Please help with my baby turtle!?

Question

I got a baby diamondback terrapin from a friend. The turtle has not yet completely lost it's yoke sac ( only a tiny shriveled line) and is not eating. It is probably five days old, but I'm not sure. I treated it like a typical baby turtle and set it up with a 2 gallon tank of water, gravel, fake plants, ect., and am feeding it ReptiMin turtle food, but it does not seem interested. When should it lose it's yoke sac, and when should it began eating? Please help! I have never had a turtle that small! It is a bit smaller than a quarter.

EMAIL SKIP, that is disgusting

I've never had a problem getting baby red eared sliders to eat, but then again I never had one with a yoke sac. And my baby yellow bellied slider, Squirt spent his first year or two before graduating to a ten gallon in the exact same tank with no issues

Answer 1

OH MAN I HAVE HAD A BABY BEFORE, JUST LET HIM GO ON HIS OWN. HE WILL EAT WHEN HE IS READY,BUT HIS YOKE SACK, GIVE IT A WEEK AND A HALF SWEETIE I PROMISE HE WILL BE OK

Answer 2

Please consider getting rid of it.

1. Diamondbacks need special care and are not considered easy pets. They need water that is slightly brackish* and a rather specialized diet, especially when young.

2. A 2 gallon tank is HORRIBLY small for ANY pet turtle. The rule is at least 10 gallons of swimming space per inch of turtle.

3. Newly hatched turtles are sometimes really, really hard to get to eat, especially if the food is as unnatural to it as 'turtle sticks' are. The best guidelines are:
- Wait for the scar to fade, and then about a week after
- Feed bloodworms at first, then mix in some ReptiMin

4. The whle brackish water bit is a pain. These turtles are adapted to using the salty water ot help prevent shell rot. if kept in fresh water, they develop it quickly. You CAN raise them in fresh water, if they are started young and kept VERY clean and monitored carefully.

Addendum:
You mention that you already raised some turtles in this small 2 gallon tank before graduating to a 10 gallon tank. Please remember that you can raise a human inside a closet and they will live for years- but this is NOT a good or healthy idea.

And you don't have to take MY word for this. Look at any good turtle care book or frequently referenced turtle site and see what THEY say.
- www.tortoise.org- "a large, heated aquarium..."
- www.redearslider.com suggests the largest tank you can get.
- www.austinsturtlepage.com recommends a formula that works out to about the same as 6 gallons per inch as a minimum.

Granted, the 10 gallons bit is not an automatic thing, and a lot of sources avoid giving out absolutes, but the benefits of bigger habitats are well documented, as are the health problems associated with smaller tanks.

For other info, try:

Answer 3

2 gallon tank is too small even for a baby, it needs no less then a 10 gallon tank. You didnt mention anything about heat, its probably not eating because it doesnt have a proper thermal gradient. Besides a basking light over its land area, it needs a uvb bulb that emits 5 percent or higher uvb rays, zoo med reptisun 5.0 and exo terras 5.0 are good bulbs but they need to be replaced every 6 months. The water should also have a submersible heater in it to keep the water warm too. Baby turtles often dont recognize processed pellets as food, you will probably need to offer live food like small crickets and earth worms.

Answer 4

Diamondback terrapins need very specific water conditions to remain healthy. They need a brakish water set-up or they will develop bacterial or fungal infections, which can be fatal.You should really seek advice from a pet store that specializes in reptiles or ask your local zoo for advice. As for it's not wanting to eat , this is normal as it is still recieving nutrition from the yolk sac. In a week or so try offering some small earthworms, guppies,small snails and finely chopped greens(but NOT spinach)The turtle should also have afull- spectrum u.v. light and a good reptile vitamin as well as a calcium supplement two or three times a week.

Answer 5

determine which you wash your palms, fairly properly. you may fall ill from coping with turtles. The foodstuff, relies upon on, what style of turtle you have found. bypass to a close-by puppy shop and ask questions, approximately conserving slightly one turtle.

Answer 6

it won't be interested in eating until it loses it's yolk sac
then tempt it with earthworms, they cant resist a
wriggling worm
also need larger aquarium with some aquarium salt added to water and be sure it doesn't get too cold in the house

Answer 7

The problem is just that it is stressed and so it just wont eat i had the same problem wif me box turtle

Answer 8

Did I ever tell you about the time I was cleaning the turtle bowl in the kitchen sink and the garbage disposal was on and I dropped the turtle down the drain? Turtles can scream.

Answer 9

Try putting tiny baby guppies in there. Has he ate any of the pellets?

Answer 10

take it to the vet and see what it can do...i used to have box turtle babies so if you need more help go ahead and e-mail me or something and i can help