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Hi everyone. My girlfriend gave me two little red-ear sliders for my birthday about ten days ago, and one of them Walker, just refuses to eat. I have tried everything from blackworms to ground beef to minnows krill treats, and he just won't eat. My water temp is consistently around 82. I'm scared and I don't know what to do, because I feel like I've tried just about everything, and he's starting to seem sluggish. I was told by someone at one pet store to consider force feeding him with a dropper, but someone at another store told me that I shouldn't do that because it would be dangerous. Can anyone help?

Turtles have different personalities - some are more shy than others. The shy ones take longer to adjust to new habitats and may not eat for a week or more and may not bask for awhile either. However, at 10 days even a shy turtle should be coming around and starting to eat.

You are correct not to try to force feed him. The food can easily go down the wrong pipe and choke him.

Are you sure he's not eating when you're not around? Have you tried putting some food in with him, then leaving the room and coming back later to see if it's gone? He may be more likely to eat if he thinks no one is looking.

If he's in the same tank with another turtle, is it possible the other turtle is bullying the shy one and taking all the food? If you think there is any chance of this, take the aggressive one out of the tank while the shy one is feeding.

The temperature at 82 is plenty warm. Temperatures that are too cool will cause a turtle to slow down and lose his appetite, but that won't happen at 82 degrees. 82 degrees is actually a good temperature for a sick turtle. It's a bit warm for a well one. A well turtle that's young (less than 4") can be kept at 78 to 80 degrees.

The other possibility, of course, is that he's getting sick. Why don't you let us know if any of the other alternative causes are possibilities. If they are not, then we'll talk about what to do with a sick turtle.

Thanks for the response. I have tried separating them and leaving him alone with food, but he hasn't eaten. Also, just recently he has been basking a LOT more and is reluctant to open his eyes.

get him to a vet imo
this is not good
i had one be just like this once and he died

omg could this be whats affecting scardy-cat?! she seems to bask so much more and wont eat anything.

If he's keeping his eyes shut, along with the excessive basking and not eating, it does sound like something's going on. Are the eyes swollen at all? At this point, I'd give him his own little set-up, with the water temp about 82F and the basking area 90-91F. I'd get some plain pedialyte and mix it 50/50 with water and try feeding him in a container with that in it. You might also get some plain cod liver oil and apply some once or twice a day to the eyelids for several days just in case a Vit deficiency is involved. Do this until you can get him to a herp vet.

Just curious, but where did your girlfriend get the the turtles? If it was from a place like Chinatown or a flea market, for example, many are kept in poor living conditions are can be sick when they're bought, although they may not be showing any symptoms at the time of purchase. Try getting him to a herp vet asap---his chances of recovery will be much better.

His eyes do seem a little bit swollen and he keeps them closed now a lot more than when I first got him. When you talk about the pedialyte solution, do you mean for him to eat, or as his habitat? I have been giving him a daily 2-hour bath in Zoo-Med Turtle Sulfa-Dip.

The pedialyte should be used as a separate "bath" to feed him in, not in the tank.
As for the eyes... are you using a UVB bulb? Sometimes that can irritate turtle's eyes if it is too close or too strong. The cod liver oil works very well for vitamin A deficiencies so pick some up.
Keeping the eyes shut and excessive basking (and the lack of appetite) can be signs of a more serious illness like an RI infection so he should have his own set up just to err on the side of caution.

You can also try some tuna fish...

Get him alone and let him smell it on a spoon or your finger then drop some into the water. Usually if it is "new area syndrome" tuna will do the trick!

As for the eyes, you can normally find turtle drops at almost any pet store. If nothing helps him...I would get to a vet asap.

Good Luck.

I'd have to go the direction that the turtles sounds like it is sick. Shy turtles getting used to a new habitat don't bask excessively. The fact that he's adjusting and is basking a lot is quite odd, and with the lack of appetite that spells sickness to me. Baby turtles are often sick when you get them, but there's no way of knowing that when you get them.

I would definitely take them to a good herp vet (trained to care for turtles) and get treatment going. It's important to start treatment as soon as possible with turtles.

They really need to be separated if you haven't done so already and you've received some good advice already. I would also try some live prey... a feeder guppy (hold it down for your turtle if necessary) or even a cut up earthworm. Guppies usually cost 10 or 12 for $1 at most pet stores and I highly recommend it.

I just have to ask---what is the purpose of the sulfa dip? Does he have shell problems? (Even if he does, I'm not sure the dip is that effective.)

As for the Pedialyte/water mix, you put it in a separate container and feed him in that. He'll get some electrolytes, etc. when he drinks (and hopefully eats).