Hi! Introduce yourselves here. :: Newbie intro and needs reassurance

[ChrisHelvey]

Hi everyone,
My name is Chris and my wife and I just got our first ever turtle (RES) this last week. He (I think) is about 4" (top shell,) appears to be in very good condition, and is now named Chester Hardbottom. We set up a nice habitat for him, being careful to follow all the guidelines. I have extensive experience keeping both fresh and saltwater fish (though I will not have them anymore,) and I believe his environment is good.

His tank may be slightly small, which we will remedy soon. It is a 30 gallon tank (about 8 inches deep) with a heater. Water temp is a consistent 78 degrees and air temp is around 75 away from the lamp and closer to 85-90 under the lamp. He has a spot for basking under the lamp and an easy way to climb up to it. We have the special basking lamp on in the daytime and a heat lamp on at night to keep the temps nice. We have 9 feeder (rosy reds) in there and THEY seem to be super happy and healthy.

The substrate is boiled river stones from the Rio Grande where I live. PH is good. We put in the little, dissolvable "starter turtle" to help water conditioning.

He does funny things like stretching out his legs and turning them over under the lamp. We call it turtle Yoga, or "Troga" and he is attentive when he is awake and will look around some.

But I am concerned: We have had him since Wednesday and I have not seen him eat. Also, he has only gone in the water by himself once and spent very little time there. He sits up on the flat dry rock all the time. I have tried pellets in the water (right in front of his nose,) and Romaine lettuce. We have felt compelled to put him in the water once each day. He takes a while to wake up, paddles around for a minute or so and then goes back up on the rock. Not interested in food. He LOOKS healthy. Eyes are clear and colors are nice.

I've read the FAQs here, but does anyone have some suggestions or reassurance? I'm not worried about the tank size at the moment because he hasn't spent more than 5 minutes in the water since we got him.

Sincerely, "Worried new parents."

[sweety10189110]

Welcome to forum! I wish I could offer some information or advice on your turtle but I'm just a newbie to the whole turtle care as yourselves. I'm sure one of the more knowledgeable turtle owners will chime in soon.

[dumbork14]

hello and welcome. first thing that you may want to do is to make sure that he will eat. try soaking the pellets in tuna juice to entice eating. also, in the brief moments that he was in the water, how's his behavior? how does he swim? even before, is he having some difficulty in floating to the top or sinking to the bottom?

[sweety10189110]

The heat lamp that you have on at night, is it one of those night time bulbs or is it the normal day time kind? If its the normal day time bulb you need to turn it off at night as they sleep at night just like us and are active during the day.

[ChrisHelvey]

Thanks for the responses.

I have tried soaking the pellets in tuna water juice, as well as lettuce in tuna juice...even a little of the tuna. No interest.

Here's the thing: When he's in the water, he perks up a bit (still won't eat,) is attentive and curious. He will swim around just fine. I haven't seen him go to the bottom, so I can't say if he is having difficulty sinking. No problem floating for sure.

Yesterday, we took the platform out to force him to be in the water a while. He stayed floating on top with his head under water much of the time. As soon as I put the basking platform (a large flat rock,) he became very curious and attentive. The second I was done, he swam over and pulled himself right up. It's like he's a basking addict!

I was given advice to turn the water temp down to about 74 and not use the basking lamp at night. It gets cool in the house at night, so maybe he'll be inclined to go in the water at night.

I'll keep everyone posted.

Thank again,

Chris

[sweety10189110]

I was given advice to turn the water temp down to about 74 and not use the basking lamp at night. It gets cool in the house at night, so maybe he'll be inclined to go in the water at night.

I've got my water heater set at 75-76 and my little 3" guy does fine at night and I know it gets a bit cool in our house.

[steve]

Welcome to the forum! Where did you get him from? Do you keep a distance when you leave food for him?

[penelope]

Welcome!

[ChrisHelvey]

There is no eating going on here. It isn't looking good for Chester. He's starting to look sort of pale and doesn't move much. My guess is that he has a respiratory infection and probably had it when I got him from PetsMart (before blasting me for supporting a big box store - his habitat looked really good.) Unfortunately, the 3 hour drive to a vet, along with the cost will make that avenue impossible.

We're doing everything we can, but what else is there to do? His water is clean and the proper temp. The air temp is good both day and night. (Light off at night.) He basks all day, barely moving. He will get in the water at night sometimes and can barely get himself up on the basking area (despite a "handicap ramp." ) I've offered him food of varying types in the water (but he doesn't go in) and out of the water (but they eat in the water, so that doesn't help.)

I don't know what else to do. I'll keep putting new pellets and lettuce in there, and then take out what's left the next day. (The fish nibble on them.) I put a little boiled egg white on the platform and I don't see it, but it probably just dropped off and disappeared on the bottom.

I'm losing hope. If he doesn't eat, he will surely die. Sad daddy...

[ChrisHelvey]

He has bubbles come from his mouth when in the water. Not good....

[TurtleTori]

Oh noes! My Mopar got a respiratory infection and she almost died on us after only a couple of days of looking ill. I had to "force" feed her for several days. Thankfully although she's RES she seems to think she's a snapper so when tapped the food pellet against her nose she tried to bite me in aggravation and ended up eating a bit. If you can get Chester to snap at you to allow you to slip a bit of food in his mouth that would be great, but if he's stubborn like my Hemi I am not sure what to do because you really shouldn't force-force feed them. Turtles with a respiratory infection need medical care and quick, but I totally understand about the driving issue. We have to drive an hour, so I couldn't even imagine dealing with a 3 hour drive.

Either way, sorry to hear about your sick baby. Hugs to both of you and I hope things take a turn for the better.

[steve]

Give him a soak in diluted Pedialyte (1:1 with water). Bump up water temps to 80F. See if he'll eat some minnows... hold them by the tail and let it wiggle in front of his face.

[ChrisHelvey]

Thanks Steve, I'm on it!