General Care Discussion :: My turtle isn't eating anymore!!

[CrossKnight]

I have had my turtle for about 7 months now, I got it when it was less then a inch long.

My turtle is about 3 inches now and for the past 3 days it has refused to eat. I do not know why. T_T

Nothing has changed, I have a Aqua Clear 110, Stealth heater at 78 degrees, UVA and UVB light, basking area, and a place to hide. All it does is bask all day and swim around for about 30 secs.

The only thing that I did was put cuttle bone into the tank (which is only my second time, first time was months ago) and it eats a lot of the cuttle bone. Can it get full from that?

I'm worried cause it used to swim at me begging for food all the time, not it acts afraid of me.

[DavidY]

It sounds like something is bothering him. Do you notice any gaping of the mouth when he's on the basking platform? Do his eyes appear puffy or irritated? When he swims is he able to fully submerge and swim normally underwater? Does he swim lopsided at all? These are all signs of RI (respiratory infection) and require the immediate attention of a vet who is experienced with turtles.

If you haven't noticed any of the above, then it might be possible that he just had too much cuttle bone all at once and it upset his stomach. You should only feed a couple of small bits at a time and offer it more frequently like once or twice a week at least. Cuttle bone is made of calcium which is an antacid. So it's possible that it made him a little sick if he had too much of it. If so, he should be feeling better and eating again within another day. But if he doesn't start to improve, you will need to take him to a vet.

[CrossKnight]

All the RI signs are not there, it did once poop all over the dock though and it was not solid O_o

I'm very releaved about the cuttle bone giving him a upset stomach rather then RI or something worse. I'll make sure to give him sometime and keep trying to feed him. Thanks for easing my worries DavidY.

Phew

[Opus]

Well,maybe try some new stuff!like a little bit of carrots and some regular pellets.Opus always eats twice a day.

[CrossKnight]

oh, I usually only feed it Nutrafin or Reptomin pellets. Once in awhile lettuce too. I think I will try carrots and other stuff too.

Thanks for the suggestion.

[Opus]

But don't give them too much!

[DavidY]

When did he poop on the dock? Was it before you gave him the cuttle bone? It could be a sign of intestinal parasites too. The next time he poops try to get a sample of it and seal it in a ziplock back and bring it to any local vet. They should be able to check under a microscope for parasites or their eggs. Make sure to wash you hands thoroughly too (which you should do anyway after handling your turtle or working in his tank because of salmonella).

You might also want to just get him eating pellets again first until he's back to normal and then introduce more vegetables into his daily feedings. Veggies can make his poops more runny.

Keep a close eye on him and if he doesn't get better by tomorrow, or if he starts to get worse, take him to a vet.

[CrossKnight]

It pooped after the cuttle bone. I bought the cuttle bone at the parakeet section at Petco and I took the hard backing off of course.

Today when I woke up to turn on the turtle lights which is at 7 am, my turtle was at the leafy area where it sleeps but it was upside down, I immediatly fliped it back on it's stomach and it was swimming normally. That scared me to a new deminsion.

I watched my turtle for a long time and it just swam around and basked for most of the time, I feed it pellets at 6 PM, the time I usually do and it actually ate two pellets, after that though it pooped at 7:30 and it pooped a lot, I've never seen so much solid poop on the dock before.

At 1 PM today I called my vet that my sister use for her turtle and the doctor is away for the week. Won't be back until the 28, I can't seem to locate another Vet, is there a phone number I can call that could help me locate another Vet near me?

[SpotsMama]

Here's info on vets in the US:

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=370

Here's info on vets in Canada:

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12

If you'll let us know what city you are in, maybe someone on here can help you with specifics.

did you ask the vet's office that you called to give you an emergency reference to another vet in the first vet's absense? He/she should leave emergency contact info.

[CrossKnight]

I live in the US, SF California. The Vet only had a message of being back on the 28. I was just calling a animal shelter to see if they can point me towards the Vet they go to but they said that vet doesn't care for turtles, lack of knowledge of reptiles. Which I think is really weird cause I thought vets cared for all animals.

Thanks for the links!!

[Noobie101]

you should feed it hikari turtle bits they get softer and they float and the best part is you can hand feed them its so fun XD

[SpotsMama]

Other places people have found info on herp vets are universities (zoology dept) and zoos.

[SpotsMama]

CrossKnight, someone else on here just mentioned a turtle specialist in San Francisco. Here's the name:

"...he made an appointment with a turtle specialist (Dr. Alex Herman at All Animals on South Van Ness in San Francisco)..."

[CrossKnight]

Phew, I just got back from the vet and it turned out my turtle is fine now. I left so many messages on my usual vet (the one being back on the 28, our vet for our old dog and parakeets) she replied and said we could come. Turns out my turtle swallowed a part of the dock and it was stuck in the turtle.
My vet made the turtle throw up and it came out.

Now my turtle is eating a lot and very active, more so then earlier. I am so happy it wasn't parasites or RI.

I'm going to change docks, I was thinking about buying the dock you have in your user icon spotsMama. Does that dock stick well? and can it float?

[4Lancer4]

Yay, Happy ending!, Good thing u took it to a vet.