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About my turtle,because ever since yesterday he hasnt been himself i guess you could say.He would normally eat like a pig chomping down everything i offer him,but since yesterday he eats just 3 out of 6 pellets i feed him.He is also having diahreah,could it be that his stomach is upset? He eats,but not like he used to he loses intrest in eating realy fast.I tried shrimp treats and dipped a pellet in tuna,and still nothing.Should i seek for a vet? Or wait to see if he starts being his normal self in a couple of days? My other turtle is perfectly fine..but the others ones behavior is unusal.



How big is your turtle? 2 inches
How long have you had it? about 2 months maybe 3

What is the water temperature? 82 degrees
Are you using a water heater? yes
How much water is in there? 3/4 full
Are you using a water conditioner? yes
Are you using any filtration? yes

What is the basking temperature? 92 degrees
Is there a basking light?yes
Is there a basking platform that is easy to climb on? yes
What kind is it or what is it made out of? zoo med dock
Is there a UVB light? yeah

What have you been trying to feed it? reptomin,zoo med hatchling turtle food,carrots,shrimp treats,romaine lettuce
When was the last time your turtle ate? today

How big is the tank/pond/enclosure? 20 gallons
Is the tank near a window? no
Is the tank in a room with a lot of activity? no

Have you read the Basic Care section? yes
Have you searched the forums for similar situations? yes

Is there any other unusual activity/symptoms? I think its just me,but yesterday he seemed to bask a little more than he would normally,but he still rehydrated himself and tried catching a fish.

Turn the water down to around 79 degrees.....82 is too warm.

It is normal for turts to turn down food periodically (or not to eat as much). As hungry as my Sheba is, she does not necessarily want to eat a full meal daily. Skipping a day once in a while in terms of feeding your turtle does not hurt them. I have had to do this with my Betta fish & aquatic frog too. Sometimes their belly is just a bit upset.

The fact that he is eating is a good sign, even if it is less than you normally fed him. It is winter now, and some turts or frogs eat a little less because there is less light (aka less activity for them.....aren't moving around as much so no need to eat as much). My frog has been known to eat 1 reptomin foodstick daily in the winter, and 3 daily in the summer! And then there are times when he doesn't want to eat for a day & will turn down food. So, I just feed him the next day with no problems.

Now if your turtle still turns down food after you skipped a feeding day, then there might be an issue. Try skipping a day and see what happens the next!

Are you feeding lots of veggies? That could be another thing. It can cause diarrhea and it could also be a reason why he doesn't want to eat his pellets if he's filled with that.

Diet is usually the cause of diarrhea in turtles. It can also occur if the fish you are feeding it have parasites. I would move the fish to another tank and see if the diarrhea stops.

cam722: No,not alot they each usually eat 2 or 3 carrot bits (i cut them up realy small) and as for lettuce my other turtle (the one who is eating fine)loves them and eats alot of them and never gets diarhea,the one who is eating less and has diarhea he doesnt realy like lettuce unless i dip it in tuna and even then he just takes a few bites and leaves it alone.


industrialgirl2000:The water temperature is normally 78 degrees but i bumped it up in fear of it being something serious like the start of a RI.But now that you told me that turtles and other herps sometimes skip a day of eating during the winter it makes me feel a little better,should i lower the temp? And has sheba ever gone through the "not eating normally during winter" phase? Also its not very cold in miami today was actually 84 degrees.Theyre water is never cold,so could it be that they "just know when it is winter" ? Sorry for all the questions lol.


countrygirl68:Thanks for the advice ive caught him chaseing some yesterday but failed to catch one,my other turtle ate one.And when i woke up today another one was missing.Ill take them out though,thanks.

But hey,uhm when i took my turtles to the vet a month ago or so he told me that they should have a varied diet he suggested feeding them reptomin which i already was and adding another brand of pellet food he suggested zoo med turtle food.He told me i should feed them 4 to 6 pellets of reptomin or zoo med turtle food and 4 pellets of the other.He suggested veggies too and some vitamin supplements (but not to much) now that i think about it they have been eating 10 pellets daily along with some veggies.I have a feeling i may have overfed?

You aren't going to get many people to tell you exactly how much they feed their turtles.. lol but I will tell you that I fed my 4"+ turtles about 10 pellets every other day. Along with veggies most days.. sometimes I'd give them veggies on the days they didn't have pellets.. so they alternated. Then again, some days I'd feed them 5 pellets each and veggies..

I also switched pellets.. I used Reptomin and the ZooMed .. they weren't overly fond of those though.

I see,so i guess im not overfeeding.Hopefully my turtle isnt sick,he's still pretty alert when he's basking he doesnt slide off his dock but he gives me "the stare" everytime i aproach him and he braces himself like if i was about to launch at him.These past two days he's been closeing his eyes a little more than he would normally do when basking,his eyes arent puffy and he doesnt rub them,i gave him some zoo med eye drops just in case.And i plan on supplements to sprinkle on his food in case he isnt getting enough vitamin A (veggies arent his favorite),do you think its neccesary? or am i being a bit TOO worried lol?

xsavingsaturdayx wrote:industrialgirl2000:The water temperature is normally 78 degrees but i bumped it up in fear of it being something serious like the start of a RI.But now that you told me that turtles and other herps sometimes skip a day of eating during the winter it makes me feel a little better,should i lower the temp? And has sheba ever gone through the "not eating normally during winter" phase? Also its not very cold in miami today was actually 84 degrees.Theyre water is never cold,so could it be that they "just know when it is winter" ? Sorry for all the questions lol.

Just keep the temp around 78 for now. Even Sheba has had a day in between where she didn't want to eat much so it is normal for all animals, not just turts.

Now if your turtle goes several days (2-3) in a row without eating, that is a cause for concern.

Don't worry about RI.....they can't catch it unless they had prolonged periods of time (several weeks or months) in cold water.

xsavingsaturdayx wrote:I see,so i guess im not overfeeding.Hopefully my turtle isnt sick,he's still pretty alert when he's basking he doesnt slide off his dock but he gives me "the stare" everytime i aproach him and he braces himself like if i was about to launch at him.These past two days he's been closeing his eyes a little more than he would normally do when basking,his eyes arent puffy and he doesnt rub them,i gave him some zoo med eye drops just in case.And i plan on supplements to sprinkle on his food in case he isnt getting enough vitamin A (veggies arent his favorite),do you think its neccesary? or am i being a bit TOO worried lol?

I wouldn't worry about supplementing his food just yet. As long as he is still eating, then things are fine. It is when they STOP eating for days at a time that could be a sign of trouble.