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Can someone tell me how can you tell if a turtle is over weight? Our baby Squirt(about 2 years old?)was outside for the first time this year and he had trouble walking, he swims like a flash and gets up and down on his rocks, but is very awkward on land. It was like it took great effort for him to go a short distance, where as last year he could scoot and run like a hatchling...do they get this way as they grow up? He eats about one medium size earthworm a day, sometimes egg...very picky.(I've posted before on this subject and have been trying other things...)

>>Can someone tell me how can you tell if a turtle is over weight? Our baby Squirt(about 2 years old?)was outside for the first time this year and he had trouble walking, he swims like a flash and gets up and down on his rocks, but is very awkward on land. It was like it took great effort for him to go a short distance, where as last year he could scoot and run like a hatchling...do they get this way as they grow up? He eats about one medium size earthworm a day, sometimes egg...very picky.(I've posted before on this subject and have been trying other things...)

Uh oh.. that sounds more like the symptoms of a calcium deficiency than being over weight.
When they are over weight they look fat, you'll see a lot of "meat" protruding out the leg openings.
When they have trouble walking then that sounds much more serious than a weight problem.
Do you have UV/B fluorescent lighting for him or are you able to take him outside for real sunlight? Real sunlight is the best.
His diet sounds like it's definately lacking calcium if he's only eating an earthworm a day.
He needs to eat a huge variety & he needs his food loaded with vitamins & calcium. Try giving him whole live fish, such as minnows. If he can eat a small whole live fish then he'll get a lot of calcium through the fish scales & it's bones.
I am not big on pellet foods, because they don't eat pellets in the wild, I like mine to eat a diet that's as close to wild as I can get; however, I do feed mine some pellet food 2-3 times per month because there is a lot of added vitamins & minerals in the pellets. If you could get him to eat a little Mazuri turtle pellet food or Reptomin.. it'd help.

If you really cannot get him to take other foods right away, you should see a vet because a vet can treat this quickly for now then you can work on the diet later.
Let us know how it goes and good luck!
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PHRatz

Thanks,
He does enjoy fish sometimes-I cut it up as he is too small to tackle a minnow, he also likes eggs whites...he hates Reptomin, I read somewhere in the posts that putting a cuttle bone in the tank for calcium, I can try that. I used to just toss in the Reptomin thinking he'd get some benefit from it being in the water. I have reptile lights and he gets wonderful sun light from a southern exposure, also goes outside when it's sunny and warm to bask...I guess he's not over weight then...oh, he swims and his little legs just go and go so wouldn't he have trouble swimming if his legs were bad?
Thanks again for the tips, appreciate it!

>>Thanks,
>>He does enjoy fish sometimes-I cut it up as he is too small to tackle a minnow, he also likes eggs whites...he hates Reptomin, I read somewhere in the posts that putting a cuttle bone in the tank for calcium, I can try that. I used to just toss in the Reptomin thinking he'd get some benefit from it being in the water. I have reptile lights and he gets wonderful sun light from a southern exposure, also goes outside when it's sunny and warm to bask...I guess he's not over weight then...oh, he swims and his little legs just go and go so wouldn't he have trouble swimming if his legs were bad?
>>Thanks again for the tips, appreciate it!

Oh gee you did say he swims ok.. I must've had a brain blip lol.
Maybe he's just not used to walking on land & isn't very good at it or maybe just seems clumsy to you.
Yes a lot of people do use cuttlebone & it will work if you can get them to take a bit out of it.
I just bought a sample pack of a pellet food called Turtle Brittle from a mail order place called Carolina Pet Supply & my painted ate it the moment it hit the water.
That wouldn't mean anything except my painted is very picky & finicky. I've never seen him eat a pellet food he's never seen before the first time I tossed it in. It's something recommended by a zoo but I'm not sure exactly what's in it.
You might think about trying a sample of that or try Mazuri aquatic turtle pellets. They need to eat a variety.
Mine loves live mealworms, crickets, grubs along with fish. He also likes to eat frozen fish foods that I thaw out for him first. Bloodworms, Sally's has one made for aquatic turtles that has veggies in it, he'll eat that. He likes the frozen brine shrimp too.

It seems like painted turtles can be picky little brats, I've heard that from other people with painteds over the years...
Good luck with him I hope he's doing well.
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PHRatz