Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello,

My friend called me the other day about his Fiancés sister’s turtle that was not eating. I am not a "turtle person" per say but, I love all animals especially reptiles.

I went to their house to take a look and was not happy with what I saw. The turtle was a baby red ear slider; the carapace is 2" or so. The first thing I noticed was the enclosure. They had her in a bowl with a few rocks and some water near the window. The temperature in the room is about 65F and the temp near the window was 50F. Definitely not ok for Red Ear Sliders.

When was the last time the turtle ate I asked, "Not in a few months"...

I picked up the turtle and immediately I notice a few problems. He/she was opening the mouth to breathe which probably indicates a resp. infection, both eyes are closed and it does not appear as if the turtle will ever be able to open them again.

This is the action that I have taken so far and would really appreciate some guidance as I don’t want this turtle to suffer anymore and would love to be able to nurse it back the health.

I have her/him in a 5 gallon tank with 1 inch of water and a large basking spot. The room temp and water temp is 78-80F and the hot spot is about 85-88F. I have a fluorescent light fixture on top.

I tried to get some food in its mouth but have not had success. Since the turtle can’t see and especially because of the neglect I doubt it will eat on its own at any point in time.

I am so upset that someone could be so neglectful to any living animal.

I house snakes and have house turtles and tortoises in the past but they are not my expertise.

Any suggestions on what to do would be very greatly appreciated.

I have only had the turtle for 3 days so far and already she is more active but still not healthy.

I am surprised she/he is still alive at this point and would love to giver her/him another chance.

Thank you,

Eric

At this point it might already be too late, but...if you really want to help it, go to a qualified Vet in your area. Then look up care of red ear sliders...there are loads of sites that will give you good care help. You need to keep the temp. in the tank high about 88 or so degrees, more water, a heat lamp on the basking spot...all these things would be temporary until she (or he) can get better. Then you would need the proper set up...
Unfortunately at this age they are very delicate and really need proper care. But I think it is wonderful that you are trying to help it. Good luck.

Kudos to you for helping out like that. However, your turtle sounds like it might be knocking on death's door. It needs antibiotics, so you need to take it to the vet ASAP. At this point, I don't see the poor thing getting better on it's own and it may be too far gone. At least you could have the vet assess the situation and decide whether to treat or just put the little fella out of his misery. Please don't wait! It sounds dire!

I really appreciate both of you writing back to my plea for help. I called up several vets near me and did not like the responses that I got. I had a choice either to keep the turtle or bring it to the vet and for $75 they would put the turtle under. I decided to keep him/her and see what I could do.

Anyhow it is now 5-6 days since I got this turtle and things are looking on the up and up. He/she has rubbed one of the eyes a bunch while under the water and now is capable of opening one eye. H/s is trying the same on the other eye. I am not to sure if the eye is 100% as the turtle is so small it is hard to tell.

This morning I took one of the long turtle food pellets and dipped it first in water to make it soft then in vitamin/calcium powder. When h/s tried to open the mouth I gently got the food in the mouth with the vitamins. H/s chewed and swallowed half of a stick which is a large amount of food to start. I believe this was the firs thing this turtle has eaten in a few months.

I will keep you all posted to let you know how h/s is doing.

I am so happy I didn't bring it to the vet as if I did it is no different then giving up. I am amazed that h/s is still alive and seemingly doing better.

Thank you,

Eric

That's wonderful news! If you can keep him eating, you're half way there! Another thing you can do is get him a UVA/B bulb. Get it as close to his basking spot as you can, without him being able to touch it. I found that the bulbs w/ both UVA and UVB make a big difference in the well being of my turtles, but they need to be very close to the basking spot.

Good luck and keep up posted! I would love to know how this all turns out!
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0.1.0 ornate box turtle
1.0.0 eastern box turtle
1.0.0 Yellow belly slider
0.1.0 Red belly cooter
0.1.0 Australian shepard
1.11.0 chickens
1.0.0 Dutch(rabbit)
3.2.0 children (do I still count the married ones?)
1.0.0 husband

I would still take him to the vets because not treating him is just going to prolong his suffering at this point. I can understand your not wanting to put him down, but antibiotics would be the right thing to do. If you go and they say it's too late, then you know you have done everything you can.

Also, I am not sure you are aware of this, but turtles eat in the water, not on land. If he can't swim at this point, that is a huge problem where eating is concerned.

Anyways, good luck with everything. AND TAKE THE FELLA TO THE VET!

I had a yb with similar symptoms, then a baby map's. I put them in smaller bowls with the same temps as their aquarium in order to have them face to face with their food. Pellets, unfortunately, float, so they're harder to get them to eat.

Try small, chopped up worms. Drop a little raw beef in there, fish, or cooked chicken.

As for the pellets, crush them up a little, make sure they're soft.

If it has a cold, dry dock it for hours at a time, with a sunlamp on it. But don't overheat it.

Keep the water temps quite high. Make sure it can sun itself, too.

You'll be surprised. I had a hatchling res with legs about the size of toothpicks. It floated, blew bubbles out its nose, and didn't eat for weeks.

It came around, however, and was briskly swimming and eating voraciously soon thereafter.