We have a new baby turtle, he doesnt seem to want to eat, he is water/land turtle, any suggestions?

Question

He only basks for a little while and spends most of his time in the water.

He is not a hatchling, but about 2.5 inches in size. Still not eating , its been 5 days.Swims with the feeder fish instead of eating them.

Answer 1

I assume you mean it is like a Red-ear slider or Painted turtle.

The biggest problem is probably that the overall care is not what it could be. Sadly, there is a LOT of misinformation about these as pets- the first myth being that they are easy to care for. baby turtles are actually a rather tricky pet to raise well.

Let's start with diet. Common diet myths are that baby turtles eat lettuce, hamburger, etc. They do not- and will in fact soon starve on such food.

The safest diet for a new keeper is to use a high-quality pelleted turtle food. Avoid the cheap brands- they use less nutritious fillers to keep the price down. Good pellets contain all the nutrients, vitamins, and minerals the turtles need. Some branks even offer a special version for baby turtles.

As you learn more about your turtle, you will learn to supplement its food with things like live or frozen/thawed fish, worms, insects, shrimp, etc. or different kinds of prepared foods.

Another myth involves housing. This myth has people keeping turtles in bowls, etc. that are small, unheated, etc.

Baby turtles need room. The common guideline is 10 gallons of swimming space per inch of turtle. This gives it room to exercise, hunt, explore, etc. and makes cage care easier- the 'turtle smell' won't build up so quickly.

The water needs to be heated to about 75-80 degrees, with some cooler spaces- and it can cool off a bit at night. It also needs filtration- usually about double what a similar sized fish tank needs. You can also do an aggressive program of changing water or other tricks to help keep it clean.

One of the bigger care issues is not a myth- it is just not talked about. baby turtles need a certain part of natural sunlight- the ultra-violet B rays (UV-B). UV does nto pass through glass or most plastic, so our pets no longer get this- and they need it to produce Vitamin D in their skin. Providing proper lighting is important- intensity, duration, and 'color'- it needs to offer pretty much the entire spectrum. There is a problem, however, in that too much UV causes burns, etc.!

Pond turtles, like the Red-ear sliders, etc. also need basking sites- a selection of places they can use to get out fo the water and dry off, warm up, and absorb UV. These basking sites should be about 90- and all these temps should be monitored with a thermometer, not guessed at.

The best keepers also know things like the need for Vitamin B13, the importance of a good 'calcium/phosphorous ratio' in the food, and more.

However, few people who get these cute things get all this information, so the turtles do not do well.

I suggest:

1. Review the basic cares at a site like those listed below.

2. Pay special attention to tank size and temps- small, cool or hot tanks destroy the appetite.

3. Try a good pelleted food. ReptoMin is commonly available, but there are even better brands you can get a any big pet shop.

Good luck!

Answer 2

If this baby turtle is a hatchling, you don't have much to worry about. Hatchling turtles have a special sack on their bellies that provide them with nutrients for 1 to 2 weeks after hatching. If your turtle is not a hatchling, go to the baitshop and buy some leaf worms (they are smaller than crawlers) these should entice your baby just fine. If he doesn't want to eat with you watching, drop some in (try in the water part of tank so he can see them moving) and just let him be. My baby snapper loves leaf worms and I've had him since he was about three weeks old.

Megg90

Answer 3

We have three turtles. Turtles are only supposed to eat about every three days ya right.lol anyways try feeding it different things. We feed ours regular turtle food some turtles like floating food some don`t. After a few years we call ours water dogs. They act like dogs. We now feed ours everything from there food pellets to bugs and they love worms. They particularly go ga ga over tadpoles we find in the woods after there has been a puddle out there for a while. Best of luck to you. Also you could call the pet shop and see what they say. There is also a lot of information on the Internet if you look for it.

Answer 4

I had a similar problem with my turtle , but she wasn't so young.I think you should check her eyes because sometimes , if you don't change thair water when it's dirty they can get a kind of an eye disease. When my turtle had something like that , she couldn't see properly and i had to put special turtle drops in... she had some yellow stuff in on her eyes...or maybe you should try a different kind of food - maybe the turtle's picky!

Answer 5

get some earthworms, turtles can't resist wiggling worms
also try some halfway=killed bugs
after you get it to start eating then get the turtle food at the pet shop and alternate the foods
be sure to keep the water very clean!

Answer 6

i had a similar problem with our turtle before. Try to give them spinach or blood worm and see if they can eat it

Answer 7

its fine just let it be they usually eat and play during the night,i have one.

Answer 8

they eat lettuce.