Reptile & Amphibian Forums

The following message concerns a hatchling RES that were about quarter size this January:

my mom / i have been feeding the turtles twice a day, at 9am and 5pm, each time with two foodsticks of ReptoMin Baby (i.e. 4 foodsticks for each turtle per day) .... one of them is growing significantly faster than the other one. they are fed separately (in two 4L ice-cream containers)

The smaller one ate the two foodsticks Sat. morning but didn't eat any Sat. evening. He didn't feel like eating his share this Sunday morning either.
I then put in one foodstick of ReptoMin Baby and one foodstick of ReptoTreat Suprema (the krill enriched foodstick, also from Tetra fauna, neither of my turtles have tried this treat before) and left him in a smaller container (just barely large enough for him to turn around). He swallowed the one ReptoTreat Suprema right the way and when i returned a few minutes later, i noticed that he swallowed the one ReptoMin Baby also. i don't think i should / could give him the ReptoTreat Suprema twice a day (the packaging says "feed several times a week", so on Sun. evening, I gave him two foodsticks of ReptoMin Baby. He didn't eat any.

Except for the fact that this smaller turtle is extremely shy during the day-time (regardless of whoever walks by, and whatever he was doing [basking / swimming], he would drill down fast, head first, to the bottom of the tank and then hide behind some stones). What is funny though is that at night-time, when i have the light (just a reg. 25W white light) shining in the tank, he would not move even if i use a straw to tap on his shell when he is basking on top of a bridge, completely out of water. He is awake (eyes open) but just would not move. Whereas during the day-time, he would be long gone before I could even walk close to the tank.

i'm not sure if there's something wrong with this smaller turtle. He has been eating veggies on Sunday, as usual (but not eating as much as the bigger one) and he was basking on top of a bridge again this Sunday evening, with the bigger one basking on top of a rock. Everything looks normal (i consider his shyness normal also), but it's just that he only had two foodsticks in each of the past two days; whereas the bigger one had his normal share of four foodsticks in each of the past two days.

what do you think? perhaps i'm over-feeding them? by the way, there's always veggie in the tank for them -- fresh every day.

do you think there is something wrong with my little guy?

first off, you should try offering him something ALIVE to eat, like tubifex worms or baby fish. maybe he just needs to be stimulated more. a diet of purely commercial foods is not healthy. you must offer variety. veggies are good. you should be offering veggies most, since they get vitamins from them. the sticks and other foods should be rotated with live food. also, be careful with over feeding, and also be careful with offering too much protien or you will have a huge obese turtle. as far as him not moving at night, think about it this way, how much would you move if someone poked you at night? hes sleeping! another thing, if you want to keep a light on at night, make it a colored bulb, like red or blue. the bright white light simulates daytime. they need 12 hours of light and 12 hours of dark. just like we do. if they do not have a dark nightime, it will stress them out. this could explain him not wanting to eat. be sure you also have the correct temps and a reptisun 5.0 uvb FLOURESCENT tube within 10 inches of their dry basking spot. if you do not have this, your turtles will develop soft shell and die. it is necessary for calcium absorption. reptisun is considered the best choice for a uvb tube. the uvb or full spectrum BULBS do not prvide the necessary wavelengths. yes, they are cheaper, and yes, it says they do on the package, but they don`t. but anyways, if he still has a lack of appetite, you should take him to the vet. also, i have read that res`s are a bit shy, however, a turtle that hides all of the time or sleeps alot is most likely sick. especially if he is also not eating. true, he may have "always" been shy, but keep in mind he may have also "always" been sick!

meagan

I agree with a lot that Meagan has to say but have some other suggestions. Yes, please do feed small feeder fish as major part of the turtles diet. (you may have to kill the fish so the turtles can catch them) Healthy hatchlings should only be fed every other day. Daily feedings make for spoiled turtles that don't want to eat what you give them all the time. Young RESs are more carnivorious than the adults so will gradually start eating more green stuff as they get older. You can also feed cooked egg with the shell ground up in it. Shell needed for calcium. Now UVB lights? If you do insist on keeping your turtles indoors on a permanent basis (which I highly disagree with), you should get a Reptisun 5.0 light. (It's the lesser of the evils.) Please know that ANY UVB light is NOT an equal substitute for natural unfiltered sunlight that turtles would get by being outside. Make sure you have a water heater and the water is 82 degrees for hatchlings. (Use a thermometer) The basking spot should be warmer 85 or so. If the water is too cold they won't want to eat. RESs should not be basking at night. Night basking can be a sign of illness, possibly a resp. infection. Having a light on at night is not necessary and should be avoided. He should be sleeping in the warm water at night. If your baby continues to night bask and not eat well, get him to a good turtle vet quickly. Try the every other feeding day first and see if his appetite picks up. See this link for more diet info.
care and diet info.

"Now UVB lights? If you do insist on keeping your turtles indoors on a permanent basis (which I highly disagree with), you should get a Reptisun 5.0 light. (It's the lesser of the evils.) Please know that ANY UVB light is NOT an equal substitute for natural unfiltered sunlight that turtles would get by being outside."

good point anita. i was just coming from the angle that maybe this person was unaware of the necessity of uvb wavelengths. sunlight is of course the best source and there is defintely no substitute. but, for a turtle who is kept indoors in a tank, uvb lighting is necessary. i was assuming that was how this turtle was kept. and even those turtles who are regularly given natural sunlight exposure, uvb lighting is a good "back up" plan. some people live in climates where keeping a turtle outside all year is not appropriate.

meagan

Thanks Meagan. So many people don't realize that the UVB lights aren't equal to sun, I usually like to mention that and encourage people to keep turtles outside at least during warm weather. Most areas in the US are at least OK for summers outside.

Hi, just wanted to send a note of thanks to Meagan and Anita for the replies (and thanks to kiwiturtle for posting my message).

There are a few things that I picked up from the replies that I should do differently. I think I am definitely over-feeding my turtles. The shell lengths for my two RESs are only 1.5" and 2" (the 1.5" one is the one not eating Sat. night and Sunday night). I believe they are both less than 6 months old. I think I should start feeding them every other day from now on. So instead of having four foodsticks of ReptoMin Baby every day, I guess each should have only four foodsticks of ReptoMin Baby every other day?

By the way, the small one swallowed one foodstick of ReptoMin Baby this morning and did not feel like eating any this evening. He has been quite energetic today, often "fighting" for veggies with the bigger one.

I had been looking for a UVB bulb for some time, but it seems none of the pet shops carry them locally. Now that I know the tube works better, I should get one set up soon (they do carry the Reptisun 5.0 here). I don't think I can / should take the RESs outside since I live up here in Canada. It does not get up above 70F often. I did try putting them in an ice cream container and sat them near the window. However, they don't seem to like being "jailed" (their heads sneak inside the shell and did not feel like moving). Perhaps I could try another container?

The water temp. has been constantly kept at around 78F. Guess I should up it a bit to 82F. They have been basking both during the day and at night time. When all the lights are off, they do sleep under water. So I guess they are normal in that sense.

I will try the every other day feeding right the way and hope that the appetite for the small one picks up soon.

Thanks again for all the insights.

Too bad it stays so cold in Canada. If you ever get any days where it reaches 80 degrees, it would be great to get them outside those days. Just monitor temps outside so you don't roast anything in the sun! Small water containers can heat up fast in the sun. Also, RES can become quite large so be prepared in the future to purchase a very large aquarium. I do turtle rehab and have seen some wild RES females 12 inches long and weighing over 5 pounds! Again, feeder fish should be a major part of their diet. Turtle Pellets and sticks should be fed only a small percentage of diet. I've set up a separate tank just for feeder fish. I chose red wagtail platies (live bearers) cause a trio was cheap and they don't seem prone to eating their babies if well fed. That way you always have any sized feeder fish you want. One more thing, I feed baby RES pretty much all they want at one setting, one time a day everyother day. If they eat one little feeder fish or 3, I let them eat as long as its at one setting. If your feeding sticks that day, let them eat all they want within a few minutes.

hey, if you want a great deal on the reptisun bulbs, click on that link in this window for LLL reptile. 13.99 each! you won`t find any cheaper in the pet stores thats for sure!

also, just wanted to add a couple of things about uvb wavelengths. first off, you have great intentions trying to sun them near a window, however, unfortunately the glass filters out the needed wavelengths. well, there are still some there, but VERY minimal, like less than 5%. so, if you would like to sun them near a window, you have to open the window. keep in mind too that a screen also filters out uvb, but to a much lesser degree. ideally, they should be exposed to direct unfiltered sunlight. of course, if you do give them this sort of exposure you must provide areas that are cooler or shaded so they can regulate thier temps. its too bad its so cold up there in canada... i have the same trouble with my iguana in the winters here. i am not sure if a baby turtle can handle a temp as low as 70 for any substantial length of time, but even 15 minutes a day is beneficial and will help with appetite and behavior. and ya, definitely give feeder fish and live prey a chance. they have so much fun chasing the food down. i think its good for them mentally, as well as physically.

meagan