Why won't my new baby turtle eat after being cold and droopy?

Offer a varied diet including pelleted food, fresh greens and prey such as tiny crickets or earthworms. You can get prey from the pet store, do not feed wild caught insects. It may take a day or two for him to acclimate to his new environment. Keep offering fresh food daily. Be sure environmental parameters are appropriate for the species of turtle you have. This includes adequate heat, UVB lighting and water quality. If you know the species, post it in a new question or request a consultation for more detailed care information.

Make sure temps are high enough for him. Low temps can affect appetite and digestion in reptiles. Withhold mealworms for a day then offer bits of pellets. You can grind up mealworms and coat the pellets before feeding. Offer other prey as well. Make sure they aren't too big and gut load them for 24 hours prior to offering to maximize nutritional value.

Check the temperature in the tank. Low temps can affect activity and appetite in reptiles. Water depth should be no deeper than twice the length of the shell. You can offer bits of raw beef heart to stimulate the appetite. Continue to offer chopped greens, pellets and nightcrawlers. You can soak him in a warm 50/50 solution of water and unflavored PediaLyte to maintain hydration. Review painted turtle care at the link below. http://www.reptilesmagazine.com/Care-Sheets/Turtles-Tortoises/Painted-Turtle/

Hi, I’m sorry to hear about Tooter! He sounds very tiny, and that’s a bit concerning as there is a minimum size for legal sale of turtles in the US (greater than 4 inches). Regardless, there are a lot of possible reasons Tooter may not be eating. It’s impossible to say without knowing the details of your tank set up and doing an exam on Tooter. But the most common problems we see in aquatic turtles (I am assuming Tooter is an aquatic species) are lack of UVB light causing metabolic bone disease, poor water quality, inappropriate temperatures causing immune suppression and infections, vitamin A deficiency causing eye and nose discharge among other signs, and other problems. Since this is a long list, and some of these issues are easier to treat than others, I would highly recommend you bring Tooter to see a veterinarian for an examination and husbandry evaluation. In the meantime, check out anapsid.org and read the Chelonian section (red rated slider subsection) to make sure your husbandry is adequate. Sometimes, reptiles simply don’t eat because of a temperature issue, so it is best to rule that out first! If you would like to discuss turtle husbandry or Tooter’s care in more detail, feel free to request a consult. Good luck!

Walt likely got too cold when the power went out. I'm not convinced that 10 minutes basking outside would have made him that dehydrated. He may be on his way to getting a respiratory infection. What food(s) has he tried feeding him (turtle sticks, live meal worms, sun-dried worms, shrimp?)? The other option is that when he got cold it stimulated his body to go into hibernation mode. In the wild, sliders do hibernate, but it has to be quite cold and other conditions have to met for captive turtles to successfully hibernate. When they're a bit too chilly, but not cold enough to hibernate, they become inactive and quit eating. This leads to illness, and often death. Your boyfriend needs to make sure that his husbandry is 100% spot on - water temperature, humidity, basking area, etc. If he has a UVB light it needs to be changed every 6 months even if the light is still working. It will stop producing UVB rays and then he is not getting what he needs. So I suggest changing that bulb if that has not been done in the last 6 months. Reptisun 10 is my preference. Here is a great care sheet: http://www.reptilecentre.com/info-yellow-bellied-slider-care-sheet If his husbandry is 100% correct and he tries various other things to feed him and he still isn't eating in a few days he will need to see a vet. Hope this helps. Best wishes.

Clean the tank and perform a partial water change. Rinse the filter media in some tank water, not tap water, to preserve beneficial bacteria. Make sure the water is warm, between 75F and 86 F, and the basking area is at proper temp ( 85 F to 90 F). Low temps can affect activity in reptiles. She may need a few days to reacclimate to you, even though you weren't gone long. Monitor for lethargy, loss of appetite, swimming crooked, difficulty breathing or discharge from the eyes or nose. If necessary, have her examined by your veterinarian or an experienced herp vet to diagnose and treat injury or infection.

Hello, Reptiles are cold blooded, and require controlled temperatures at all time in captivity. Noor likely became malnourished, dehydrated, and very cold in her time outside of her enclosure. This can lead to many different problems. It is difficult to force turtles to eat, and many require feeding tubes to get nutrition when they are ill. I would recommend taking Noor to a veterinarian. I hope this is helpful.