Urgent Care :: My turtles may be sick

[suzzetteharriott]

I just inherited 2 turtles who I have really grown to love. I live in Jamaica and as far as I know there is only one vet that cares for turtles hear and he is 4 hours away.

You see my neice had the turtles since november and then she moved back to the States so I now have them.

I think from the time she got them she only fed them the pellets, which I was feeding them up until today when I realized that they were not eating. I gave them some chicken and I noticed only one of them eating. They are both still quite scared of me, because everytime I come around they race away quite fast.

I notice 3 days ago my turtles began to refuse to eat. I had them in the plastic container that they were purchased with, but from the info that I found online I realized that it was not sufficient. I have them in a large basin, but I am in the process of getting a proper tank for them.

I cleaned their old environment every other day, because it was getting very dirty.

I also realized from your site that they like a variety of foods, so I think I will begin to incorporate other items into their diets.

It is usually very warm here, but I live 2,000 feet above sea level so the night have been cold for the past 3 months. Although the temperature is rising I am not sure it s warm enough for them. In the day time right now it is about 80 degrees in the night about 65-70.

I also want to know, how I can begin to establish a good relationship with my turtles? How do I get them to trust me and not run off when they see me coming.

By tommorow I will have their filtration system and a proper tank. I am going to invest in a UVB light, but today I brought them outside for the first time in 3 weeks and they loved it. I just had them on my balcony, but not in direct sunlight. they were swimming around in their new basin and I saw one of them eating the food that I put in there for them. The other I am not sure if he or she ate, because it is alot more shy than the bigger one.

By the way how do I know the sex of my turtles.

I guess that us enough for right now. I will have more questions later.

Thanks,
Suzzette

[cam722]

Hi and Welcome. Sorry to hear about your turtles. Do you have a thermometer in their tank? If the water temperature is too cold, most turtles won't eat, so you may want to check that. When you take them outside, you really should let them get direct sunlight for a bit. That's where the UVB rays are. You just need to be careful that they can get to shade so they can regulate their body temperature. Do you keep them indoors or outdoors, I'm not sure by your post as you mention the outdoor temperatures.

As for the sex of your turtles, what are their sizes? You can't usually tell until they are around 4" in size. There are a number of posts on here with pictures regarding how to sex a turtle.

[vieniebebe]

Welcome.Well,when did you get your turtles?They might be just getting used to you and they're new home,so don't worry about it for a couple of days,if they're still not eating,call a vet for instructions.My turtle only runs away from me,because I got mad at her once,when she tried eating her new buddies.So,also wait for a few weeks,and if they're still running away ALL THE TIME,sometimes is OK,I would reccomend to buy stress relief or something.It would also be a good idea to get some cuttlebone(good source of calcium,it worked amazingly for me,just take off the hard backing)Hope you have fun with your new friends.

Good luck!

[suzzetteharriott]

Hi you guys,

Thanks for your reply.

I have my turtles living inside, but they are et close to my balcony door so I have started carting them outside since yesterday and they really seem to love it. I also found that I saw the bigger one eating when they were finally outside. The small one probly ate as well, but it seems to be alot more shy than the bigger one.

How can you tell when a turtle is stressed out?

As for calling a vet I spoke to 2 on the island yesterday and they could not help me with them. The only one that can possibly help is on vacation and won't be back for a week. Do you know of any online vets? I am more than willing to buy everything online and have them shipped into the island. I will do anything for my turtles (Saskia & Rembrandt) to live. I know as a human being living with animal that were born in captivity that it is my responsibility to fend for them because they can't fend for themselves.

The shell of the big one is 2 inches and the shell of the small one is 1 1/2 inches. So I guess it is too early to judge.

The problem that I am having is that the people who are selling (pet stores) turtles in Jamaica do not have a clus about them. I found one owner that kindof new what she was talking about, but when I found your site I realized that her half and half was not so good after all.

What time of the day is best for feeding them? I found that in the afternoon yesterday when I had them on my balcony in the sun, I saw the big one eating. As I mentioned before I am not sure if the little one is eating yet.

Well I will write you all again soon. I am very glad for this forum as I have no one on this island so far to help me with my turtles.

Thanks again,

Suzzette

[cam722]

The problem that I am having is that the people who are selling (pet stores) turtles in Jamaica do not have a clus about them. I found one owner that kindof new what she was talking about, but when I found your site I realized that her half and half was not so good after all.

What time of the day is best for feeding them? I found that in the afternoon yesterday when I had them on my balcony in the sun, I saw the big one eating. As I mentioned before I am not sure if the little one is eating yet.

You aren't alone in the fact that pet stores know nothing about turtles, that seems to be everywhere. Rarely do you find a pet store where the workers have the correct information on how to care for a turtle.

As for the best time of day, It's better to wait until they've been up and moving around a bit, so they can digest their food properly. As I said before, temperature plays a lot in a turtles appetite. So a few questions for you, what size/type of tank do you have, heating, basking area, lighting and filter? Their environment plays a major role in their health.

Also, when you have 2 turtles it's important to make sure they both get their share of food. You could try hand feeding them their pellets, or take one out of the tank and feed the other while it's alone. You could also feed them in a separate container, making sure there is water the temperature of their tank and that it's deep enough for them to be fully submerged. Feeding them out of the tank helps to keep the tank cleaner also...

Do you notice any other symptoms other than not eating? If that's all that is wrong, it may be as vieniebebe has said, and they are just getting used to their new home. Is there a lot of activity near their tank? If so, you may wish to provide them with a place to hide so they have some privacy.

Keep us up to date on how they are doing.

[suzzetteharriott]

Hi There,

I know it has been a while since a last spoke to you all. My Turtles are doing fine, I think they may be overweight though because it seems as if their shells are pyramiding. I move them outside on the balcony everyday for sun for at least 6 hours. They also have a huge rock in their basin so that they can get shad when they need it.

I found this really nice pond that I plan to buy for them. How deep is too deep for turtles that have a 2 inch shell?

I think this week I notice that they have begun to bask alot more. They are still timid, not coming up to me and still running away when they see me.

I have the opportunity to be around much older turtle on a weekly basis and they seem to like me alot. They swim right in my direction when they see me. I think this is because they think that I am bringing them food.

Well that's all for now.

Suzzette