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I have two baby RES and one of them acts normal, he will eat go swimming and he's always active but the other does nothing. He stays in a corner all day and night. I try putting him in the water and he will swim around for a little bit and look at his food then swim away and get out and go back to his corner. I've had them for about a week now and that one hasn't eatin since then. I've tried all different types of food and he doesn't eat anything. What should I do?

Baby RES are extremely fragile...I heard that in natural habitat only less than 10% of hatchlings can survive to adulthood. One of my 3 already died. he was just like what you described. If you have two, you will expect some bad news from one turtle......
I hope my other 2 can live to their adulthood

Yes, baby turtles are fragile and a lot of them die, but that's mostly because of an improper habitat and lack of knowledge. I had 3 hatchlings at one time and all 3 have survived. So it's NOT all doom and gloom. First, what type of habitat do you have them in.. what size tank, basking area, temperatures, water heater, lighting, etc. You may want to consider taking the more active turtle out while you let the other feed in the tank. Many times one of them ends up bullying the other or is a more aggressive feeder and gets all the food before the other has a chance. Another thing is that turtles like privacy and are easily spooked. Try not to hang around their tank for a bit until they get use to you. You could also try putting something around the glass of their tank to prevent them from seeing out and that may make the shy one a bit more comfortable. This is not unusal behavior for new turtles.. just be patient and give him a bit of time to adjust. Please keep us posted on any changes..

Well I have them both in a 10 gallon tank and a 3rd of it is their basking area. I have a lamp over them and the water is filled up about 10 inches and is at room temperature. I let the more active one eat first then when he goes up to the basking are i put more food in and try to let the other one eat. I back away and watch from a far and he looks up at the food for awhile and then just moves along. I try not to bother them cause i know they are still getting used to the habitat but It worries me that he hasn't eaten in a week.

You can try differnet kinds of food (I had a sickly hatchiling) He basked all day, that is all he did, he was the most comfortable around me because I think he was too weak to slide off the platform and hide everytime. He would sleep in the water but all day he would bask and he would get down and eat about 1/3 of what the other two hatchlings ate. I tried all kinds of food to try and get him to be healthy like the other turtles but the only thing he would eat was pellets (the small ones) he lived 2 months than passed away, poor guy. I wish you the best of luck though with your little guy and just keep trying but since he is shy of you you should try to give him space too.


March 2006 - The baby in the middle (Verde) passed away



November 2006 - River and Chubbs

Kmadd wrote:Well I have them both in a 10 gallon tank and a 3rd of it is their basking area. I have a lamp over them and the water is filled up about 10 inches and is at room temperature. I let the more active one eat first then when he goes up to the basking are i put more food in and try to let the other one eat. I back away and watch from a far and he looks up at the food for awhile and then just moves along. I try not to bother them cause i know they are still getting used to the habitat but It worries me that he hasn't eaten in a week.

first off, if you're read this site, you should realize that 10 gallons isn't large enough for 2 turtles. Secondly, are you using rocks or something to make up the basking area?? The water level should be as deep as you can get it without the risk of them climbing out of the tank. I'm guessing you don't have a water heater since you don't have a lot of water. Do you know the water temp as that is crucial to a turtles eating. If it's too cold they won't eat.. too hot and they will over eat.

I'm in the process of saving up to get a bigger aquarium for the two but 10 gallons is all i can afford at the moment. I have rocks for the basking but I tried to lay bigger stones on top of that for more comfort. I've tried different types of food but nothing seems to be interesting him. Thank you guys for all the help you've given me. I really appreciate it!