Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I live near chicago and I got a red eared slider in the beginning of summer. Sadly I did not know how to take care of him properly and he sat in cold water with no light and ate as many non-nutritious pellets I gave him. He did not seem unhealthy at all ever until 2 weeks ago. He wouldn't eat and all he did was sleep. He had puffy and pink eyes. So my friend told me how to properly take care of him and I got a bigger tank and he has lots of water to swim in and a water heater and a basking spot and lamp. I gave him eye drops and got him healthier food. and for the first day he seemed way better. He swam around a lot and basked a lot. His pink and puffy eyes went away but now he still doesn't eat. I've even tried tempting him with grilled shrimp turtle treats! It's been more than a week since I've seen him eat at all! Now he doesn't even bask in the light anymore. all he does in sit in the water sleeping. Is he going into hibernation? and is there anyway to stop that? The water is pretty warm and the light is on for a lot of the day. I don't know what could be wrong! I would appreciate any help!

Actually now that i think about it. It's been more than 3 weeks since ive seen him eat. I used to just check food in there and leave it but all that did was get that water dirty. Now i take him out and put him in a ziploc container and drop in 2 pellets. I wait for abotu 1 hour and put him back but he never eats anything! He is only about 2 inches long

usually when the turtle spends all of his time in the water, its because the water is too warm. He may just feel comfortable enough with the water temp that he has no desire to climb out to bask. Try lowering the water temp so that he has to climb out to warm up under the basking light.
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iturnrocks.com

another thing. Get a timer from walmart or somewhere for your light so the turtle will have a steady day/night cycle. They are about $5. Just plug your light into it and plug it in. They look something like this:

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iturnrocks.com

These small guys are very prone to respitory infections. Mine went off food, stayed in the water and started "yawning" a lot when he had a rep. infection. I have also heard that swollen eyes can be a symptom. I would take him to a reptile vet immediately to make sure. If he gets to weak, recovery will be very difficult. Good luck.
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Jenea

1:3 Eastern Hognose
0:0:1 Florida Redbelly Snake
0:1 Gulf Coast Box Turtle
1:1 Red-eared Slider
2:0 Cats
1:1 Kids
1:0 Spouse

>> I have also heard that swollen eyes can be a symptom. I would take him to a reptile vet immediately to make sure. If he gets to weak, recovery will be very difficult. Good luck.

Puffy eyes are for sure a symptom, not eating for this long too.. isn't a good thing. You do need to take this one to a vet ASAP.
Good luck with it, I hope the shelled kid makes it.
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PHRatz