I have 3 sliders, one is about a year and a half and the other two are under a year old. They NEVER have had a problem eating, they would eat all day if I let them. Recently, my petstore stopped selling the filter cartridges I need for my filter, so it has been a while since I replaced it. I got up to feed the turtles this morning and they did not touch the food. I totally cleaned the whole tank today and bought a brand new filter. But while I was cleaning the tank, I had the turtles in the sink. When I came to check on them, I saw small pieces of rocks in the sink. I'm assuming they ate rocks from the bottom, but the rocks I have in the tank are almost quarter size. These pieces look like small pieces that must have chipped off. I left them alone after I cleaned the tank and they seem to be back to normal, but they still wont even look at the food. The old turtle halfway snapped at the food and took a small bite, but then just swam away. What do I do??
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Help! My turtles won't eat!
Replies (2)
I wouldn't be too worried at this point. My Painted turtles
do this a couple of times a year, usually in the winter time.
It has nothing to do with your filter. I would switch to
something like river rock. It is large and I don't believe
chips easily. I myself prefer a bare bottom tank as it is
easier to clean and more healthy in the long run for my
turtles. I do have to say though that my 4 year old RES (2)
have NEVER skipped a meal but still I would wait a week or
so and try some different types of food.
I don't keep my turtles in an aquarium. They have a huge
cattle trough. They have one for outdoors in the summer
and one for indoors in the winter. I know that if your
aquarium is bare, it won't look as nice but it sure helps
on ease of clean up.
Hope this helps
Linda
When my turtle got a little older, she started to eat the rocks at the bottom of the tank. I didn't realize she was doing this until she kept scratching her neck until it was bleeding. I had to take her to the vet, and they said that when they eat the small rocks at the bottom of the tank, they can get lodged in their throats or somewhere along the way to the exit and it is very unhealthy...I ended up going to Menards and buying a bag of river rocks. They weren't that expensive, and she hasn't had a problem since!!
~Kelly~
