Feeding and Nutrition :: Not eating?

[tennisnut]

At least, I don't think so. I've been offering Reptomin pellets and a bunch of water plants (I leave some Water Hyacinth, anacharis, and Parrot's feather) but Rocky (my Mississippi Map) doesn't seem to be eating them. I'm just worried he'll starve to death. I've tried the tuna juice trick, no luck.

Other than not eating, he seems to be fine. He basks like crazy since I got him his new dock, but I don't have UV light quite yet. Water temp is about 72 degrees. Overall, he seems to be much happier than in his previous temporary set up. I do notice that he's up on his dock quite often...in fact, he seems to only go in the water when I reach my hand in there to adjust things. He's also stretched his legs waay out while basking before.

Could it be an illness? It's been about a month (I got him Oct 13) and I haven't seen any sign of eating. I know that somtimes turtles in a new home won't eat for a couple of weeks, but this surely is excessive?

[marisa]

I've forgotten if you've said previously how big he is, but you might try bumping the water temp up a bit to see of the added warmth helps his appetite.

[mikee]

tennisnut -- You will need to get you water temp up to 78 degrees and the UVA and UVB lighting up and going. They need to have the basking temp about 90 degrees. All of these things are necessary for him to metabolize the food. The Reptomin pellets are a good bet, if they will eat them. While getting your tank in order I would suggest that you get some feeder fish that will fit into his mouth and freeze them individually and offer that. Turtles can go quit a while without eating and it may be nibbling things while you are not watching. When you get him back on track I would add some calcium to his diet as Retomin is a little short in that area.