Reptile & Amphibian Forums

help! ive had my turtles for a little less than a year now, and up until now, they have eaten alot. but lately, within the last few days, they havent eaten anything!! i supply them with crickets, bok choi, commercial food, and shrimp. i have two turtles, link (the bigger one) and sheik (the smaller). both of them have lost ALOT of weight, and im terrified. i have a UVA/UVB bulb as well, water is constant 87 degrees, filter is running, i dunt understand what im doing wrong! please, if anyone could help at all please reply ASAP!

You say they haven't been eating for the past few days and they've lost A LOT of weight? I don't think they could lose too much weight in just a few days. In fact, turtles can go a very long time without food and most keepers only feed them once every few days. If they have lost a lot of weight then something else must be going on and you probably need to get to a vet.

Also, 87 degrees is really, really warm. You should probably drop your water temp by at least 10 degrees. Mid 70's for the water and mid to high 80's for the basking temp are pretty standard.

hum..thank u for the response. another question: is it ok that i put food in the tank and they dunt eat it? they definitely see it...but they just swim away...

also, they're spending alot of time on the rock.

They may be spending their time on the rock because the water is way too warm. Mine is usually 72-74 degrees. They could also be sick, since excessive basking is a sign of respritory infection. The high water temp could be contributing to bacteria growth, or any number of other problems. I only feed my turtles protein once or twice a week, with veggies or greens daily, and they maintain a healthy weight.
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Their water temp should only be about 74-76 degrees with
a basking area of 85 degrees. Make this change IMMEDIATELY.
Losing weight is not a good sign. It could be they are
not eating due to the high temps over a long period of time.
You need to take them to the vet right away and try to
get a stool specimen to have it checked for parasites.

Please make the necessary changes ASAP

Linda

I agree with linda 100 per cent.
long term exposure ti this kind of high temps could cause serious problems.
Drop the heat 10 - 12 degrees immediately.