problems may have just caught up to hit.. Cause his shell has always seemed a bit wonky.. it just perplexes me cause he was doing better than average it seemed.. I was surprised by how much life was coming out of this turtle.... Thanks for the reply looking forward to hearing more.

[steve]

I'd try Pedialyte soaks and leaving pellet crumbs in there. I also suggest some live prey too - you might have to hold to let it squirm in front of him and he can "catch" it. The last option would be force feeding, but you might be uncomfortable with that.