General Care Discussion :: turtle hasn't been eating

[tekniq]

It's been around 4 days, and my turtle isn't eating anymore. won't eat the pellets anymore, or lettuce, ect. I doubt he's stressed, i havea filter, a heater, uvb/uva bulb, plants, floating dock. he won't eat...am i doing something wrong?

[Tenodera]

Are there any other symptoms? What is his behaviour like?

[DavidY]

What are the water temperature and the basking temperature? How long do you have the basking light on for?

[pumpkinsherbet]

any puffiness in the eyes or lethargy? is he acting like my turtle did in this video?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhebl1kQnt4

if it's down to that you need to take him to a vet, asap.

[tekniq]

water temp is steady 78. i have the uvb light on most of the day, and the basking light for around 10 hours until i sleep. he doesn't really swim or anything, he just sits in the water hiding in the fake duckweed leaves all day. he looks like a statue. no puffiness in eyes.

[SpotsMama]

tekniq, you've had this little turtle for two or three weeks, isn't that right? And he was eating at first and was active, but now his behavior has changed?

If he's lethargic (acting tired) and not eating, then it really sounds like he's ill. There are lots of possibilities, of course. turtles are like us - different things can go wrong. One possibility, since you haven't had him long and he came from Chinatown, is that he's got a respiratory infection. It's fairly common with little turtles from Chinatown. But whatever the cause, he'll need to see a vet to get a diagnosis and treatment. This isn't something you can treat yourself.

It's most worrisome that he's not eating. He needs to get some calories in him. Here's a link on enticing a turtle to eat. Since he's ill it would be ok - just temporarily - to feed him things that turtles really love but that are usually just reserved for treats since they are pretty rich.

http://www.redearslider.com/entice_eating.html

Keep him warm, clean and avoid stress. You can bump the water temp up to 82 or so.

Good luck. It's not anything you did wrong - little turtles are rather delicate to begin with and the ones from Chinatown seem to have a bad track record where health is concerned. We'll be thinking of you and Constantine and pulling for you. Keep us posted.

[DavidY]

Yes, like SpotsMama said, your turtle needs to be seen by a vet as soon as possible. Baby turtles won't last long once they start getting sick unless they get professional medical attention.

Some things you also need to make sure of is that the turtle's cage is not near any drafty windows or air conditioning vents. The basking area should also be warmed by a regular household light bulb so that the temperature at the surface of the basking platform is 10 degrees warmer than the water.

[pumpkinsherbet]

i'd lower the water levels, too. sick turtles have a difficult time swimming and can drown if they're too weak to reach the surface. when my little john was sick my vet told me just enough so that he could eat and get some water on his shell, raising water levels gradually. definitely take him to a vet for treatment asap.

[tekniq]

vet could nto find anything wrong with him....what if by nature, he is just a boring turtle who doesn't like food?

[SpotsMama]

Has he been this way since day one? Or has his behavior changed?

As of Sunday you said your turtle hadn't eaten for four days. Has he eaten anything since Sunday?

Is it possible your turtle is eating when you are not around?

I say it's not normal for a little turtle to lose his/her appetite. It's also not normal for him/her to be totally inactive. These are symptoms of a problem,

It is possible, though, for a healthy turtle to be very shy. If he's feeling very shy he may be coming out and swimming around and eating when you're not around, but hiding when you're there. Do you see him or her running to hide when you come in?

If he/she is just shy, it's something that he/she will get over in time.

[steve]

Have you bumped up the water temp as mentioned? What did the vet say or do? Have you tried other foods, such as live fish, worms and crickets?