Hello, I have a red eared slider, Mango. She recently recovered from a mild case of shell rot. However, she almost never eats. Sliders are known for their practically bottomless stomachs—my other one, Chocolate, can eat a whole vegetable leaf by herself. Have any of you experienced a turtle or tortoise refusing to eat most of the time after recovering from a minor sickness? If you have any tips, please share! Thanks!
Any tips on getting a red eared slider to eat?
- Thread starter Lavender
- Start date
That is surprising. Even when sliders are injured they wont turn down a meal. They're omnivores that eat a wide variety.
Try offering something with movement. Something enriching like worms or maybe some shiners, or some frozen shrimp.
Grandma Jean
New Member
I give my adult yellow belly slider and young red ear turtles night crawler worms as a treat. Bait shops and Walmart (sporting section fridge)
Thanks for the tip! Mango eats bloodworms sometimes and I can get live shrimp in a nearby shop.
With any sign of sickness or other apparent deviation from the normal behavior, the first thing to do is to separate the animal from any others that are living in the same enclosure.
Then answer some questions that would help us to help you, like what are or were the conditions of care, diet, temperatures, lights etc.
Also information on the history of your turtles, size, how long have you had them, and pictures.
@zovick
Then answer some questions that would help us to help you, like what are or were the conditions of care, diet, temperatures, lights etc.
Also information on the history of your turtles, size, how long have you had them, and pictures.
@zovick
- Joined
- Nov 17, 2013
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- 5,067
Unfortunately with the limited information provided by the OP, I don't have any other recommendations to offer at this time. I hope that live food will interest the turtle and get it feeding.
@Lavender
How long have you had this turtle? If it was recently acquired, it may not eat for a couple of weeks, although that would be somewhat unusual.
I don't have any pics on my laptop right now, but Mango is always having 'stunted growth' problems. She is only around 4 cm now and she is 1 year old. I use a UV lamp for around 10 hours daily. Yesterday afternoon I turned the lamp off and let the turtles sunbathe next to the window, as it was super sunny and there was unfiltered sunlight through the gaps. Mango was very active while in the sun but later she was sleeping again. Also, the lamp was bought in mid-December last year, and I will change it next month.
The_Four_Toed_Edward
Well-Known Member
Can you tell what kind of UVB lamp are you using? How are her eyes? I am not an expert in water turtles, but problems with eyes can make them not eat.
I'm not 100% sure about the brand of the lamp but it is a both UVB and heat lamp. Her eyes are fine, although she is sleeping a lot. I put her in shallow water with a few guppies yesterday, hoping she might be interested, but nope, none of the guppies disappeared. She eats bloodworms, though.
This is Mango. She hates coming out of her shell, unless it's for bloodworms. I tried to put several of my baby guppies into the tank hoping Mango would chase them, but it turned out the guppies keep poking around at Mango and not the other way round.
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The_Four_Toed_Edward
Well-Known Member
Mangos eyes seem closed in the picture where Mango is in water. Are they swollen? Can Mango open them normally?
Yes, she can, but she closes her eyes tightly whenever I handle her. It takes a very long time for her to realise nothing was attacking her and she can come out. When I let her out of the tank and watch from the distance, though, she can move very fast and hide somewhere.
I think she is bullied by the other slider...Is their water heated? Can Mango swim in deep water? You do know that they can only eat in water?
Yes… the other slider sometimes climbs on top of her in attempts to escape.
