Urgent Care :: Not eating....... used to be a HOG!

[Skdbrd]

ok Ive noticed that my turtle has not been eating as much the past week. Could it be because Ive been taking him out of the water during the day to dry dock him because of his shell rot? Could this be stressing him out and causing him not to want to eat.......and soon or later he will get hungry and eat like normal I hope???

[marisa]

Is he displaying any other syptoms? From previous posts, you indicated that he was sneezing and possibly had a cold. Perhaps it hasn't been totally eradicated.

How exactly are you dry docking him? Dry docking is stressful... What is the air temp in the box he's in (I'm assuming he's under a UVB light and heat light)? When you put him in the water to hydrate and eat, what is the temp of the water? And, what are you trying to feeding him?

[Skdbrd]

Well the air temp in the tank that Im dry docking him in is about 80 and yes hes under UVB and basking light on one side, his dry docking tank is an empty 29 gallon that i had that I decided to use, there is reptile carpet in the bottom and I tried to put cardboard around it so he couldnt see me when I was moving around ...... When I put him back in his regular tank every evening to feed him for about 4 hours the water temp is about 75 and the basking temp on the ramp on his tank is about 88. He is always very energetic when I put him back in the water. Ive tried to feed him Mazuri, and ReptoMin which he has been eating for about a year, along with some greens I through in too. Maybe hes sick of the same food all the time.....should I try something different???

[marisa]

You could (and should) vary the diet, but I'd keep the pellets as a staple. Try some smelly things, some live food too.

In the dry tank, the area under the lighting is about the same as the basking area? I'd have something he can burrow under as well if he wants to on the other side of the tank... Covering the outside of the dry tank is a good idea.