Red Ear Slider Turtle not growing?

Question

I bought two red ear slider turtles about a month ago. I clean their tank once a week, have a basking light and rock, keep feeder fish in there with them. I feed them a couple of times a day all of the recommended things I have read about. One of my turtles is doing great, it has almost doubled in size but the other turtle doesn't seem to be thriving. I haven't actually seen it eat in a day or two and it doesn't swim much. It did hurt it's beak about two weeks ago but that seems to be healing. I tried to find a vet to take it to but there aren't any in this area that will even attempt to mess with turtles. Anyone have any suggestions?

Answer 1

The not growing part isn't a cause for alarm, it is probably a male, they grow slower and stay smaller then females. The not eating is a different story. Try warming the water a bit for a week or so and trying a different food, like Krill (Shrimp). Once he starts eating again everything should be fine.

Answer 2

They take an awful lot of work and need very special care. Please see

http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/caresheet-red_ear_slider.htm

for complete care info. Basics are a 10 gallon sized tank for each 1 inch of shell length, a basking area to climb out of the water on, a basking lamp, thermometer to monitor basking temp (digital thermometer a must), a water heater, a water thermometer, a powerful water filter, a UVB bulb which must be within 12 inches of the basking area and changed every 6 months, and change the water very very very often. Feed a variety of foods in a separate tank to help keep things clean. Do not use plants or gravel in the tank. Gravel will cause fatal impactions.

Answer 3

I bought 2 red ear turtles, (July 15 2014),I named them as Romeo and Juliet (I don't know their gender).At first Juliet was eating more(they're fighting). Both were in same size when I bought. Julie was still the same size but Romeo has grown up to twice the original size. Julie slowly stopped eating. It died today. From a week, it has difficulty in breathing. I have no veteran for turtles in my locality. The Pet Shop person said that it may have got a lung disease, because i always used to put it in water. (I put it out weekly twice or thrice for an hour or so and again put it back). My container is also not so big, it's just a big bowl, but that isn't the problem, the problem is that it stayed most of its time in water, the pet shop person said that i have to put a stand (stone or something which is like a step so it can stand in it for breathing whenever it wants to (it is so small, I cannot afford to put it down and leave it).
I'm not scaring you, but just take proper care of it.

Answer 4

I wouldnt worry about the growing part much but he needs to eat everyday. Make sure the tank is warm enough or even warm it up a bit more and possibley change his food. You can always tell a vet that you need an antibiotic and soak him in shallow water with it in the water to help the beak heal better that is what I had to do with a red ear that had an eye infection. best of luck to you.

Answer 5

if your one turtle doubled in size in a month well then WOW i havnt even heard of a turtle growing that fast in my whole life and i love turtles i also have two like on of the answers above says you could always try warming the water (try a fish tank heater they tend to be pretty cheap) and like she also said the growing problem shouldn't be a problem although you could try a different food two try watching them eat sometime and see if the big one gets all the food GOOD LUCK and i really hope this helps

Answer 6

Sounds like the bigger one is getting most of the food. Try separating them when you feed them.
Try a different type of feeder fish to see if that one will eat it. Turtles can be as stubborn as a child when it comes to eating. Try mixing it up and see if you can find something it likes to eat. Once it starts to eat it will start to grow.

Answer 7

It's possible that the larger turtle is getting most of the food, which would explain the size difference.
If they are still juveniles, gender won't affect growth rate yet.

Answer 8

the bigger one could be the female turtle because they grow much faster than male. you can use this web http://redearslider.com/determining_sex.html
to make sure. if not then i would think that the bigger one is getting more food than the smaller one. try to feed them individually so they all get some food.

Answer 9

u need a biiiiggerr tank