Urgent Care :: TURTLE NOT EATTING-BUT HAS BEEN TO VET

[amoo2000]

Hello
I am new to this forum,and the owner of a baby RES named Thelma. About a week ago, she stopped eatting. I had another turtle, who stopped at the same time as well. There were no changes in their environment, and I grew worried and this past Wednesday took Thelma to the vet, as she had some shell discoloration. The vet told me the shell problem was just old trauma which had healed, and that she had a nice hard shell, and looked good. She was given a Vit. A shot and fluids. The vet suggested tempting her with brine shrimp, which I have, to no avail. I have also tried pellets,krill, mealworms. I am going back to the vet this Sunday to learn how to force feed her, as she still shows no interest in food. She is in a 10 gallon tank, about an inch wide, and has a UVB/UVA light, as well as a basking light. Does anyone have any input or suggestions as to how to get her to eat, or what the problem may be? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks so much!

[jenaero]

I've heard that force feeding can do more harm than good. Are there any other symptoms? Is the water warm enough? Turts won't eat if they're too cold. Was this a reptile vet?

[amoo2000]

Yes, it was a reptile vet. Based on the stuff I've read online, force feeding is dangerous, and can do more harm than good. But I am going to have a lesson with the tech on how to force feed. Its been over a week now, and my turtle is a hatchling. The temperature is approx 82 degrees throughout the day, and there there is correct lighting 10-12 hrs a day (I just started the UVA/UVB light yesterday though)...thought perphaps lighting was the problem. Do you think the new lighting will promote my turtle to eat? I just keep offering her a range of foods three times a day, but come Sunday we're going to the vet (again). There are no other symptoms-Thelma's swimming patterns are good, she is basking regularly and she has good energy.

[reptilegrrl]

What temperature is 82' throughout the day? Her water, her basking temp, her ambient temp?

82 is very hot for the water, even for a hatchling. I kept my hatchling's water at 76.

82 is not hot enough for basking. Basking area should be about 95.

82 for ambient temp isn't a problem if the water temp and basking temp are good.

Force feeding is a very, very bad idea until you have exhausted every other option.

[amoo2000]

The basking area is 84-86. I don't have a thermometer in the other half of the tank, but i'm guess it's 8-10 degrees cooler. This is my first turtle, so i'm still figuring things out. I rescued her from chinatown. I am now putting the UVA/UVB light and basking light next to one another, on one side of the tank. This is correct, right? I realized the stick on thermometer I have on the tank is not that close to the basking area, so it may be hotter than 86 at times in the basking area. How do I control the tempetature of the tank via positioning of the lights? As for the force feeding, she hasn't eatten in a week, and when she stopped, the turtle I used to have (gave away) stopped as well. It was very random, and nothing noticeable had changed in their environment. But the irony is, she has a clean bill of health from the vet, and got the Vit. A and fluid injections on Wedm which should have helped her appetite.

[reptilegrrl]

Your turtle is probably not eating, at this point, because she is not warm enough to be hungry/digest her food. 86 is not hot enough for a basking area. Her body is confused and she might be sick.

To make the basking area hotter, move the light closer to it or use a light with higher wattage. To make it cooler, move the light away or use a light with lower wattage. The basking light should not be closer than 12" (and that is still VERY close), so if your light is that close and the basking area is not hot enough, you need to get a higher wattage bulb.

If a turtle is in an inappropriate environment, that is the FIRST thing you need to correct. Force-feeding should be a last resort. You haven't corrected the environment, so why would you force-feed? If she can't digest the foos, force-feeding will just make her sicker.

The smaller a turtle is, the more likely they are to die from force-feeding. I strongly suggest that you correct the environment, then offer her enticing foods.

[amoo2000]

Ok, that is a really good suggestion! The basking area is definitely not hot enough then. I only have a 50 watt bulb in the basking light socket, so I should get a 75, do you think? I'll get it tomorrow...I also have both the uva/uvb bulb and the basking bulb next to one another in the same part of the tank. is this correct/ok? I need to get the temperature up in the basking area-hopefully this will correct the problem! how long do you think it will take after i up the basking light to make a difference in her appetite?

[missibsu]

It is important that you not guess the water temp. Get a themometer and check it. (I actually use two so that I can double check for accuracy.) Feeling with your hand isn't accurate because of our body temp.

As for the lighting, two lights side by side are fine. Just make sure that your heat is centered under the UVB light. Both lights are equally important for the health of your turtle!

Keep us posted.

[amoo2000]

I have two thermometers on each side of the tank which are mounted on the outside of the tank. i heard glass thermometers in the tank are dangerous for the turtle. i just bought a 75 watt red heat basking light, so starting tomorrow i'll put it on with the uva/uvb light. any idea though when she would start eatting if the temp is the problem?

[amoo2000]

Question: Reptilegrrl, when you say the basking light shouldn't be closer than 12' do you mean closer to the animal in the cage, or closer to the tank itself? thanks a bunch

[amoo2000]

Also, according to my on the tank thermometers-the basking area is currently around 84-86, and the other end of the tank is 82-84....so theres basically no difference, which si weird. Maybe I need to get better thermometers.....

[reptilegrrl]

Not closer than 12" to the actual basking area.

Think of it this way: would you be comfortable with a giant, hot light bulb, about the size of a movie screen, only 12 feet from your face?

What kind of basking light do you have? And what is your tank setip like? It would be helpful if you would answer the questions in the sticky at the top of this forum, that way we could get a better idea of the problem.

[amoo2000]

Ok, well its a ten gallon tank.
theres a dock i silconed glued to the left far corner, and then some rocks to help the turtle crawl onto the dock. The filter is in the opposite righthand corner, and I also have a floating piece of cork bark which rests in the basking end of the tank (left side), which Thelma loves. I two clamp lights (one flukers small one with the uva/uvb llight, and another regular hardware store clamp light with the red heat basking 75 watt bulb , which is supposedly invisible to the anmals, on the left side of tank) i'm just having trouble attaching them to the shelf where the tank is so that they are both 12 inches away. They both have to be 12 inches away right? I hope this description helps a little...also, what kind of thermometer do I need? I have only two stick on the outside of the tank termometers, which are on opposite ends of the tank, but the water seems to be the same at both ends, which cant be right because of the lighting. any thermometer advice would be great. Thanks

[reptilegrrl]

That red basking bulb is basically useless. YOu could probably touch it with your hand.

I repeat: please look at the post, at the top of this forum, that says "Announcement: Read this Topic before you post here." It has a list of queries, to which you may provide answers, which will help the rest of us get ideas regarding what is wrong.

Right now I can tell you that your red basking light is useless. What kind of uva/uvb light do you have? Can you provide a link to this light on the web, so we can see what it is? A lot of the time, people think they have a uva/uvb light and they really do not.

You can buy reptile thermometers at a pet store, they can be stick to the wall of the tank right above your basking area (however, your tank is very small and should be replaced with something larger, ASAP. The recommendation is 10 gallons OF WATER per inch of turtle.) An aquarium thermometer can be purchased in the aquatics section, they are inexpensive and suction onto the side of the tank, in the water.

Yes, the lights should be AT LEAST 12 inches away fromthe basking area, preferably more.

[CountryGirl68]

I'm in the process of setting up a tank for a turtle (which will be purchased/adopted after the setup is complete). But I currently have a tank with fish which has two outside thermometers on each side of the tank, like you do (though my fish tank is a 30g).

One thing I have noticed with the fish tank (thanks to Steve) is that the temperatures are slightly different (one reads 76F, the other 78F). As Steve mentioned to me in another post, external thermometers are affected by external temperatures and do not give an accurate reading of the internal tank water temperature. For my fish, this slight difference is okay. But for a turtle, this would not be okay.

Steve previously suggested a digital thermometer - so I'm passing his suggestion on to you. Hope this helps.