Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have had my res since March. My turt is currently kept in a 20 long, has a heater set to 72 degrees, a basking spot with uv light, and an emperor 400 filter. About three weeks ago, my turtle decided to stop eating vegetables. I fed it 5 different vegetables and it normally eats them once the vegetables hit the water and all or most of it is gone by the end of the day. Also the turtle's diet is supplemented with pellets. Since it stopped eating vegies, I thought I was feeding it too much protein so I held back until I started feeding it a pellet once every four days. Now it has stopped eating pellets and vegetables all together. I'm a little distressed by this. Any help is appreciated. To note, it has been one entire week since my turtle has eaten any food. And yet when I picked up my turtle yesterday to examine his shell, when he retreated into his shell, there seemed to be a lot of excess fat. Was he trying to store fat and hibernate for winter??

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

First, make sure your lights are on at least 14 hours a day.

Second, consider going to a vet and getting blood work done. Excess "fat" can sometimes be edema, and a sign of underlying problems, such as infection or kidney problems. You probably won't be able to get a fecal now, but still ask your vet about deworming with Panacur and maybe a dose of Flagyl.

Katrina

Also, it could be he is bored of the same food. My turtles
tend to go through this at least once a year.

Try some frozen, thawed shrimp, soaked dry catfood and some
lean turkey. There are many things out there you can vary
his diet with. The key is variety.

Let's face it, if we had to eat the same thing all the
time we would get bored too.
Linda