My RES turtle won't eat

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dianethomas19

Feeder Fish
May 12, 2009
2
0
0
Alabama
My son has a very small RES turtle, 1 1/2 inches. We have only had him for 2 weeks and he is already sick. His eyes are swollen shut, he hasn't ate in 3 days, and he has little bumps on his body. I took him to the vet and was told to let him soak for about 45 mins. in epsom salt and to get some turtle eye drops for his eyes. The vet also told me to put any kind of food in his tank that he might eat. I have a rosy red, romaine lettuce, ghost shrimp, and mini pellets in his tank. He is still not eating. Please help. I don't know what else to do. I keep him warm. I really need help.:confused:
 
The water temp should be around 80˚F and the basking temp should be around 85˚F. since it's a baby. Get some Zoomed turtle eye drops and place drops in it's eyes twice a day.
 
try frozen blood worms...
 
Tinned tunafish, in brine usually works. My RES once went temporarily blind with conjunctivitus, and she still smelled out and ate tinned tuna. Just drain the brine from the tin and offer a few flakes, it might entice him to eat.

Paul
 
Red Devil;3108932; said:
try frozen blood worms...
Click to expand...
Of corse unfrozen first;) The feeder aint gonna help. As stated increase temps, make shure the water is like 2 times deep the shell length, ad some Anacharis for security and use the turt eye drops. You can increase your chances by getting a tin and long stick and putting like a peace of chicken in the tip and wringling it in front of the turts face.
 
dianethomas19;3107701; said:
My son has a very small RES turtle, 1 1/2 inches. We have only had him for 2 weeks and he is already sick. His eyes are swollen shut, he hasn't ate in 3 days, and he has little bumps on his body. I took him to the vet and was told to let him soak for about 45 mins. in epsom salt and to get some turtle eye drops for his eyes. The vet also told me to put any kind of food in his tank that he might eat. I have a rosy red, romaine lettuce, ghost shrimp, and mini pellets in his tank. He is still not eating. Please help. I don't know what else to do. I keep him warm. I really need help.:confused:
Click to expand...

Bring the water temp up to 82 degrees for sick turtles.
Apart from that, try asking in the first aid section at http://turtletimes.com/forums there are a lot of experienced keepers there.

Also, make sure you have plenty of visible light (more than just the UVB lamp), because you want to protect the turtle's eyes from the UVB. More visible light = more pupil contraction = less UV gets into the eyes.
Make sure you don't have one of the UVB lights that have been causing eye problems. I'm not sure exactly which ones were (I use a mercury vapor bulb, not appropriate for smaller setups).
 
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