Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Alright, my three toed box turtle petry stopped eating. It has been a couple of weeks i think since she ate last. I have been trying to get her to eat by giving him his favorite fruits, veggies, pellets, canned mealworms, and live earthworms. When i feed him he comes out to check it out,sniffs it then goes back to where ever he was before(usually in his hide box). He is still very active, walking around his tank daily,soaking and basking but doesn't eat.

He is being keep indoor for the winter and i have him in a 48"x18" tank. I live in alberta and it is very cold here and i had trouble keeping his tank warm enough. I used to have only one basking lamp and sprayed it down a couple of times a day to try and keep the humidity up. Well even with that the temp was only 70-75* and the humidity was at about 50%.

A few days ago i made him a new hood that covered the tank completely.I kept the basking light but also added a ceramic heater light to teh other side of the tank. I also added a mister to help with humidity. Since fixing his new hood i have been able to keep a daytime temp of 85* and a night time temp of 75*.the humidity is also at 70-80% now.

I was just wondering how to get him to eat. Now that his enclosure is better will it take soem tiem to start eating? COuld he be sick? he doesn't have an symptoms(no runny nose,eyes are fine).SHould i take him to the vet? LAst time i went he didn't seem to know much about turtles and he was supposed to be the reptile vet in the city. If i should take him what should i ask for or tell the doctor?

I forgot to add that after asking a question on here about petry's shell i got some Hibitane cream(Chlorhexidine ointment to treat bacterial and fungal infections) for his shell. In the past week i have put the cream on about 3 times. I have also been washing the old cream off and letting him soak in the bath tub for about 30mins before adding more.

Since the cream is on his shell can it hurt him is he soaks in his water dish? If the cream comes off in teh water can it hurt him if he drinks it? That is why i have been washing the old cream off and letting him soak.

Washing or wiping off the 'old' cream isn't a bad thing, and you have good instincts about that, but if I'm not mistaken Chlorhexidine won't hurt it if ingested, so I wouldn't worry too much about removing all of it.
You made no mention of doing this: do you use water straight from the tap? Often tap water contains a good amount of chlorine, which can be an irritant: an easy way 'round this is to fill a pitcher or jug (I wash out milk jugs), and let the water sit in the open container for a day before using it for my turtles. The chlorine evaporates off that way.
Of course if you have well water, you probably don't have this problem.
Stephanie

WE have chloramines in our tap water so i treat the water with Prime. Its a tap water conditioner that removes chlorine and chloramines. I already have it since i use it on my fish tanks.

Don't panic. Its good that you're being observant.
Sometimes turtles do just skip a few meals, so it may not be anything to get too worried about, but you should definitely continue to offer food, and keep an eye on it, and keep soaking it regularly.
If it is a male, it may be starting to think about mating now that you've boosted the temperature, and as a result has lost interest in food temporarily.
Or it may not have a part of the tank in which to cool off: you may need to fiddle with your light & heat sources so that you have a corner where its 70-75 and a corner thats 85, and areas with temps in between, so do a thorough test for temperature gradient.
Or it may be in need of something different to eat: they do seem to get tired of eating the same-old same-old...
Definitely keep on the look out for signs of distress, though.
Stephanie

Thanks,

When do yo uthink i shoul dbecome worried then? How long can he go without food?He had stopped eating before i fixed the temp, that is why i xhanged it as i thought he might be too cold to eat.

Last week i thought he was a girl(as taht is what the vet told me last year). But when i posted pics you guys mentioned that he looked male. Well i confirmed this as i saw him fanning his "little turtle" in the water dish. Not sure what that means but i have never seen him do it before.SO yo umight not be too far off with your idea of not eating since he wants to mate. This morning he spent 2 hourse walking back and forth along the glass, something he has never done beofre.

Weigh him if you can, and weigh him regularly to see whether he's losing weight or not. I'm sorry I can't really tell you specifically when to start worrying. If he starts losing more than just a little weight (say, more than 5% of his original, I might start getting concerned.
Try offering a piece of fresh strawberry, or blueberry. If you can't find fresh, try frozen (offer it after you've thawed it of course).
If he can see out of the tank you may want to try taping paper to the outside of it so he can't see out: that help him stop pacing.
I may well be wrong, but it does sound like he's decided he's ready for action.
Hopefully others will have some input on this: it can be very subjective, and since I avoid overwintering mine inside, I don't know all the variables.
Stephanie

Ok thanks for helping

I have been offering him frozen berries which are usually his favorite.

He stopped pacing now and is back in his hide box. I put in some soaked box turtle pellets(he really likes them and usally eats them) and he came out to check them but i dont' think he ate any. I will try again tonight with some worms.

Steph gave you good advide. I'd like to add it may take a few days to a week for his core body temp to raise to a warm enough level for him to begin eating again. And there are several other factors that could contribute to him not eating, internal worms for one. Can you take in a fresh sample to the vet for a sceening? Or perhaps you can look at the feces with a magnifying glass and check yourself. If you seen any white worms or white flakes you'll want to take a stool sample to the vet.

Try different foods. Instead of canned mealworms, try canned or live crickets. Try soaked dog kibble or puppy milkbone instead of turtle sticks. Let us know if he doesn't begin eating soon.
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Tess
Kingsnake.com Forum Host

He still hasn't eaten. I'm going try soaked dog kibble(usually one of his favorites) and some cooked chicken. I have also been putting out frozen berries for him daily.

I would take a fecal sample to the vet but he hsan't gone ot the bathroom in a while(i think its been a over a week). I was checking it to see if anythign looked different but it looked normal, no worms or weird colors.

So if i do have to go to the vet later on, how do i get a sample if he isn't going to the bathroom.

OK, well i gave petry some boiled chicken tonight and he finally ate a bit. He ate 2 pieces that were about 1cm square. not much but its a start. I"m so relieved

Thank you very much for helping, I"ll keep you posted

ps: I also weighed him and he was 248g how much should he weigh?