Feeding and Nutrition :: stopped eating but looks fine

[clpalmer57]

I have a very small turtle. Tonka came to me with a respiratory infection.I owned him for a month before I saw him eat. I kept him alive by soaking him in pedialyte. He was thriving. He hasn't eaten in four days now but looks alert and his eyes are clear. Even so, I stared him in pedialyte 2x a day yesterday. Do they stop eating for periods? My big fear is causing them harm because I don't know enough about them. I have a feeling that something else might be up with him. He was very much smaller than the other 2 to begin with but they are giant next to him now. He is in another tank. To give you an idea of his size... he's in a 10 gal. tank.

[TheComputerGremlin]

Being in a 10 gallon tank is only applicable if he's 1 inch long. Otherwise, that gives us no idea of what size he is.

No, they shouldn't stop eating for any period of time. Generally that is a sign that something is wrong. Is his tank heated properly? Can you describe your setup? It could be a quasi-brumation that he's trying to go into, which is dangerous.

[clpalmer57]

Tonka is less than an inch long. He's a bit larger than a quarter. The water is heated to78 - 80 degrees. I have a flourescent uvb lite that I turn on @ 7am & turn off @ 8pm. I have both a red incandescent bulb & an infra red bulb that I can use if I feel the air @ nite is not warm enough. I know this is unnecessary but if it's cold for whatever reason I have this source of heat to fall back on.
I have a dry dock, no gravel, a fluval 2 filter. He was eating in the tank.The tankis not near any doors or windows and I use repti safe conditioner. I am feeding turtle pellets and frozen vegs w/ shrimp.
His color is good. His eyes are clear. He's not growing like the 2 other sliders that I got with him. He was always smaller.

[untsmurf]

What kind of frozen veggies are you feeding?

You can't feed shrimp everyday, or even every week. It's very high in protein and can result in pyramiding.

Do you have a bulb for heat for your basking area? Is it on when the UVB is on? You need to have it on everyday in order to make a temperature gradient which will draw your turtle up to bask.

Are all three turtles in the same tank? If so what size tank is it? You might try taking the two bigger turtles out of the tank to feed the smaller one. They might be bullying him and not allowing him to eat. Even if you don't see any signs of aggression like biting or fluttering, it may still be happening.