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About 2 weeks ago I started noticing a change in Gomez's behavior. She seemed to have slowly lost interest in everything, not swimming around as much, not eating as much (or getting excited on pellet day), and when the other two knuckleheads (more on them later) would tumble her way she would move to another spot in the tank or just mope around on the bottom. She also lost interest in me.....she used to be the most friendly and curious of the three, swimming right into my hand. I decided that since I had the 55 gal. tank ready, I'd put her in that and push the temp up to 80F and see what happens...
Well, there was no change, she would nibble at the lettuce and would only eat 2-3 pellets every other day. When I would try to interact with her she would move away and just sulk under the basking ramp. So off to the (new) Vet we go......
Well, he gives her the old "once over" and after confirming that Gomie is a female he says there is nothing wrong with her! Great color, very strong, good weight (170g) which is right on target for a 1 year old female, she's not dehydrated (she peed all over his hands when he picked her up ). He could do a blood run and fecal cultures, but thought it would be a waste of time and money at this point. He said sometimes, especially in winter months they will just slow down. I felt reassured about his diagnosis when he showed me pictures of his baby YBS and a MONSTEROUS 12" female RES!

Can you imagine a 12" Beaker with a bad attitude!



Anyhow he said keep Gomez by herself for now and keep the temps at 79-80F. It may help to kick start her metabolism. He also said I should invest in a digital scale and check her weight once a week, using 170g as a baseline.

Here's Little Miss Sourpuss on her way to do a little basking.



I was a little confused about Gomie's sex, the long claws and short tail were confusing me.



This is her other spot. She used to bask a lot more but now she seems content with just basking in the water, stretching out her back legs.....



Springtime is just around the corner, but your wouldn't know it around here, I'm in the middle of a winter "Nor'easter", with snow, ice, and some freezing rain. Hang in there Gomie.......

So Gomez has "SAD" (seasonal affective disorder). Poor girl! I'll hope for an early spring for you all. We're well into spring here in Texas.

i'm glad there's nothing wrong with her. i would be concerned too if mine started acting like that. she's a very good looking turtle though.

wow, quite the weather difference. we are having record breaking highs for this time of year in CA. a couple weeks ago we had a few inches of snow on the ground....now its high 70s low 80s.

On Thursday the high was 69F.! Very strange.........

Just a note, when in doubt, go to a Vet! Dr. Salemi looks like a keeper.....not only is he a Herp Vet, but he's got turts of his own! If you live in the NYC area, it may be worth your while to check him out if your turts need help. I highly recommend him.
Here's the website:
http://www.nahnyc.com/location.htm

Aw, poor little Gomie! She sure is a cutie. My Lily has been acting similarly. She eats, still, but otherwise seems very lethargic. Just hanging out under her cave. I was going to write in about it--glad you did first.

Um, speaking of acting odd... I just turned around and noticed Herman basking. He's doing his arms/legs yoga, totally stretched... but his HEAD IS ALL TUCKED IN! Never saw that. Haw haw! What's that about, I wonder?

Yep, my guys do that too. Popping their heads in and out. Maybe just trying to get the loose skin off their necks......

I'm happy to hear she's healthy! So you have 2 girls and a boy? I think I have a girl and a boy. Spike is just a hair under 4 inches now, and she has a short tail, and Sparky's tail is getting longer and thicker. They both seem to have longish nails though. I was confused on that part as well. They had a bit of a growth spurt, oddly related to eating more plants. Spike is about 3.9 inches, and Sparky is @ 3.6. I will be going in for a check up once it warms up a bit, then the vet can hopefully confirm my guesses.

Gomez really hasn't grown much at all. Beaker is now larger than Big Daddy. I haven't measured her yet, I know she's not going to cooperate (see top pic) but shes definitely over 4" at this point. And she's got a huge appetite too, constantly begging.
So while little Gomie is moping around in the 55 gal. tank, Beaker and B.D. are engaged in this beautiful underwater ballet. Beaker will slowly swim along, and B.D. will swim out in front of her, only he's swimming sideways, with his neck stretched all the way out and his head pointed back at her as if to say, "ain't I just the most handsome turt you've ever seen?" This goes on for a good part of the day, but if B.D. gets distracted or wanders off, Beaker starts following him! I've caught them basking together, but can't get a pic of them. All is peaceful, so far so good.

grey goose wrote:Just a note, when in doubt, go to a Vet! Dr. Salemi looks like a keeper.....not only is he a Herp Vet, but he's got turts of his own! If you live in the NYC area, it may be worth your while to check him out if your turts need help. I highly recommend him.
Here's the website:
http://www.nahnyc.com/location.htm

By any chance are you from Staten Island?

Nope, I'm in J.C. but he's located in the Port Richmond section of S.I., so it's just over the Bayonne bridge......I'm about 1/2 hour from there.

Today is pellet day, so I thought I'd try to lure Romeo and Juliet up on the ramp for a little size comparison. That's Beaker on the bottom. You can see how much bigger she is. B.D.'s claws are getting quite long:



Here's Beaker being very brave (this is the first time she's ever done this). Take the pellet, Beaker, leave the fingers....



Meanwhile, little Princess Sourpuss ate her 3 pellets, then went under the basking ramp for some more sulking:

Grey Goose, how long have you had Ms. Sourpuss? My Lily is kinda like that.... Herman is a regular comedian, Lily is much more subdued nad skittish.

I got all three around this time last year, so I'm figuring they are about 1 year old. The odd thing is, Gomie was very outgoing and brave, very friendly around me, now she act's like she can't be bothered.....

Here's an example. On pellet day, I would always presoak the pellets in a small container on the basking ramp for a minute or so, just to get them soft. B.D. and Beaker would wait on the other side of the tank. But oh no, not Gomez, she would charge up the ramp and climb right into the container and start eating! Keep in mind that I'm standing directly over the ramp while she's doing this (I turned the flash off, so the pics are a little soft):






Talk about hungry!

Mine will be 1 year old as of May 1st. If it makes you feel any better, I heard both of them hiss for the first time today, and Spike actually snapped at me! They seem to be a little grumpy right now. Spike is usually sociable! She seems to even like being held sometimes! She has never even opened her mouth threateningly at me before, as Sparky always does. Is it daylight savings? It makes me grumpier than normal.

It's got to be the change of season.....affecting some turts more than others.