Feeding and Nutrition :: Not eating at all

[ShellyLove]

I've had Squirt for about a year now. For the past 6 months, he wont eat at all. My boyfriend and myself have tried a variety of foods recommended for turtles, but he just wont eat. It constantly worries us. We try to leave the tank a little dirtier than we should because we feel that might be the only way of him getting anything in his system. Any advise or comments guys? We are completely stumped!

[Nettle]

Six months?!? That would most certainly have killed him by now, so he's eating something.

Try smelly foods like tuna or chicken. Put a little on the basking spot and see if it goes missing. Or soak some pellets in tuna juice, then let them dry and try those.

What's your setup like? Gallons, temp, basking area? It could be related to the environment.

[blackforce247]

have you taken him to a vet. maybe theres a problem with its intestines or something inside its body that isnt working right. if you tried giving it what its been eating they just don't suddenly stop eating it. theres something wrong like what nettle said temperature how much water basking area whats in the water the size of the rocks or pebbles you use (note: if you use pebbles DON'T USE PEBBLES SMALLER THAN ITS HEAD! it can clog or cause your turtle to be expelling rocks from its clacoa for weeks. its really best you don't use pebbles at all since pebbles are mostly meant for fish. anyway suggestion which is best is getting it to a vet right away it might not survive any longer than 6 weeks

[SpotsMama]

If he hasn't eaten for a long time, then there is something wrong and he needs to see a vet.

[ShellyLove]

Well, he does bask a lot, and it's funny because I bought baby food for him yesterday and he ate this morning! Two little sticks! I was so happy. The funny part is, I just posted here and now he eats a tiny bit! Hopefully he keeps it up. The average water temp is always kept right around 76. My other problam is I do not believe I can afford a vet, so I have not tried. We've tried everything for this little guy because he was our smallest and youngest until just recently, so hopefully something is working when we are not around!

Nettle - I will definetley try soaking the food. I've never thought of that, and I think my other fatties will enjoy that a lot!

[TheComputerGremlin]

Well, if you look at it like this, you can pay a vet or lose your turtle. You can try talking to a few vets about a payment plan or alternative options concerning payment. If he's eating the baby food, is it because the other sticks are too large? I buy regular sized Reptomin but break the sticks in half. Some of the rounder pellets are difficult for some turtles to eat. Do you remove the uneaten pellets, or leave them in there? If you leave them in there, I'd imagine that the turtle is eating them, just when they are nasty and at the bottom of the tank. Do you have other turtles or fish in there? He could be not getting food because of one of them, but rather eating their waste.

[mikee]

She-love -- Your turtle was eating something. Maybe very little but someting. If you can get him to eat a little more try and keep an eye on the pooping. I am inclined to think that he is stopped up or has paresites. Good Luck!!

[ShellyLove]

Whenever I have the boyfriend clean the tank, I watch him for about two hours in a box. Squirt always has little poops. Now that I think of it, he's probably been eating scraps at the bottom, that I thought just mushed into the bottom. Thanks guys nad maybe I was over-reacting!

Thanks for the help!

[marisa]

His poop is most likely a good part of the scraps he's been eating.

[Azfar]

6 month not eating at all?? Wow.. that a long period that could kill your RES.. if that so, better you bring your Squirt to the vet.. before this I also have same situation like you that my Totti won't eat.. because of what?? In her mouth got a big ULCER.. I already bring her to a see a vet but she died 3 days after.. hua hua hua..

[Take-One]

Whenever I have the boyfriend clean the tank, I watch him for about two hours in a box. Squirt always has little poops. Now that I think of it, he's probably been eating scraps at the bottom, that I thought just mushed into the bottom. Thanks guys nad maybe I was over-reacting!

Thanks for the help!

Yertle eats the stuff at the bottom too. Im going to get minnows to do the job though.

[sktel24]

Hey, My name is also Sara, and I also have a turtle named squirt!

I've only had my turtle for a 3 weeks now, and it took a few days before it would start to eat, because the change in habitat, but then it took to eating just fine. We have pellets and also some dried up shrimp or something (the lady at the store we bought it from fed it this stuff as a treat and the turtles loved it). As of about a week ago, I cleaned it's tank because it seemed like it wasn't eating much of what we gave it. After that, we noticed it definitely wasn't eating what we were putting in for it. We tried giving it some raw ground beef, and it LOVED it, it only took moments to devour the tiny piece.
Why won't it touch the other food that it liked so much? Is it bored with it's diet?

I read that soaking the pellets in tuna juice could make them desirable so I'm going to try that. I don't want my baby turtle to get sick because it's bored of it's healthy food!
If anyone has any advice please!

[sktel24]

Also, how can I tell if it's pooping? I'm a new turtle carer and am just learning all of this stuff!

[marisa]

Welcome. It would be good if you did some more reading on the forum, especially about diet and nutrition.

Meat isn't good to give, and raw meat is even worse (your turtle may like it, but you're doing him no favors nutritionwise and when you give in to him and feed him the ground beef, he's just going to become more fixated on it and less apt to eat other foods). What brand of pellets is he getting? Look at the feeding list on the forum for other foods you can give.

What kind of set-up is he in? What size tank is he in? Does he have a basking area, UVB light, heat light, filter, water heater? What's the water temp and basking area temp?

If he's eating, you should be seeing poop (unless he's eating it himself, which turtles often do).

[res08]

doesn't raw meat leave an oily film on the surface? when I fed tuna to my hatchling it left an oily film that wouldn't go away without a water change.