Urgent Care :: Help !!!... My turtles lost appetite...

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Post Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 4:34 pm   Help !!!... My turtles lost appetite...

Hi All,
Adam here, from Bangalore, India... have been a member since long but havent posted much... Anyways i have a turtle named Jade (female)
She is around 2.5 yrs old and 5-6Inches (Shell measurement) ... I guess she has been over fed a bit n she grew fast...
Lately after she grew so much the tank i have has become kinda smaller for her n she always used to try to get out of the tank... So from past few days she has been running around in the house n not being in tank except for feeding time...
But lately she has lost her appettite... she started with teh pellet sticks... she quit that n was eating only dry shripms and now she's even quit that n eating only boiled egg white... im feeding this every alertnative day... im not sure whats happening but she doesnt eat anything... im worried... first i thought lemme see for couple of days n now its been more than 2 weeks... she eats only egg white every alternate day...
lately her basking was affected as my light and heater both broke (since 2-3 months n i havent replaced yet... will do soon)... and whenever she is let around in teh house she goes around 1-2 times n then settles in her favourite place... under a bean bag on a carpet... im not sure if she is trying to hibernate or be warm... she doesnt come out for a day or two if not disturberd... i bring her out to feed... The weather now here is rainly... but not as cold as winter...
So anyone can tell me wats wrong? Is it good to keep her out of tank for long periods?... Why is she not eating?
Plz help... im worried...
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Adam
 
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Post Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 6:33 pm   Re: Help !!!... My turtles lost appetite...

How warm is the weather now? I don't think your RES is trying to keep warm---Turtles are ecothermic and their body temps are pretty much the same as the surrounding environment. It's more likely she feels secure under the bean bag and that's why she stays there. If it's really cool, a turtle will lose her appetite (and at a certain point will not be able to eat and will become lethargic, eventually going into hibernation0.

As long as your RES is gettting hydrated a few times a day, no permanent harm is being done. However, this is not a natural way for them to live...

It sounds like it's getting cooler where you are(?). If so, it would be really good to invest in a new heater. A regular incandescent bulb can be used for a basking light, but there also should be a UVB light positioned over the basking area next to the heat light.
"You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed." -Antoine de Saint Exupery-
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Post Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 6:58 pm   Re: Help !!!... My turtles lost appetite...

the weathers between min 18 and a max of 26 degrees... its doesnt get too cold... just that weathers changed from summer to rainy...
Yeah i guess he likes to be under bean bag... its quite cozy there for her...
She is getting hydrated only once a day or during feeding time... will try n hydrate her a li'll more n heater n light will be fixed in a day or two...
She looks normal apart from her loss of appettite... But she likes boiled egg while n eats only that... for now im feeding her that... will try n get her some other stuff to eat like aqauatic plants n some fruits... hope she likes it coz few times i tried sometime back she didnt touch them...
By any chance she is tryin to lay eggs ?

anything else i can do to get back her appettite?
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Adam
 
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Post Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2010 11:14 am   Re: Help !!!... My turtles lost appetite...

You can feel for eggs by gently placing your finger in front of her hind legs. What kind of pellets were you using?
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Post Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2010 1:58 pm   Re: Help !!!... My turtles lost appetite...

will check for eggs n let u know... actually in front of the hind legs its body is bulged outside... i thought it was coz its been over fed...
u think this cud be the reason? i mean it needs to lay eggs?
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Adam
 
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Post Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2010 6:12 pm   Re: Help !!!... My turtles lost appetite...

Does she have trouble getting inside her shell? Does anything (fleshy parts) bulge out at all? If so, she could be overweight in addition to whether or not she's gravid.
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Post Posted: Thu Aug 26, 2010 4:45 pm   Re: Help !!!... My turtles lost appetite...

@Steve - I use Taiyo Turtle pellets... thats wat i used from begining... well its a li'll cheaper stuff... but the good ones are really expensive coz not much ppl keep turtles, do u have any suggestions or is Taiyo food ok?........ also i tried feeling for eggs in front of her hind legs... she was very uncomfortable to let me touch n i didnt know how much pressure to apply and stuff... can i press li'll bit more to check or wud that hurt her?

@ Marisa - she has a bulge in front of her hind legs... otherwise she is fine but really huge for a 2.5 yr old i guess... maybe she is a bit overweight also coz she used to eat lots... But since she has stopped eating properly from past 2-3 weeks the bulge in fromt of her hind legs is getting smaller...

and surprisingly today she ate dried shrimps n a bit of boiled egg white... hopefully she is feeling a li'll better...
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Adam
 
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Post Posted: Thu Aug 26, 2010 5:49 pm   Re: Help !!!... My turtles lost appetite...

It would be good to lower the amount of protein in her diet. Shrimp and egg whites are both very high in protein. They should be given sparingly and infrequently.

I do not know anything about Taiyo food. What is it's composition? How much protein and how much fat is in it?
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marisa
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Post Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 6:08 am   Re: Help !!!... My turtles lost appetite...

Hi again :) ... Heater and Basking light has been added... (UV lights are not added as its difficult to get them here, but im trying to get her into sunlight whenever possible which is once in 3-4 days as its cloudy nowadays) ... but still she is not eating the pellets...
she asks for egg white and Shrimps only... today i got some aquatic plants and blood worms... she just chewed the plants and tore them but didnt eat, but she ate li'll blood worms... im not sure why she has quit her normal pellets and asking for high proteing food only... right now im feeding her every alternate day once... Shud i continue feeding her this as she is not eating anything else or shud i cut down or can someone suggest me something else?

Can someone let me know what happens if turtles eat high protein food too much? and why is my turtle eating only that and not her regular pellets?
Also sometimes she is kickin her hind legs backwards when she is in water... is this a behavious when they wanna lay eggs?

@Marisa - Taiyo turtle pellets is a Taiwan made turtle food... im not sure abt composition as im not at home now, will let know by trrow...
but here is a link on how it looks :P
http://www.petsnpets.com/index.php?main ... 2i920jji42
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Adam
 
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Post Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2010 12:28 pm   Re: Help !!!... My turtles lost appetite...

A constant diet of high protein food (like your turtle is on) will eventually cause shell problems (pyramiding). It will also tax internal organs and is likely to ultimately shorten your turtle's life.

Your turtle prefers those foods to pellets because that's what she's become used to---she's become fixated on them to the exclusion of other more balanced foods. And you keep giving them to her, so she'll keep eating them.

Given the choice, the majority of turtles will opt for high protein foods over, say, veggies. (In the wild, these foods are more nutrient dense and since wild turtles might not be eating every day, such foods help sustain them.) For captive turtles who don't have to worry about their next meal, however, this is not healthy, as was explained previously, and it's up to the keeper to provide balance in the diet.

I looked at the link on Taiyo, but it didn't say how much protein, etc. the food contains. If you look at the container, there should be something written on the side.

BTW, bloodworms aren't all that healthy are should be given more as a treat.

Hard to say about the hind legs. If the legs were banging against the tail, it could be because of constipation. Kicking her hind legs backwards means she's digging???
"You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed." -Antoine de Saint Exupery-
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Post Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 11:48 am   Re: Help !!!... My turtles lost appetite...

ok i understand... but i have usually given her the pellets regularly and only once in a while a treat of shrimps or worms oe egg white and such... its only after she stopped eating recently, to make here eat i started giving these treats and maybe she has gotten used to it,.. how do i break this habit?... is it ok to stop giving her food for few days until she starts eating pellets again? how long can we not feed turtle without harming her?

well occassionally she makes these back kicking, im not sure if its digging thing or kicking its tail... will observe her properly next time i see...

Also i will check the contents of the food n let u know...

one more thing... i think she ate a bit of aquatic plant... im not sure of the name but i got 2 kinds of plants and one of them was completely missing after a day or 2... ;) will try giving her some vegetables n see... any suggestions as to wat vegetables to start with?
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Adam
 
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Post Posted: Tue Sep 07, 2010 7:26 pm   Re: Help !!!... My turtles lost appetite...

Leafy greens---dandelions, red leaf lettuce or romaine. Also something with beta carotene in it---carrot peels, squash, etc. (also dandelion greens).
"You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed." -Antoine de Saint Exupery-
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Post Posted: Wed Sep 08, 2010 10:05 am   Re: Help !!!... My turtles lost appetite...

cool will try them

Also some good news... Jade ate a bit of pellets today... and ate a bit of aquatic plant (Banana plant - Nymphoides aquatica)... seems a li'll normal...

Also wanted to ask... to buy UV lamps... what shud i be lookin at... are these the same like T5, T8 and T12 which u get... is there any other specification i shud be asking... because some petshop guy said he will get it for me if i give him the specifications... so what shud i be asking them for and what wattage?


PS - Taiyo turtle pellets contents

Ingredients: white fish meal, shrimp meal, wheat flour, corn meal, yeast, enzyme, calcium, magnesuim, biotin, vitamin A C E & other trace elements, Spirulina also added

Proximate Analysis : crude protein - 35%, crude fibre - 3%, crude fat - 4%, moisture - 10%
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Adam
 
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Post Posted: Mon Oct 04, 2010 2:17 am   Re: Help !!!... My turtles lost appetite...

I am in India and I am looking for UV lamp too.. From what I have read, the UV bulb/tube should have-
UVB output between 5% to 10 %
UVA output 30%

UVB measured as between 280-315 nm
UVA measured as between 315-400 nm
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Post Posted: Wed May 04, 2016 8:28 pm   Re: Help !!!... My turtles lost appetite...

My turtle is also losing appetite :(
-anonymous <3 forever xox
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