General Care Discussion :: Turtle Not getting in Water

[SpotsMama]

That would be helpful. How deep would you say the water is?

[Kazari24]

Not too deep because he's having trouble getting on his rock and I can't get the light too high right now..I'm waiting on the stand. Right now the light is 1.10 feet away from the basking area. He has trouble climbing on the rock and he flips over easily so I try to make it low for himr ight now until I can get his calcium built back up. I am guessing maybe 2-3 gallons right now maybe 4.

[cam722]

What sort of basking area/rock do you have?

[Kazari24]

I have a couple of river rocks stacked up in the corner, and then a turtle dock that connects to them that floats. the dock is more in the area of the lamp and the rock is in the shade.

[Kazari24]

I also have been diluting the pellets in the water and force feeding them to him and he's been doing that well. I was worried because his shell is getting soft. I have been doing that since he doesn't like the healthy foods for him. Been doing this for about 2 days now. I try to give him about 10 of those at each meal. Mostly 3 times a day if I can and then the solution the vet gave me. I know that I have had him since July so it won't be an overnight thing because he didn't get like this overnight.

[cam722]

ok, you're force feeding him 10 pellets 3x a day which equals 30 pellets? am I understanding this correctly?

[Kazari24]

No no. I crush a bunch in the water to make a thin solution to feed to him by syringe. It's pretty diluted so he can swallow it easily. I save the solution I create during a days time so i feed him a little in the morning and lunch and some at night. Is that too much? I know babies need to eat something every day. Some days he eats TONS but lately he won't touch his food at all. No matter what I give him and the vet said he needs to get the pellets in him because he's not doing well in developing because he's not getting any nutrients and calcium. I don't know what's with him. Some times of the month he will eat non stop...then other days he wont touch anything for nearly a week or so.

[cam722]

I'm still lost on how much you're feeding?? I fed my 4" turtles 10 pellets every other day, just as a reference point

[Kazari24]

Okay! Hmm well he's like 1.5" still since July! LOL. I dont know how many pellets I give him. I crush up about 8 or 10 in a bowl and add spring water to make a thin solution and then put it in a syringe and squirt about 10 doses into his mouth at a time..sometimes like 8 or so and I use the same bowl I mix up i nthe morning for that evening when I get home from work and at night since the vet says he needs to get th epellets in him and he refueses to eat the pellets. I offered them with tuna water and even tried them over his lettuce leaves.

[Kazari24]

Just an update, If I put him in the water, he will float around for about 20 minutes and then stay on his rock again. He stays in his rock most of the time. He's not as active as he use to be in the summer. He's always rubbing his head and he keeps his eyes closed most of the time but his eyes are not swollen. I am using the same UVB light that my friend has and her turtle is fine. I don't know what my little guy's problem is. He won't really eat anything anymore. When I put him in his plastic tank, he just floats around. I force feed him the pellets but I don't give him a lot. Maybe 5 diluted injections at a meal time. That way he has something to eat at least. Some days he eats really good and others day it's nothing. I am going to go by the store night on the way back from getting a heater to pick him up some strawberries to try something new. Does anyone know why he's acting like this?