General Care Discussion :: Is it just too many changes?

[DaddyFlip]

Not Eating: I moved Missy to her new and improved tank about five weeks ago and have been making small improvements/changes along the way. She stopped eating her normal Zoo Med maintainer pellets before the move, so I started back on the Fluker gourmet. She used to like the little shrimp but never the worms, and only the red pellets, not the brown. She won't eat any of that anymore, so I've tried a new turtle stick; she will chomp one and spit it out. I've gone to feeding every other day and tried romaine lettuce leaf and carrot, both raw and steamed, but she doesn't eat those; she will tear the romaine apart but not eat it. To be fair, she's never been offered anything but pellets, so veggies is new. She doesn't appear to be unhealthy and she is a big girl. I am dropping 1.5 grams of the sticks every other day and offering lettuce daily whether she eats it or not. The pleco will clean up most of the pellet and I net out the lettuce leaf. Is this the right approach?

Not Basking: In her old tank, she had a UVB and an old 40W vanity bulb for heat, but her basking area was all glass surround down in the tank and didn't require that much. Her new area is above tank, so more open. She was basking fairly regular with a fresh UVB of the same model and a new 100W daylight heat bulb, which was putting out 92-97F at her shell height (tank temp is 77F). BUT then I stumbled upon a 100W ceramic heater that puts out a more consistent 93F at shell level without the bright light. I was worried that the light was too intense and I had read that too much light might be bad for the eyes. I noticed she always basked with her face away from the heat bulb and toward the UVB, so I thought the ceramic heater was just the thing. Since I changed the heat bulb, she has not basked - a week. She has walked up to the area twice, but turned around both times (I have cameras). Maybe this is a case of what I like is not what she likes. Should I abandon the ceramic heater and go back to the light bulb? Surely she feels the heat on her face when she gets to the top?

My wife says I should leave her alone for awhile, that I'm being too attentive whereas before, we were basically just feeding her once daily and nothing else. A couple of pics of her basking with the light bulb. EDIT: I was noticing the time stamp of the second picture is the day before I changed the heat bulb to the ceramic heater. She basked several hours that day but hasn't had a good bask since.

Missy making her approach. Always hangs here for an hour or so first.

Landing gear fully extended. Heat bulb on the right, UVB on the left.

[steve]

Seasonal changes can usually have some interesting effects on RES, including suppressing their appetite during the winter. In addition, my male RES is more of a picky eater and loses his appetite over time. Changing the food/treats sometimes help, but he really perks up more after a full water change.

Have you tried using a veggie clip with the lettuce? Overall, your doing it the way I would but who knows if it's the correct way

I do think halogen and incandescent work better for basking as it puts out a more natural yellow but that is just an opinion. I'd also give her a bit more time. When was the last time there was a full water change?

[DaddyFlip]

Thank you for replying late. In her old tank (about 60gal volume) I did a 80% water change once per week. In the new tank (about 120gal volume) I do two changes per week. One is mainly to vacuum that is about 25% volume change; the other is more about the water and is 50-60% volume change. So I'm still doing about 80% but in two stages.

I am using a veggie clip with the lettuce. Again, she shreds it but doesn't eat it. I'm following the advice in what to feed by offering it even if she doesn't eat it and cleaning up the shreds.

I was wondering if she was put off by there not being visible light to attract her. I will change the bulb before bed and see how she does tomorrow.

[DaddyFlip]

I did a full water change in addition to putting the incandescent bulb back in. While she enjoyed the water change, walking around with her head out of water, she was not inclined to bask at all today. Showed no interest in lettuce leaf and may not have eaten any pellets (I was busy when the food dropped). We'll see again tomorrow.

[steve]

What's the water temperature? I wonder what she's thinking.

[DaddyFlip]

Water temp 76.3F. She has two canister filters; a Marineland C530 and a Fluval FX6. I cleaned the C530 today and added two carbon bags. She's sittin' pretty but glued to the water. I'll update tomorrow.

[DaddyFlip]

FINALLY! Caught her in full bask at 4pm, so she probably got to the top of the log around 3pm. I don't dare go back there, haha. Notice she's on the heat bulb side and she's been staring right into the light pretty much the whole afternoon. I'm disappointed she didn't like the ceramic heater, but if Missy wants light, Missy gets light. Did not touch her new lettuce leaves and did not eat pellets yesterday. I'm not gonna sweat it, now that she's basking again, she may regain her appetite. One day at a time!

Finally! Big relief to see her up there today.

On the bulb side- she missed her light.

[steve]

Great to see! Getting her to take lettuce might require some tough love, but like you said... one day at a time.

[DaddyFlip]

The camera caught a problem I hope I fixed last night, but it depends if RES have short memories. I caught her "falling off a log" after her bask. Apparently, she's having trouble getting back into the water; poor thing digging and reaching for wood with her left hind while hanging on with her right. There's a small hump right at the top of the log I think she was getting hung on. She crashed into the water flat on her back with a "ker-plunk". The fix was turning her log over, so I'll have to see if she'll forget about falling and go back up there. The ingress/egress is now flat. She did not leave her bottom resting spot today.

[steve]

How often do you interact with her during a typical day? Does she beg for food or is she pretty calm when she sees you? If she's the calm type, you can probably pick her up and place her up there, even if she doesn't stay there.

[DaddyFlip]

Totally calm and indifferent when she sees me, unless she's floating, then she bolts. Will take notice but has never begged for anything since day one. She's nothing like those turtles I see on YT, chasing and snapping after their owners. BUT we've never been heavy into interaction; for awhile she was just fed once per day and that's it (poor girl), except when I water changed her. I've taken a huge interest in her now, though, so my expectations are probably too high. She will come up to float near me when I'm water changing, but if I move too suddenly, she bolts. I'm going to give her more time to see if the log fix helps her up and down.

[DaddyFlip]

Good news... RES have short memory.

[steve]

Good news... RES have short memory.

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Good to see her getting up there!

[DaddyFlip]

For over a month, Missy has been eating Wardley sinking shrimp pellets that we give to our goldfish and cory cats. She also likes another bottom feeder food I found on Amazon from a place I buy dried bloodworms. SO... she will eat none of the several floating aquatic turtle foods she ate for the first five years of her life, nor any veggies. Can you think of any other sinking possibilities? I don't know why the floating stuff is putting her off; it was Fluker gourmet blend and two types of Zoo Med aquatic blends.

[steve]

She's never gone after the floating stuff? Does she like to float up to the surface?