Urgent Care :: Help! Is a bad diet something I can fix this late? and more

[rachelr]

I've been reading the nutrition section of this website and I'm really worried. I've had my RES for 2 years and I've been feeding him the pellets and chichen. I've tired veggies every so often, but he doesn't eat them. I'm also now sure that I've been over feeding him (every day)- I thought his rapid growth was a good thing. Now that I know to fix his diet, should I do it rapidly or gradualy? He seems healthy, and active, but I know there could be problems I'm missing.

to compound the problem, I have another turtle who shares the tank and is just recently exhibiting very troubling signs. It is half the size of the one mentioned above even though I got them the same size. He eats, but not as frequently as the other one. He seemed healthy until today. He climed out of the water and hasn't been in all day (even when s/o walks by) now he's in his shell and is gradually moving less and less. At this point, he's barely responding when I pick him up. I've seperated them and raised the tepm of the smaller one. Is this an emergency? is he trying to hibernate?

Large Turtle
age 2.5 years approx.
diet: pellets and chicken
temp: 75-80 degrees
size: 5.5 inches long 4.5 across

Small Turtle
3 in long
2 in across
temp 80
diet: pellets and protien
tank: 2ftx1foot
UVA lamp and underwater heater

[SpotsMama]

Unless it's really cool (less than 70 degrees) and your post says the temps are normal, then I'd say yes, your little one's behavior is not good. Turtles won't try to hibernate unless it's really cool (50 or so) but they will slow down if the temp's in the 60's. With normal temps your turtle's behavior sounds like he feels bad.

You did good to separate the turtles and keep the little one warm. He needs to be at 82 or 84 degrees until you can get him to see a vet. If he has trouble swimming, be sure he can stay on a basking dock and keep the water only about as deep as his shell is wide. Is he eating? Until you can get him in to see a vet, try to keep him eating and if he won't, you can offer him special treats like tuna, shrimp or boiled chicken. Avoid stressing him; ie, don't pick him up unless you have to and give him lots of peace and quiet.

For the big one, you should correct his diet, but don't starve him. I guess you've seen the info on here about nuitrition. Just stick closely to the guidelines and he should be ok. I feed my turtle badly for the first couple of years of his life (lots of meat including ground beef) but he managed to survive and is doing fine today (at 7 years old). You're guy may not like the healthy diet right away but he'll get hungry in time and will grow to accept - and even love - his good diet. Keep offering him the veggies. My turtle wouldn't eat any veggies for his first couple of years except for fresh basil, which he's always loved. Now, he'll eat anything he can get in his mouth.

[rachelr]

Thanks for the advice, the smaller one made it through the night and has move underwater. He's still sleeping and lethargic, but al least he's alive. I'm looking for a vet now.

[TheComputerGremlin]

For the big one, 5.5" in 2.5 years is normal growth, so don't worry about his size. Any rapid growth will resolve itself over time, as long as there isn't severe pyramiding. As SpotsMama says, try to correct the feeding over the next couple weeks. Slowly decrease the feeding of the food to half the amount each day. After about a week or two, stop feeding chicken altogether. That should be, as you've read, a once a month treat. Hopefully pellets are still being eaten at this time. Then you want to start feeding a head-sized amount of pellets every other day, or half as much daily.

As with fruits and veggies, try a variety of things. Try some dark, leafy greens; boiled sweet potato or carrot; apple or mango slivers; blueberries or strawberries or peeled grapes. You'll find something they like.

Keep us posted on the smaller turtle's behavior. You can feed him what we normally consider treats, such as tuna or fish chunks or boiled chicken. Just keep him eating, anything he'll eat. Try some blueberries or carrots, they are packed with vitamins.

You didn't mention cuttlebone, either.

[rachelr]

I just wanted to up date about the small turtle incase anyone might have the same problem. I took both turtles to the vet today and found that the small one was male and the large one was female. Because the larger turtle was much more dominant and aggressive, the small turtle was getting less food and was under a lot of stress (even though they were not fighting and seemed to get along fine) The stress weakened his immune system and let regular bacteria infect his eye. The vet gave him vitamin B and antibiotics. We've seperated the two untill the small one can catch up in size!
Lesson Learned: Your pet deserves a vet! It took a little while to find one in my budget range, but it was really worth every cent!
If your two turtles are very differnt in size- this may be an indication that things are not totaly right.

As for the food, the larger one seems to be taking to green lettus and squash- a really good start!

[TheComputerGremlin]

Just to warn you, once you separate them, they likely will never be able to cohabitate again.