RES eating own poop?

[ETTB1314]

I have 2 RES about 2-3". Ocean loves the land (lol ironic) and Sky loves to be right at the bottom of the tank and doesnt come up or out to land much. Ocean is normal IMO, because she eats and from the surface when I drop the pellets and seldom eats from the floor. But as for Sky, he is always at the bottom and he goes around sniffing the submerged pellets (over time the pellets will sink to the bottom), and eating them on the floor.

Also when I do water changes I leave about 1/2 the water and put in new water, so there are some left over food I can't remove from the bottom. Sky would eat that up too. That food bits could be days old, even weeks.

Initially I drop 2 pellets every morning, but realized they got hungry pretty quickly because they bit at each other so I feed them 2 pellets in the morning and 2 in the evening. Ocean eats from the surface, but Sky hardly swims up to eat the food. He would usually come up and maybe take a small bite or not at all and go back down to the bottom. He would wait for the pellets to be submerged and land on the floor, and then he would eat it. I think he's quite picky with his food, because he would sniff the pellets and he would either walk away or eat it. I dont see him eat the new pellets I give them every day, but he eats most of the leftover food, off the bottom.

Also just when I got home this, I saw him eating poop off the floor? It looked like poop, and I don't think it was a submerged pellet bit. Is that normal?

*I think he's hungry because he doesn't eat the new pellets much, and is always eating "old" food off the bottom.*

 

[wellington]

It sounds to me that you may need to seperate them. I m not sure about turtles, but tortoises shouldn't be kept in pairs and RES are one of the more aggressive turtles. This may be why the one won't come to the top, becuase the bully is there. See what others with more turtle experience say. Also, how big are these two and how big is the tank?

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Most turtles and torts eat defcation because not everything they eat gets digested so when they re-eat they get food , minerals , and anti body's . I have read that leopard torts in the wild eat wild dog defcation to get calcium cause wild dogs eat bones and poo out calcium . But have a great tort day !

 

[johnsonnboswell]

What are you using for filtration? What kind of pellets?

I think you need to feed them more. Make sure there are some floating greens, too. Perhaps use a different type of pellet food. Some brands take a long time to soften, some don't.

Some people feed their turtles in a separate tub and then wait for them to defecate before returning them to their tanks. This keeps the tank clean. They just toss the dirty water with poop & leftovers.

A good submersible filter or a canister filter makes all that unnecessary. Get one rated for double or triple the amount of water you have. Then you just have to top up the water level.

Eating poop is an attempt to get those undigested nutrients & also indicates hunger. It's not so bad in itself, but it's pointing you toward things you can change.

Can you post a picture of your tank?

 

[ETTB1314]

It sounds to me that you may need to seperate them. I m not sure about turtles, but tortoises shouldn't be kept in pairs and RES are one of the more aggressive turtles. This may be why the one won't come to the top, becuase the bully is there. See what others with more turtle experience say. Also, how big are these two and how big is the tank?

Yes, that's true, Ocean does seem to be the bully here.

When I first got them Sky was the more aggressive one. Now it switched to Ocean, but sometimes Sky is the bully again, but I don't know. Now they seem to be quite okay. I have got them for a week now.

Now Sky does seem to come up more often and I've seen him basking for the longest time, next to Ocean, so I guess they should be okay with one another. If they continue to bite each other I will make sure to sepaarate them. Thanks!

 

[ETTB1314]

Most turtles and torts eat defcation because not everything they eat gets digested so when they re-eat they get food , minerals , and anti body's . I have read that leopard torts in the wild eat wild dog defcation to get calcium cause wild dogs eat bones and poo out calcium . But have a great tort day !

Oh phew, I was starting to think if he was sick or something. Thanks for the info!

 

[ETTB1314]

What are you using for filtration? What kind of pellets?

I think you need to feed them more. Make sure there are some floating greens, too. Perhaps use a different type of pellet food. Some brands take a long time to soften, some don't.

Some people feed their turtles in a separate tub and then wait for them to defecate before returning them to their tanks. This keeps the tank clean. They just toss the dirty water with poop & leftovers.

A good submersible filter or a canister filter makes all that unnecessary. Get one rated for double or triple the amount of water you have. Then you just have to top up the water level.

Eating poop is an attempt to get those undigested nutrients & also indicates hunger. It's not so bad in itself, but it's pointing you toward things you can change.

Can you post a picture of your tank?

I am feeding them ReptoMin Baby mini sticks, so I feed them 1 each in the morning and 1 each at night. I hand feed them to make sure they eat it and who eats it if I have the time, but if I don't I just put 2 and I would leave the house.

I find Ocean to be normal, because she loves to bask, and I think that's a good thing. She eats her pellets readily and after that goes back to swimming around on the surface, some occasional diving and then back to the land.

Sky, however, somewhat hated the land at the beginning. He's always at the bottom of the tank, and like a scavenger he walks about sniffing the leftover food bits and eating them. Also I just saw him eat some of his poop. Since this is okay, could it be that he's still hungry? Because Ocean does not go searching for more food after she's eaten. She will resume her daily activities. Sky would at the bottom walking about or swimming about, coming up occasionally for air. But just last night and this morning he's actually coming up to the surface more and has eaten more of his pellet from the surface, but the rest of it he ate it off the floor. I hope this is an improvement.

My filter filters 3.1L/min I think (it was a Japanese brand they sold and stated it was for turtles so I got it. I couldn't understand the Japanese wordings though) I put this on minimun strength because if I put on medium or high the current would be too strong for them. They seem to like this strength of minimum.

Apart from the pellets I have not fed them any greens, so which ones should I feed them? Also at the beginning I fed them another type of turtle pellet. They hated it and didn't touch it at all. I got them this ReptoMin baby mini sticks and they love it, so I think there's no need for a change?

I feed them in the tank itself and I have hand fed them for maybe 2 days now. Ocean eats the pellets readily. It takes some time for Sky to get up and eat the pellets. Sometimes he takes it sometimes he doesn't, but this was in the past. I hope he is improving.

Here's a pic of my tank. It is 42cm L x 28cm W × 30cm D, and water level is at around 13cm. Their shell is only 1 1/2 inch to be exact.

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Yes you should put some water weeds and maybe 2x 1/2 flower pots in there to give them some hiding spots

 

[ETTB1314]

Yes you should put some water weeds and maybe 2x 1/2 flower pots in there to give them some hiding spots

Okay thanks. The water weeds I should put in real ones or fake ones?

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

If you got the money both cause they will eat the real ones but mainly so they can hide from each other . Have a great turtle day !

 

[ETTB1314]

If you got the money both cause they will eat the real ones but mainly so they can hide from each other . Have a great turtle day !

Okay thanks you too!

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

Your welcome ! Enjoy your family .