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Good Morning All,

Sheldon has not been eating much if anything and shows little interest in the pellets when I drop them into the tank. The water temps are between 72 and 74 (where she has always liked them) and the basking temps are in the mid-80s (where she's always liked them). She still basks (not everyday) and she has lost some weight (which is a good thing as she was getting a tad chubby). She isn't having the typical gravid symptoms - she doesn't try to get out of the tank and she isn't trying to dig with her back feet - so that makes me wonder if our wacky weather (we've had a dash of winter despite it being spring time with temps in the low 30s and upper 20s) is the cause or if it is time for a trip to the vet.

Thanks!

How long has she not been interested in her pellets? I'm not sure what the vet can tell you at this point, it couldn't hurt I guess. I know Sheldon's been moody all winter and you want her back to normal. My male RES started to eat his veggies again, so I know there is some relief once they get back to their turtly things.

It's been a couple of weeks. She'll ignore pellets one day and then when I feed her 2 days later she'll eat but not as voraciously as usual. I wasn't overly worried at first because of the weather roller coaster. She still poops so I know she's eating enough to do so. I'm just thinking that if she's gravid that the vet could tell me definitively and then let me know his thoughts on how to handle it.

I doubt she's gravid from the description. Not eating when gravid usually coincides with the "wanting to get out" behavior.

Ah I see. Well perhaps we shall bide our time and hopefully with a more stable weather pattern in the coming days Sheldon will perk up. Thanks Steve!

I'm sure she will

Glad to hear your little guy is doing better by the way. I'll keep you posted on Sheldon.

This weather has been a roller coaster all around the Country from what I seen on the news and like Steve and You came to the conclusion of not being gravid, I could see this as well. Is sheldon doing better this past week yet since your post here? Just curious? The weather seemed to partially stabilize in Florida so I wondered. Not sure what it is up there in New York for you and Steve.

Sheldon remains much the same but the weather has been slower to cooperate here. Starting today we're heading for a warming trend and its supposed to last awhile so I will see what happens. I appreciate you asking. She is definitely making me nervous but hopefully the shift in weather is all she needs. I'm going to dry dock her out in the living room tonight so she can get the warmth, some exercise, and watch the sunset (she seems to like that).

OK, well the weather has been nice consistently since my last post and still Sheldon has barely any appetite. I have noticed her shell is really starting to peel so I'm wondering if that is part of her issue. It takes a lot of effort to get rid of those bad boys and she still basks almost everyday. Still I'm worried - Nervous Nelly, that's me - Should I just take her to the vet for a checkup in case I'm missing something?

Tough question on the shell peeling, any close up photos of the areas in it peeling? You mentioned that he is eating but barely right? Of course I encourage anyone in doubt on a health of any pet , to go to a vet if they could afford the visit and treatment . Preferably a exotic vet and not a normal vet though for obvious reasons.....The expertise of the vet. I seen regular vets send reptile owners home saying their pets we fine, only to come to our clinic at a exotic vet practice the Dr. Sudo diagnosed differently and treated successfully.

If he is eating however , even if it is barely. That is a plus and it may be something you can do from home. Both Steve and I have the experience to identify a lot of areas and it sounds like with it having some nutrition on its own without force feeding. It may be a situation that you could home treat. Please get some photos for Steve and I can review together. Up close photos as well.

Sheldon has a herp vet that she can visit if need be. She's active, swimming, moving about in her dry dock but yeah her appetite is definitely off.









Thanks by the way.

I guess a checkup wouldn't hurt. Has she noticeably lost any weight?

She's lost only a smidgen. She got a little tubby this summer because I couldn't take her outside to exercise (it was either pouring or so stinking hot that she would've baked like a cake). I'm going to take her and put her in her dry dock everyday until next week and see if some exercise will help. Anything look funky to you on her shell?

There might be a small amount of shell fungus over on the marginals. Her shell is a bit rough, and has some retained scutes. It'll look great after a few sheds. I'm not sure if dry docking will help, unless she has a spot she really loves... otherwise it might just stress her out.