Urgent Care :: RES Refusing to Eat

[Brodie]

Hello. I don't know how old my RES is, but I'm assuming he's still a hatchling. He's about 2 inches in length right now. I've had him for about a month or so now. About 2 weeks ago, he just suddenly stopped eating. I've heard turtles are like horses in that they simply eat whenever they see food, so I figured it couldn't be that he just wasn't hungry. Every time I would get his food containers out, he would get excited and start swimming around. Now, he just stares at me whenever he sees the food.
If its of any importance, I've been feeding him three different kinds of foods. I had always heard it was good to have a variety in order to keep things new for him. I fed him: Rep-Cal Brand Aquatic Turtle Food, Reptomin Floating Food Sticks, and Raffy I gammarus, anchovies, and ant eggs.

I took him to the vet, and they ordered two different medications for me. The first is called Panacure. I'm to give him 0.1cc of it 3 times a day for a few weeks. The second is called Metronidate or something like that. I'm to give him 0.2cc 3 days in a row. The water temp is usually around 78.2 degrees or so, so I placed a heating pad underneath the tank. I keep it on the lowers setting, and the water has gone up to ~82 degrees or so.

Anywho, my Vet wasn't sure, so I figured maybe someone here could help me out. My question is: Roughly how long can a hatchling RES go without eating before he starves to death?

Thanks!

[megcornell]

He hasn't eaten anything for two weeks? Are you sure he's not eating after you walk away or do you remove the uneaten food?
RES can go for a while without food, although the warmer water should stimulate his appetite I would think. And I'd say any longer than a week or week and a half without ANY interest in food, should be a big concern.
By any chance do you have gravel in your tank or any other small objects the turtle could have eaten and become impacted with?
From the drugs the vet gave you, it doesn't sound like he knew what was wrong- he gave a dewormer and I think an antibiotic-- but if your turtle is impacted, neither of those will be much help. I'd give the drugs a few days to wipe out any parasites if that is the case, and if the turtle doesn't start eating, I'd take him back to the vets... is your vet a herp vet? If not, you really should find a specialized vet, most cat/dog vets just don't have enough turtle experience to be of much help.

Good luck.

[SpotsMama]

Technically they can go quite a while without eating, though it's not good for them. If it's been two weeks, then your baby needs some calories. I'm not familiar with the medications your vet prescribed, but if he/she said your turtle needs them, then you should go ahead.

I'm going to give you a link on enticing a turtle to eat. Since he hasn't eaten in such a long time, you can go ahead and give it things that you would normally only give once in a while as a treat, just to get something in him. Turtles will usually eat shrimp, boiled chicken and tuna fish (packed in water). See if he won't eat some of these.

Here's the link:

http://www.redearslider.com/entice_eating.html

Are you having any trouble getting the medications in him?

[steve]

I agree, a week is too long for him to go without eating. I did a quick search on the meds you are using. I'm not sure what exactly they have to do with stimulating an appetite, what did the vets say? Were the meds for something else and a side effect is an appetite suppressor? Could the meds be affecting the taste of the foods you're offering?
What kind of heating pad are you using? The kind made for reptiles are not designed to work with aquariums and a submersible water heater is highly recommended.

[marisa]

Panacur treats certain types of parasites (and I think can be purchased OTC) and Metronidazole is used to treat certain anaerobic bacteria as well as parasites. Did you vet look at a stool sample? The parasitic load can increase to a point where a turtle will lose his appetite and become listless. Perhaps the vet (a herp vet?) is trying to clear the system of parasites to rule them out as a problem.

Try also bloodworms, and something that moves, like a piece of earthworm.