My turtle has not been eating for several days, what should i do?

Question

He is about only about a thumb's length long. He is put in a very large tank that we have covered with rocks. I suspect that he may be cold, since it is winter, and he does not have access to the sun. I feed him turtle food, but he it is just left in the tank. He used to eat regulary before, what happened?

Answer 1

get it a heater and a light source. if that doesnt work then take it to the vet soon before its too late


good luck =]

Answer 2

Heat could be part of your problem. Do you have a decent UV light set up as well? Is it an aquatic turtle?

I went through the same problem with a painted turtle I once had. Even though I kept his tank warm and had appropriate sunlight - he went through this phase every winter, not eating, and seemed generally sluggish. Even in captivity, turtles are not removed from nature. They have a biological clock that tells them to slow down their metabolism at this time of the year. Aquatic turtles do not hibernate as is popularly believed, but do remain active under the ice all winter. However by slowing down their metabolism, they are also able to survive with much less food and oxygen (which is a good thing when you consider their lake becomes capped by a thick layer of ice in the north).

My best advice is to cope with it. Keep trying to feed it, but you also have to keep up with daily tank maintenance (remove uneaten food, changing the water - This is a MUST daily, and general cleaning). Try throwing some feeder guppies or small goldfish in the water. If nothing else they will eat some of the uneaten turtle food, and when your little buddy regains his apatite - they will be the most natural food he could want! You may also want to replace packaged turtle pellets with frozen (if not live) shrimp (frozen brine) or blood worms - freeze dried foods work well too, but aren't as enticing. Eventually his instincts will tell him conditions won't get much worse - and he'll return to his old self.

Answer 3

He's dying of the cold. Turtles are sun-loving animals that love big spaces, warmth, and sunlight.

Try using a basic submersible heater to bring the tank temps up to 75-80 (or even a bit higher to help snap it out of the chill).

Make sure it has enough room to swim and exercise in. Figure about 10 gallons of swimming space per inch of turtle.

Get yourself a good light that emits ultraviolet B rays (UV-B) and set it up to shine for about 10 hours a day. Note- if the package does not say it uses UV-B, get something else! Try a good pet shop reptile department.) (Note- sunlight coming through a window does not help since UV does not pass most glass or plastic.)

High-quality turtle pellets are OK for part of the diet, but cheap flakes are bad for turtles (and no small water turtle eats lettuce, etc.!) Suppliment the diet with things like live shrimp or bloodworms for small turtles.

For other ideas, try http://www.austinsturtlepage.com

Answer 4

Foe one, your turtle desperately needs a heater and a heat lamp so he can bask or he will have the vitamins he needs from the light. Second, turtles go through phases. We have 4.. some days theyll eat eat eat and others they arent so hungry. Keep trying with very small amounts until he eats again.. also, are you giving him variety? Turltes should not live on pellets alone, they love live food.

Answer 5

Turtles need to live uva ( 12 hs a day ), a fluorecent lamp, the sun is very important too !!this is necessary to get hungry !!
The water needs to be with a heater water to prevent it gets ill !
Turtles need calcium, vitamin A....

...try to change food, give it some snails, worms, etc...

A heater lamp is very important to it !!

Please go to a vet to be sure and to prevent it die !!

Good luck !

Answer 6

I have 4 turtles, and only feed them live fish a few times a month, but feed them pelets alot. So it may not be unnatural. But maybe call a local petstore or a vet and see what they say. But good luck!!

Answer 7

if he's cold he's trying to hibernate - I assume he is a water turtle?
He needs a little spot of land (dirt) with some leaves or material that he can bury under

Answer 8

Please get him some attention! :( I lost my box tortoise a year ago because I thought she just wasnt hungry but by the time I got really concerned it was too late. I had her 19 years. It sounds like you are attached to yours too so get some professional advice if you can. Good luck.

Answer 9

aww i'm really sorry about your turtle!!
why don't you get him a sun lamp or something? i don't know anything about turtles, but i saw this question and it made me sad so i wanted you to know you had my sympathy.

Answer 10

i had the same problem so take 1 -2rocks out and put some water in so he can swim and see the food.