Feeding and Nutrition :: 4 month old turtle not eating ( Mississipi Mud Turtle )

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Post Posted: Sun May 15, 2016 7:16 pm   4 month old turtle not eating ( Mississipi Mud Turtle )

Hey all,

So a couple weeks ago a got an active, healthy Mississipi mud turtle from the pet store.
2 weeks after i got him I decided to get some wardley turtle delite shrimp, I wanted to see if he would eat
Something other than pellets ( not that I would stop giving him pellets. ) I gave him one which he ate in like 5 seconds,
He was pretty happy and more active than he was when we got him, so that was great, but after 5 days I decided to take him out into the house, well, not really, I got some paper towels, placed them on the floor then placed him on the paper towels, he was pretty calm, he walked normally, explored around and surprisingly respected the paper towel thingy, so when he reached the end of the paper towels, he went back the way he came, which was pretty funny :D. when I put him back in his tank, he was still active until the next day, where he was just sitting there in his favourite spot, when he came out I gave him a pellet but he just ignored it, I swear he stared at it for a while but turned away. The day after that he was active again, but still not eating his food so I suspected he was just pretty picky. But today he is sitting on his favourite spot, only moving his head around, I try to feed him, he doesn't eat. He was like that before we got the fish ( I got the fish a week after the turtle ) and when I put the fish in the tank he was excited, chasing them around, he even ate the two pellets I gave him. Fast. Really fast.

So what do you guys think? RI ( he has no puffy eyes, no bubbles coming out of his nose or mouth so I don't think he has it ) or pickiness? More getting use too because I let him out?

I have a forty gallon tank because my turtle only grows up to 15cm, a UVB and UVA light, a basking platform, 2 artificial plants ( one is his favourite spot ) 3 rocks as underwater platforms which the fish like, a heater, water temp and a pretty good filter so I think that's a pretty good setup right now.

I'm thinking to feed him a live cricket, maybe it will snap him out of whatever he is doing just like I did with fish?

Ty
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Post Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 10:06 am   Re: 4 month old turtle not eating ( Mississipi Mud Turtle )

Is he lethargic? Being moody with food happens, but I'd be careful with other symptoms.
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Post Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 5:27 pm   Re: 4 month old turtle not eating ( Mississipi Mud Turtle )

steve wrote:Is he lethargic? Being moody with food happens, but I'd be careful with other symptoms.


Thanks for the reply,

He moves around from time to time but he does stop for a long period of time and only moves his head

The water temp is pretty warm around 25° and I tried feeding him a cricket that drown right away but he stared at it and now turned his back on it, I would put him in a feeder tank but he tries to escape more than trying to eat... I have like 20 more live crickets as well so...
Last edited by Rizvan on Mon May 16, 2016 9:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 9:07 pm   Re: 4 month old turtle not eating ( Mississipi Mud Turtle )

I would leave him in his regular tank for now. How big is he now?
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Post Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 9:15 pm   Re: 4 month old turtle not eating ( Mississipi Mud Turtle )

steve wrote:I would leave him in his regular tank for now. How big is he now?



Hey Steve, I've been staring at this screen all night for your reply.

I'm not sure how big he is ( haven't had time to measure ) but I can show you a picture and a rough estimate- one second!
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Post Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 9:23 pm   Re: 4 month old turtle not eating ( Mississipi Mud Turtle )

I'm back, I'm guessing he is about 3cm shell width? I can't really measure because he is sleeping in his hidy spot and if I take a picture you would just see the plant so yeah, he has been a bit more active but still just ignores food. Picky might not be it...
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Post Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 9:27 pm   Re: 4 month old turtle not eating ( Mississipi Mud Turtle )

Wow, he's tiny. Have you tried live prey again? You can subscribe to threads, so you don't need to sit and wait :)
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Post Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 9:34 pm   Re: 4 month old turtle not eating ( Mississipi Mud Turtle )

nah, I gave him that cricket that died right when he touched the water which he just stared at, he has been chasing the fish so I might buy another one? He won't catch the fish for sure, so maybe meal or bloodworms? Lol and I have 24 more crickets so if anyone wants them for free give me a call... Jk, maybe he would like them in the future, still, give me a call in case.... Thanks for reminding me about the subscribing.

So how shall I feed him the meal/blood worms? Drop them in the tank? In the basking area? Speaking of basking, he basked about 2 hours ago which I think mud turtles don't do very often?

Thanks for sticking with me ;)
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Post Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 9:45 pm   Re: 4 month old turtle not eating ( Mississipi Mud Turtle )

Hold the fish by the tail and move it towards him... he'll do the rest.I'd probably hold off the crickets/worms until this is sorted out. I don't know much about Mississipi mud turtles but I think they do like land.

Care sheet: http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/cs-mismud.htm
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Post Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 9:53 pm   Re: 4 month old turtle not eating ( Mississipi Mud Turtle )

steve wrote:Hold the fish by the tail and move it towards him... he'll do the rest.I'd probably hold off the crickets/worms until this is sorted out. I don't know much about Mississipi mud turtles but I think they do like land.

Care sheet: http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/cs-mismud.htm


Hold the tail of the fish? I would probably cry doing that and letting the turtle eat the fish like that but eh, it's the life cycle, but the question is what fish? I put guppies in the tank for an experiment, and it's pretty hard to catch a guppy. Thanks for the care sheet btw and I think my turtle is more active then he normally is at 11pm-12pm then 6-8pm so I'll look on at that later ( maybe he eats at 11? ) maybe he basks more at that time too? I've heard from other Mississipi mud turtle owners that they don't bask as much as their other turtles..
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Post Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 9:56 pm   Re: 4 month old turtle not eating ( Mississipi Mud Turtle )

Oh, my bad, care sheet says they are frequent baskers...
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Post Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 10:01 pm   Re: 4 month old turtle not eating ( Mississipi Mud Turtle )

Look for the fattest guppy. Yeah, it's a tough way to feed the turtle but sometimes it needs to be done. I'd try when you normally feed him... in the morning?
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Post Posted: Tue May 17, 2016 7:20 am   Re: 4 month old turtle not eating ( Mississipi Mud Turtle )

steve wrote:Look for the fattest guppy. Yeah, it's a tough way to feed the turtle but sometimes it needs to be done. I'd try when you normally feed him... in the morning?


My family is too attached to the guppies in the tank so I'll buy a fish, and ask for the fattest one? I think he might have ate the half the cricket? The rest of the crickets body is stuck to the filter, I may try feeding him pellets sometime at 1-2AM as well...
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Post Posted: Tue May 17, 2016 7:22 am   Re: 4 month old turtle not eating ( Mississipi Mud Turtle )

I'll let you know how it goes, anymore suggestions? I'm really grateful for all the help, Steve :)
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Post Posted: Tue May 17, 2016 11:40 am   Re: 4 month old turtle not eating ( Mississipi Mud Turtle )

Rosey Red Minnows are bigger and about the same price as a guppy. Don't assume that missing food is eaten... it's possible it was just chewed and the filter picked up the other part.
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