Urgent Care :: Help...He's not eating

[Julia]

Hello,
I got a baby red-eared slider in August. For six months he ate fine. It didn't matter what I put in the tank, he would eat it. I mean everything, he even ate his rocks and his floating dock (until I took them out). Now, all of the sudden, for the last month, he hardly eats at all. What should I do?

I try to give him a balanced diet of frozen blood worms, reptomin floating sticks, vitamins, random treats I get at the pet store, lettuce, carrots, fruit, etc... The only thing I haven't tried is live food. I really can't bring myself to do that. I love my turtle, but I do not have the heart to throw in something that is alive. I"M A BIG BABY...and too much of an animal lover (even goldfish). I've heard that they can live a healthy life without live food. Is this true? Could this be the reason that he isn't eating?

Thank you for your time!!!

Other Information About My Turtle...
I bought him in LA at the fashion district when I was shopping one day. He was about one inch long (if that) and I thought he was the cutest thing, so I bought two. When I got home and did some research on them, I realized that I had gotten myself in over my head, but i made the decision to buy them, so I dedicated myself to taking good care of them. One of them did die rather quickly (I think he was sick when I got him). The other however has been great. His carapace and eyes are perfect. He comes up to the side of the aquarium when I talk to him, he is active, he doesn't mind being handled, and until now ate me out of house and home. He is now 3-4 inches long. I have in a 10 gallon aquarium (and I will upgrade soon). I have a basking lamp for him, a plastic ramp for him to rest on, a heater and filter for the water, and I clean it often. I take him out in the sun every once in a while and I take him out and let him run around for exercise.

[missibsu]

My main concern is when you mention that he even ate his rocks...If he ate very many, he could have a tummy full of them. I know that if I had a tummy full of rocks that I wouldn't want to eat anything else...

What is your water temp? If the environment isn't right, he may not feel like eating either.

[cam722]

First let me welcome you to the forum

I have a few concerns. One is as missibu said about his eating the rocks. Eating the rocks can cause a turtle to become impacted. Have you taken all the rocks out of his tank? Is he eliminating waste still? Another concern, You said you removed the basking dock... does he have a place to get completely out of the water to dry off? Lastly, you said you've had your turtle since August and he was about 1" then and he is now 3-4". That is too much growth in too short of a time. When he was eating, how much did you feed him and how often? A good size for a captive turtle is approximately 3" at one year. Over feeding can cause a tremendous amount of stress on their internal organs and cause other health concerns, including pyramiding of their shell.

One reason a turtle may stop eating is the water temperature. It should be in the mid to high 70s. If the water is too cool, they may stop eating. Do you notice any other symptoms, is he basking and swimming normally?

You are already aware that his tank is too small for him, hopefully you can upgrade that ASAP.

[Julia]

Thank you for the replies. I did take all of the rocks out of the tank, and I got him a new dock, a plastic one, that he can't eat. And...he poops just fine. I keep the water temp between 75 and 83 degrees and I make sure his basking area is a few degrees more than that. I read some things about trying to feed him tuna fish, and it worked, at least for tonight. He gobbled it up YEAY!!!! If he is still eliminating waste should I worry about the rocks he ate? As soon as I saw him doing it I took them out, but I don't know how much he ate without me knowing. THANK YOU AGAIN!!!!!

[cam722]

As long as he's pooping, he should be fine. If the tank has a bare bottom, you'll notice if he eliminates any

Do you have a water heater in your tank? The water temperature shouldn't fluctuate that much. The water temp should be around 78 for a hatchling and about 10 degrees warmer for the basking area.

I'm glad he ate for you, try not to feed him too much tuna. If needed you can put the tuna water on his pellets so they have the odor and see if he'll eat them that way and then gradually wean him back to plain pellets. Too much protein isn't good for them.