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turtle not eating?

PostPosted: Sun Jan 04, 2015 10:12 pm
by Leo-nerd-o
I've had a RES for about 8 months now. He (or she) is about four inches long and lives in a 55 gallon aquarium with a filter, heater, basking platform, etc. The water temperature is about 78 degrees F, and the basking area is about 90. The basking platform is new (I just made it- it sits on top of the aquarium with a ramp in the water) and I haven’t seen him go up by himself yet. I had to go out of town for 4 days, and I left him two kinds of commercial pellets (for juveniles and adults) and mealworms and a piece of lettuce (even though he doesn’t eat lettuce). He normally doesn’t eat as much as I give him anyway, but when I got home, he hadn’t eaten much or at all. The pellets were moved (I took a picture before I left), so I think he’s been up there. He seems healthy and normal, but I don't know why he wouldn't have eaten for four days if the water temperature was warm and he didn't feel threatened (since he had the house to himself). Any thoughts? Should I be worried?

Re: turtle not eating?

PostPosted: Sun Jan 04, 2015 11:17 pm
by steve
Do you have any gravel? Have you tried any live fish before? Any other changes in behavior?

Re: turtle not eating?

PostPosted: Sun Jan 04, 2015 11:20 pm
by Leo-nerd-o
No gravel... I have rocks on the bottom because he used to eat pebbles but he likes digging. I have put fish in there, but he's never been interested. He seems fine, healthy. Could he be adjusting to the new tank? He's only been in there a week- he lived in a 10 gallon tank before. He wasn't eating much before though either.

Re: turtle not eating?

PostPosted: Sun Jan 04, 2015 11:25 pm
by steve
It could be because of the new tank, but it's not common. If you held the fish by the tail and let it wiggle in front of his face, will he eat it? Do you normally leave the food on the basking area?

Re: turtle not eating?

PostPosted: Mon Jan 05, 2015 6:01 pm
by Leo-nerd-o
If I ever put my hand in the tank he'll swim away as far as possible, so no, he doesn't eat in front of me. I do normally leave food on the basking area, although before that was just a small floating platform. I could catch him eating up there sometimes.

Re: turtle not eating?

PostPosted: Tue Jan 06, 2015 11:43 am
by steve
They almost always want to eat in water. So you don't put any pellets in water?

Re: turtle not eating?

PostPosted: Sat Jan 10, 2015 3:57 pm
by Leo-nerd-o
He's starting to eat again! I don't know why he suddenly decided to, but I'm happy and he's happy.

Re: turtle not eating?

PostPosted: Sun Jan 11, 2015 11:26 pm
by steve
Great to hear!