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okay so i got a baby male RES back in August and since then i've not ONCE seen him eat, but he must've eaten something since he's still alive and moving.
details on the situation:
i'm not sure what size his tank is, but it seems a fairly small yet standard one. he has a shell as well as a rounded rock to bask on. i used to have some toy thats a frog in there but lately it started smelling weird so i took it out for fear it bad for my RES.
see, problem is, he won't open his eyes. and when he does, it'll be for about ten to twenty minutes. i put in human eye drops and they seem to help.
the other problem, he won't eat! he didn't seem to enjoy the commercial pellets so i bought some dried shrimp last week hoping he'd eat it, but he's yet to try it. i've read that if their eyes are closed, they won't eat so i tried giving it to him when his eyes were open, but he just pushes past it and swims away.
and for two days now i've been holding him and putting the shrimp up to his nose so he can smell it. he opens his mouth, but closes it back up so i have to try and get it in his mouth quick. i got it in once, but he pushed it away and out of his mouth.
i also don't have a heating lamp so i'm guessing that may also be the problem but i try changing his water to warm water each time it gets cold.

so some questions:
-is there any way i can sort of force feed him?
-if i get a syringe (with no needle) or eye dropper, what can i put in it to squirt in his mouth as another form of force feeding?

thanks. any and all help is greatly appreciated!
-how many watts should the heating lamp be if i get one?

If his body isn't the proper temperature, he can't digest and probably feels too lethargic to eat anyways. Once you get a heat and a UVB lamp, you'll probably see an improvement in this situation. You don't need to buy the expensive heating lamps at the petstore; most hardware stores sell clamp lamps for 5-10 bucks. And I think 75-100 watts is typical. You can use a normal incandescent light bulb for that as well.

Also, filling up the tank with warm water probably isn't a good idea either. That water had to go through a heater, and it picked up more minerals and chemicals than cold water. Also, the temperature of the water will drop really fast which isn't good for the turtle. Water temperatures should be around 75 degrees (maybe higher because of the eating problem) but 75 degree water doesn't actually feel "warm" to the touch anyways.

Good luck, I hope you get the little guy eating again.

My turtle's been acting like that for almost a week now. First, I ran out of food, so I started giving him worms to eat. Then I got some food, but he wouldn't touch it. Next, I started feeding him worms again. Now, he's refusing to eat anything. Not even the worms. He's got this twitch going on with his neck. Watch your turtle and tell me if anything strange's going on.

Can you post a picture of what the setup looks like? As Kurtni mentions, temperature if very important. Have you also tried live prey? More info here: http://www.redearslider.com/entice_eating.html

thank you all. yes, i am trying to get a heating lamp but haven't had the chance to get one yet. and no, he doesn't twitch, its just everytime i put a pellet or dried shrimp up to him, he turns away from it. but he pooped just yesterday so that must mean he's eating something, i just don't know what. and his eyes are still closed. i will try to post a pic of the setup when i can.

Get some turtle eye drops if it is not opening its eyes.

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.j ... Id=2752624

it will eliminate infections.