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I just got a baby red-eared slider for my birthday from my roommate and it won't eat. I went to a pet store today to get what he needed and they were extremely rude and told me that baby turtles usually dont live because they wont eat and to just give up. I dont want to give up. I bought him wax worms because they are fatty. Ive read other posts and i learned that it might take a while for a baby turtle to eat but i just want to be reassured that there's hope. I dont have the money for a heater right now because i just bought the tank, the lights, the gravel, the filter, the pellets, and the worms. So how can I keep his water warm enough for him to want to eat???


Please tell me he's not gonna die.

If the water is too cold turtles won't eat. You're going to need to buy a water heater to give the turtle a fair shot at adapting and starting to eat. Do you know what the current water temp in your tank is?

Heaters are relatively inexpensive, and you need to get one. You could even save some money by returning the gravel that you bought. The gravel is a health risk and shouldn't be in the tank anyway.

It does take them some time to adjust. You can intice them with their pellets soaked in some tuna juice, or maybe even try an earthworm if you aren't opposed.

Submersible heaters are *less than* $20 for a baby turtle. They look like a glass tube & last a long time (3 yrs) so you won't have to replace it any time soon.

They won't eat if the water is too cold. And return the gravel. It's not safe for them to be in a gravel-filled tank because they can eat it. Plus, the gravel traps dirt/feces causing the water to be cloudy all the time.

And don't think you can just put the turtle tank near a heat vent in your house. This doesn't work because the heat vent goes on, then off, then on, then off, causing the temp in the water to go up and down and up and down. I lost two of my turtles this way when I first started turtle-keeping (from turtle pneumonia) and I still really miss both of them.