Urgent Care :: Turtle not eating

[Daphne26]

Hello and Merry Christmas!
Almost a month ago my best friend bought a little res turtle. At the pet shop they told her it was 5 months old. It was very shy and still is but after the first two days at its new home it started eating...But a week and a half ago it stopped eating! The thing is beacause my friend is traveling to another country for the holidays I'm taking care of the little one and I'm worried about its health.I know a turtle can go on a long time without eating but I also know that young turtles should eat everyday! The enclosure I have her now is much smaller than its permanent home but she stopped eating before I transfered it to my hometown,to the new enclosure! So it wasn't the change of environment that caused this.The food we used to give it was dried shrimp.Yesteday I bought a different kind of food.They are little greenish sticks but it rejected that to...It doesn't even seem to notice the food I throw at it!Oh! And something else! The only thing that changed about its behavior after it stopped eating was that it stayed a lot at the furthest corner of the aquarium. I would place it somewhere different and it would return to the same corner everytime!!
Please help me! I've bonded with the little thing and I don't want something bad to happen to it!

Thank you!

[steve]

What are the water temperatures and what are you feeding him?

[Daphne26]

The water tempertures are normal (23-25 celcius) As I said above at first I would feed him dried shrimp and today I offered him a different sort of food,little greenish sticks. It's called reptomin by tetra.Unfortunately I can't give you any more information on this specific food because all the information about it is in foreign languages I don't understand... :/

[HelperTurtle123]

Do you think he is still getting used to his new home?

[unclejoe]

when you say the furthest corner is it at the top of the tank or at the bottom? Reason I ask is, when I got new UVB lamp for Philbert he would hide under his rock I have in there for his basking platform. I discovered I had the lamp to close. Once I moved it the right distance away he came out starting swimming around again and started Basking. Phil is not a shy turtle though. Maybe you have her in a high traffic area and its stressing her out if she is shy.

[Daphne26]

He could still be getting used to the new environment...but why would he stop eating and not deny to eat at the first place?
He would go at the bottom of the tank, but the thing is, above that corner of the tank there is a platform he can get out and bask! No light comes through that platform that could bother him! As for where his tank is placed...at first he was put in the bedroom so he could be aclimated to his new home without anyone scaring him, but then my friend moved him to the living room so he would get used to people presence but not somewhere many people could crowd!Besides he didn't stop eating after that...it was days after..

[unclejoe]

Sounds like he has been moved around a lot in the first few months of his life. If he is shy he may just be over stressed from all the changes. His tank water sounds warm enough and if you are providing UVB/UVA and Heat lamp over his basking area his living conditions sound alright. Maybe try an earthworm or some canned salmon to get him interested in eating again.

[steve]

I would bump up the temperatures a bit. Are you using a heater? I agree that moving him around too much is not helpful.

[ljapa]

I bet you are right. It's the food change.

Shrimp is a stinky, smelly delicacy. Imagine your favorite food. Those repotmin pellets are more like flavored crackers.

The little guy wants the good stuff. The pellets are probably better.

First, how long is the shell from front to back? Turtles growth rates are different, so five months isn't as useful as size. Turtles can go days without food and be fine. Fully grown turtles can go even longer.

I wouldn't worry yet. Keep feeding the pellets. Remove the uneaten ones after 10 minutes or so. One thing some people have tried is to soak the pellets in water from a can of tuna to help make them stinky and smelly and yummy. You might try that to get the turtle to taste them.