Feeding and Nutrition :: my baby wont eat.....

[stix11_05_76]

My kids got a baby RES as a gift about a month ago. Its about an inch across the shell ( no yellow sac). We were given pellets and told to give 2 per day. I have been putting the pellets in the bowl but they just sit there. It doesn't seem as if its eating them. Today I put a little lettuce in the bowl but he didn't eat that either . Every few days i clean out the bowel and put clean water in it. I take the RES out once in a while and let it walk around in a bigger area but whenever its in the bowl it sits in the same spot for hours.

[steve]

It hasn't eaten in a month? It's probably incredibly weak at this point. It's try soaking it in a solution of water and Pedialyte (1:1). If you have pellets from the same person you got the turtle from, you might want to buy a reputable brand (like Baby Reptomin). Try some other things like tuna fish, boiled egg white or live earthworms and feeder fish.

[Joao]

I had my baby turtle in a bowl for about a week while I got all the proper equipment together.

He didn't eat the whole time he was in the bowl... Why? He wouldn't bask and the water got too cold without a heater. He also must have been super scared.

I'm assuming there is no heater in the bowl. Does he even have a basking area? Hopefully the little guy isn't starved beyond saving

[stix11_05_76]

I fixed up his habitat but i don't have a basking light yet. Somewhere else in the site i seen that you said not to put it by the window so is it ok to just but him in a warm spot where the light shines in for 10- 15 min once a day? Also, I gave it lettuce and eggs but i haven't been able to get the live feeders or dried millworms yet. I gave it tuna but it didnt eat it. It seems to be doing ok.

[cprcheetah]

He needs TONS more water, Turtles need 10 gallons of water per 1" of shell length. Zeke is 7 & 1/2" and in an 80 gallon tank. Also they only eat in the water not on land. What is his water temperature? Do you have a thermometer. Go to the main site and read up on the care, it will help a TON! When I first rescued Zeke I had no clue what I was doing, this site made it all a ton easier.

[rsour24]

you are putting the lettuce and stuff on the baskign area. they need water to eat because they do not produce saliva. try placing some in the water. and also make sure u get the proper basking lights bc uvb is extremely important

[stix11_05_76]

Im working on it. I get paid on the 5th. Thanks for the advice

[fishsafari]

I have had some babies for three weeks now, and I was scared to death I was going to kill them because they wouldn't eat. I had the pellets they were fed in their previous home, but they would not eat, even though I fed them the same way they always had been fed, by taking them out of the tank, putting them each in separate plastic containers with about 1.5 inches of water, and dropping in the pellets.

Yesterday, in desperation, I bought a new food, some floating sticks by Tetra, and just dropped them in the tank. I had read they wouldn't eat anything but sinking food.

Well, all three turtles ate the sticks, nearly immediately, as I watched.

Make sure you feed them in the water, that it is warm enough, and try variety. I tried pellets and greens before the sticks without any luck.

[stix11_05_76]

I did the Pedialyte thing last night and hes been swimming a day today. this weekend i will make his new home and buy the reptomini baby food .

[stix11_05_76]

Its eating tetraworms!

[marisa]

It's good that he's eating, but don't make those worms the main item in the diet. Mealworms are not nutritious and a diet of them will thow off the calcium balance in his system. (Unfortunately, turtles really like them because of their smell.) Feed them sparingly and only a few when you do.