Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Wonder if anyone can help me on this. I recently aquired a SS from an online store ( I would rather not mention which one, my intent here is not to publicly degrade a buisness ) and he has all the physical visual symptoms of having quite a bit of fungus as well as some minor shell damage. I wasn't very concerned, I have already began applying most of the remedies that this board suggests and I am making an appointment at a vet.
Now onto my question.
I have had him ( male eastern spiny, shell 7ish inches long ) for about two weeks now, and he still hasn't eaten. I have offered Raw shrimp, reptipellets, live minnows ( appropriate size ), and 2" live crayfish with the claws removed. I have offered these in both his tank and a seperate container that I planned on getting him to eat in with the hopes of keeping his water as clean as possible. The only other factors I can think of are that may matter is that he is in 6" of water in a well filtrated 55 gal aquarium, water temp about 80 degrees around the clock.
I was hopeing that someone may have some ideas as to why he is not eating. He is VERY active and but takes no notice of the food in his tank. Again, I have had numerous turtles, but this is my first SS.
The only other thing I can think of is that he shows absolutely none of the stereotypical temper associated with SSs. Of course he doesn't like getting picked up and will try to claw his way out of my hand, but he has shown no aggresion toward me. This may be due to the fact I am patient when I pick him up ( having owned snapping turtles for my whole life ) and make the tank move as stress free on him as possible.
Any ideas will help, thanks.

have u provided the softshell with "hiding places" like driftwood or fine sand? I find them to be kinda nervous creatures and dont like to be in bare tanks .. let alone feed in one.

I have a 4 inch Softshell. I agree with the previous post but he didn't explain must. Your softshell MUST have a hiding spot. Mine usually eats in his hiding spot. He must be able to completely fit in it. If it is posiable he should be able to stick his head out of it and reach the water with out exposing his body. I don't know how to post pics or I would show you my setup. Home Depot has building bricks that are hollow inside and work great for small SS turle although yours is porbaly to big to fit in one. As far as food, have you tried worms(you can get them at sporting good stores in the fishing section or sometimes walmart has them) Chicken is another option although given all the time will harm them. I can't think of any other food to try him with you seem to have given him a lot of options. Softshell turtles have different tepperments some will try to bite every time you touch them others never bite. Be thank full you got one (like mine) that usually does not bite.

just want to say that I contructed a hiding spot for him in the tank and he started eating the next day.
Thankyou very much for the help.

yeah even better would be to add four inches of very fine sand (then plan on lots of water changes till all the dust is removed) and try earthworms as a food
glad to hear he is eating though