Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi everybody,

My turtle is not eating and I am stumped as to the reason. He is almost 3 years old and I have had him since he was a hatchling. He was thriving in the past few months and eating a ton. He literally doubled in size in just three months. But about three weeks ago he started turning his nose up at his normal food (primarily Reptomin). I thought he was sick from some "human" food that we had given him as a treat (fish, meat, etc.) so I took him to the vet. According to my vet, he has no parasites and no sign of respiratory infection. But it is going on 3 weeks now and he is just picking at his food and is sleeping a bit during the day, which he does not normally do. I considered the possibility that he was "spoiled" by the treats, but he is sort of avoiding those now, too, and the fact that he looks sleepy has me worried. He will sort of look like he is eating, but he actually ends up spitting out the food. Is it possible that his "growth spurt" is over and he is simply not hungry? Or is it possible that this is mating season and he is lonely or depressed? He has been doing his mating dance lately all by himself (there are no other turtles in the tank) so I thought that might be related to the problem. I am tempted to take him back to the vet and just insist on a course of antibiotics, but that seems like unnecessary torture if we can't even identify his problem. His tank is set up as it always has been...no recent changes. Any thoughts? Thanks so much in advance.

I wouldn't give him antibiotics unless it was determined he really needed them. My turtle flutters at the bigger rocks in his tank as well. The how big are the stones in your tank? Just a thought, but could he have ingested one of them (or a piece of something else) and become inpacted? How long has it been since he pooped?

I would closely examine what you feed and how often. You describe your turtle doubling in size in a matter of a few months. Healthy growth rate for turtles is only 1 inch per year. Growing too fast is directly caused by over eating. That can lead to metabolic and bone/shell issues. Also, if you feel any "human foods" that are not meant for turtles, that can cause digestive issues. So, really look into how much, how often, and what you feed.

Turtles should grow very slowly and at 3 years of age should
only be getting protein a few times a week. Switch to dark
leafy greens and vegetables. Romaine and turnip greens are
a favorite of my 4 turtles. If you continue to gorge your
turtle it will have health problems later. I wouldn't be too
worried about it not eating as much. The switch to greens may
help somewhat.

Good luck

How good is the vet? If he knows how to pull blood from a turtle, and you can afford it, a blood panel is a great diagnostic tool. An x-ray isn't a bad idea, either, just to rule out a blockage. Did the vet look inside of the mouth to rule out an infection or mass in the mouth cavity?

Have you upgraded your filtration system since the turtle has grown? In other words, how's the water quality these days?

Katrina