General Care Discussion :: turt has not eaten in 4 days..

[juanster]

hello i just got a baby RES. she is in a 30 gallon tank, water heater, water temp at 79, basking lamp i dont know how hot it is but my turt seem to always be baskin so i dont think that's the problem. i got it last sunday, and i bough some pellets at the place i got it from. she has not eaten pellets at alll wont even pay attention to them tired feeding in the tank and outside the tank in a smaller recipient., tried dipping them in tuna juice...nothing..tried giving her tuna,,,nothing.. went to the store and got some live crickets, little mealworms...again nothing.. from what i have read everything seems normal, she swims for a bit, then basks a lottttt she has really been basking a lot lately but i am getting kind of worried now. At the begining i just though it was just a matter of getting used to the new place and all but now i don t know....it is a baby one maybe a little bit less than an inch big...don t know what to do any ideas?

[Hoooneylynn]

You turtle needs to get adjusted to its surroundings, and it wont necessarily eat right away.. just give it time and continue to offer food every day... it just needs to get used to you! my turt didnt eat for about 5-6 days! Now she eats like theres no tomorrow! you are doing good with the tuna juice, that should entice it to eat... is anything else going on? is your turt lethargic? how long does she bask for?

and you can buy a thermometer for the basking area, they are pretty cheap, it should be 10 degrees higher than the water temp.

[steve]

Like Jessica said, keep the basking area 10 degrees warmer. Even though your turtle is basking, high temps can knock out a hatchling. Skip the separate feeding container, and drop the food in the water and step back.

Is your turtle swimming normally?

[juanster]

this morning, after i showere di came in my room and she was eating a mealworm. I stepped away so thats he wouldn t get scared and swim away. i don t know what lethargic means so i dont know if my turtle is that, if lethargic means cute then yes it is very much..haha im kidding, i m just happy she decided to eat now, she swims normally, basks a lot... i think she s just getting used to me and the new environment...

[Hoooneylynn]

lethargic means very slow, drowsy, sluggish, and in a turts case.. barely swimming, just sitting at the bottom of the tank for long periods of time, moving very slowly...

[juanster]

oh no no not at all, she is always moving around investigating but it will stop doing anything as soon as it sees me..