General Care Discussion :: New turtle, some questions.

[Theason]

Hi!

I recently was bought a Red Ear slider, a young one from the store.

I had a couple questions since it is worrying me.

I have had it for about a week now and It has not eaten anything.
It just lets the pellets float/dissolve or leave them alone on the Dock.

His basking spot is Kept at about 36ish C(96.8 F)


The water is at 80F



I have both a basking bulb (That I used to use for my Snake) and I have a UV-B Buld that sits ontop of the tank.



I recently put him in this tank (When I first got him I had him in a much smaller one for some time.) but even in the old tank he would not eat and hardly moved.

He mostly just lays on the dock with his eyes closed and what I assume is Sleeps all day.



I have seen him swim on his own once, but not other than that. I am usually home other than the couple hours a day I go to work or College.

Is there something I am doing wrong that I should change?

I will be adding more plants/rock to his Tank at a later time. Hard to come by nice rocks during the winter in tons a snow lol.

[unclejoe]

I think from everything I have read you may have his habitat a bit too warm.. But that shouldn't be preventing him from wanting to eat. the usual water temps for encouraging them to eat is 72- 75 or so and a basking temp of ten degrees F higher.. so around 86 or so.. that translates to that is about 21- 22.5 C for water temps and about 26 C or so for Basking temps.. I don't think the higher temps would be hurting him.. I have seen wild turtles in the ponds in Florida as high as you have yours set.. But you could go lower and he will still be active and hungry. I have read the warmer the habitat the faster they grow.

As for his not swimming and basking with eyes closed all day.. I have no idea why he is doing that.. I have a tiny painted turtle about the size of your RES and ever since I brought him home in DEC he has been very active and swimming every where.. He does bask a lot throughout the day.. But I have not seen him close his eyes accept at night when he is sleeping.. I don't know why your turtle is wanting to sleep during the day..

I do know if you have a sick turtle that a lot of times its recommended to turn up water temps.. so I wouldn't be two quick to turn it down till someone with more experience can help narrow down why he is so lethargic..

I am not sure about the red bulb,, will wait for a more experienced person to advise on that..

Have you tried different types of food like dried Shrimp or Krill??

Your turtle is cute though.. Did you name it??

[Theason]

On all the things I have read this would be the temps for a juvenile RES.

I have pellets, Krill and Shrimp for him. he does not eat any.

Thank you, My friends who got him for me names him/her Sheldon.

[steve]

Is he able to open his eyes? If he can't see, he won't eat. If it's a vitamin deficiency, some cod liver oil will help. I'd also have some live prey (you can hold minnows by the tail) for him to start eating.

[Theason]

He only ever opens them if I pick him up, but only briefly as if to check out whats happening. He shuts them again after a couple seconds.

When I walk up to the Tank he reacts, but barely.

When my friends picked him from the store he was not an active turtle either lol.

when is comes to minnows/live bait should I just let the fish swim around the tank on thier own, or only during times to feed him?

[steve]

A week of not eating is a very long time for a hatchling, I would act with more urgency. You can let the fish swim around, but at this stage, he's too weak to catch them. I'd also consider giving him a soak in a mix of warm water and some unflavored Pedialyte.

[Theason]

He is not appearing weak in the slightest. he swims just fine when he is put in the water, and opens his eyes when he swims.

I have put fish in the tank, hopefully they will interest him.

I have also tried holding a fish for him to eat infront of him but he just ignores it and won't eat.

I don't really know what to do other than just let him wait and eat on his own at this point.

Recently when he is sitting on the dock Half in the water, he keeps his head above the water instead of just laying it on the rocks.

[steve]

You might want to put him into the water, they are usually not interested in eating when out of it.

[Theason]

When I do he usually just sits for a bit then swims back to the dock.

he does not seem to hold much interest in staying in the water completely, only half in.

[steve]

I would do the Pedialyte soak and crumble up some pellets for him. Hopefully he would some of it when he drinks.

[Insanity]

Try offering pellets that have been soaked a bit in the water from canned tuna or salmon. The stronger odor/taste may notice him. Place in a shallow container with water, enough where he doesn't have to swim and offer them pellets.