Feeding and Nutrition :: RES stopped eating pellet food 3+ days ago; theories?

Turtle diets and eating habits discussed here.

Post Posted: Sat Apr 01, 2017 2:27 pm   RES stopped eating pellet food 3+ days ago; theories?

Just as the title says, about three days ago my female Red Eared Slider stopped accepting pellets. Up until last week, I was feeding her OmegaOne sticks for a few weeks. Went back to ZooMed pellets for less than a week when she stopped accepting them.

Less than 24-hours before she stopped accepting the pellets, I used a mesh net to pick up solid waste such as lettuce, and anything that floats.
Is it possible that a turtle would show symptoms less than 24-hours after using a potentially unsanitary net? (a net that was not completely sanitized after being rinsed) Since then I did boil the net prior to using it again.

Current theories:

- Stress
- Gravid (didn't check yet because I didn't want to stress her out)
- Tired of her current food?
- Fed too much as it is?
- Lastly most worrisome, signs of sickness. (due to the potentially unsanitary net used less than a day before this started)

Prior to the unusual behavior, my female RES of nearly 8 years of age was being fed 8 to 10 pellets every day or a few OmegaOne pellets. She also was given Lettuce or Dandelion Greens to graze on during that time.

To entice eating, today I did dip her pellets in Canned Albacore Juice. She didn't take to the dipped ZooMed pellets but she did pick at the OmegaOne sticks after I dipped them. She ate a couple of them un-dipped last night but not all of them. She seemed a little more interested in the OmegaOne pellets once dipped in juice this afternoon.

One last thing to note; Paffie readily ate a couple of pieces of Albacore straight out of my hand under water, with no hesitation.


Next steps:

When I go to work today I'm probably gonna buy Flukers canned shrimp at the pet store. My turtles love that stuff so I suspect my Paffie buddy would eat that if nothing else. Not my first choice because of the high protein but I'm more comfortable with this than feeding her canned Albacore which is made for human consumption.

I'll also buy fresh red leaf lettuce or other leafy greens like collard greens.

I hope enough detail has been provided to receive input on the matter. I'm really worried and want to get the ball rolling on identifying the situation and addressing it.
djronnieg
 
Posts: 25
Joined: Jan 11, 2016
Gender: Male

Post Posted: Sat Apr 01, 2017 2:34 pm   Re: RES stopped eating pellet food 3+ days ago; theories?

I would think its that she is tired of her current food. I might just feed as usual and scoop up anything uneaten.
User avatar
steve
Site Admin
 
Posts: 31430
Joined: Apr 11, 2005
Location: New York, NY
Gender: Male

Post Posted: Sat Apr 01, 2017 4:22 pm   Re: RES stopped eating pellet food 3+ days ago; theories?

Thank you Steve for the prompt response and your input on the matter. I also did a 30% water change yesterday for good measure. Speaking of, I'll be sure to post some new pics soon. I haven't visited the forum since I got the stock tank in late December.
djronnieg
 
Posts: 25
Joined: Jan 11, 2016
Gender: Male

Post Posted: Sat Apr 01, 2017 11:27 pm   Re: RES stopped eating pellet food 3+ days ago; theories?

You're welcome... and pics are always welcome :)
User avatar
steve
Site Admin
 
Posts: 31430
Joined: Apr 11, 2005
Location: New York, NY
Gender: Male

Post Posted: Wed Apr 05, 2017 3:33 pm   Re: RES stopped eating pellet food 3+ days ago; theories?

To be more accurate, I've visited a number of times since the start of the year but have not posted. Anyway, I just posted a video with the stock tank: http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=38868
djronnieg
 
Posts: 25
Joined: Jan 11, 2016
Gender: Male

Post Posted: Wed Apr 12, 2017 4:01 pm   Re: RES stopped eating pellet food 3+ days ago; theories?

Like steve said, it's most likely that she got tired of the pellets.

It's like if we only ate poptarts everyday, even if we change the flavour, they're still poptarts.

In my experience, turtles tend to have "favourite" foods, which sounds silly, but variety is definitely key.


Sometimes, Yaji will only eat pellets or lettuce bits, and Yumi will only eat Shrimp, and then other days, Yumi will eat the pellets and Yaji gobbles up the shrimp fervently.
I just assume they know what they want/need at that given moment :lol:
User avatar
YajiYumi
 
Posts: 6
Joined: Apr 5, 2017
Gender: Male

Post Posted: Sun Apr 16, 2017 1:40 pm   Re: RES stopped eating pellet food 3+ days ago; theories?

Gave her shrimp for a week then switched back to pellets two or three days ago. I put them into the tank and she doesn't immediately eat them. When I leave and come back ten minutes later, the pellets are gone. By Wednesday I'll pick up some of her preferred leafy greens for good measure.

So it looks like my worst fears are not realized. I agree that Paffie probably got bored of the pellets and suspect she has been trying to get me to pony up the good food. I caved initially but like any parent, you gotta make 'em eat healthy things.
djronnieg
 
Posts: 25
Joined: Jan 11, 2016
Gender: Male

Post Posted: Mon Apr 17, 2017 12:42 am   Re: RES stopped eating pellet food 3+ days ago; theories?

They can be really sneaky sometimes :)
User avatar
steve
Site Admin
 
Posts: 31430
Joined: Apr 11, 2005
Location: New York, NY
Gender: Male


Return to Feeding and Nutrition

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 5 guests