General Care Discussion :: RES turtle can't eat, what to do?

[HelpMeHesdying]

My RES turtle is about 5 months old. He has never eaten in front of me, but if since he's still alive then he must've been eating. He doesn't seem to have much energy, even when I'm away. He swims low in the tank and moves pretty slowly too. Everytime I put food in front of him, he tries to eat it, but instead he bites into the water in front of the food, and some bubbles come out of his mouth. It seems as though he has trouble eating or something wrong with his eyesight or jaw. Also, sometimes he tries to float with his two back legs moving in a counter-clockwise motion. He does bask, but I've noticed his shell and plastron is sort of soft. He's 5 months old, shouldn't his shell have hardened by now? That's why I think he might have soft shell disease. I bought him from Chinatown, where baby red eared slider turtles are sold in a tiny plastic cage. The RES turtles in Chinatown are poorly mistreated, starved and are cramped in tiny cages. I noticed that his skin is very dark compared to the other RES turtles, who are the same age but healthy. For the past week or so I've taken my baby RES to bask in the California sun, and I haven't exactly noticed any improvement just yet. I did some research on soft shell disease, and I found that my RES needs calcium. So, I put turtle food and water in a blender and made a liquidized form of turtle food. Then i put my turtle in it and hope he will drink it. Will this work? Is it bad for my turtle?

[steve]

What have you tried to feed him besides pellets? Have you tried any live fish, like minnows?

[HelpMeHesdying]

What have you tried to feed him besides pellets? Have you tried any live fish, like minnows?

pellets, carrots, crickets, lettuce, which are all chopped up into edible pieces. Still he can't eat it. He want's to eat, but cant

[steve]

If he can see, then why can't he eat. Have you held up the food?

[HelpMeHesdying]

https://vid.me/Hfu2 please click on this link It shows my turtle's inablitly to eat help me please

[steve]

Try some live minnows and hold it by the tail. He should make an extra effort to eat it.

[HelpMeHesdying]

Try some live minnows and hold it by the tail. He should make an extra effort to eat it.

Does my turtle look okay?

[steve]

Visually he looks OK from that video.

[HelpMeHesdying]

Visually he looks OK from that video.

Is my turtle too small for a 5 month old?

[steve]

Maybe a little, but hard to know without knowing more.

[HelpMeHesdying]

Maybe a little, but hard to know without knowing more.

I've figured out how to get him to eat, I soak the food pellets untill they're mushy and my turtle can take small tiny bites
Today I got my turtle's a new tank, and now he closed his eyes and floats around. Is it because he needs to get used to his new habitat? Or is it a Respiratory infection?

[steve]

It does take some time... were the water temperatures correct?

[HelpMeHesdying]

It does take some time... were the water temperatures correct?

I don't have a water heater.
Anyways, my turtle us floating around and hes inactive. He's not dead is he?

[steve]

He might be, sorry to say

[HelpMeHesdying]

He might be, sorry to say

He wasn't dead, i mushed up pellets for him and he ate them