kinnadian Posted July 1, 2012 Report Share Posted July 1, 2012 My 1.5yo RES aren't eating food and rarely beg anymore. Spend more time hiding/sleeping in their little "bedroom" corner (its got a massive bit of driftwood in the way so they can feel safe in the left side of th tank). OK so I've narrowed the reasoning down to a couple things, and wondering if you guys could help. I've been feeding them occasional veggies, occasional turtle frozen turtle food, and mainly pellets. A few weeks ago I was talking to a turtle owner who feeds his shrimp and heart/liver, so I thought I might try that. They loved it for about a week, and then my heater failed and I was so busy that I didn't notice it had broken, so it was probably 8-12C in the tank for at least a day or two. The danios in the tank somehow survived. Also about a month ago I upgraded from a long 110L to a standard 200L, and made them an above-tank basking area with viewing perspex on 2 sides. The male goes up there regularly, however I've never once seen the female up there. She is extremely timid and even sometimes hides if I get up from my chair suddenly and startle her (male on the other hand isn't scared or intimidated at all, I can my hand in the tank and he will just swim around it). So I got a new heater, and it now sits at a comfortable 20-24C (depending on the time of the day). I feed them at night, as they mainly come out more after 7pm, and I will drop shrimp, liver and pellets and they might eat a few bites and then stop. So I'm thinking either: - They somehow got sick from eating the shrimp or liver, or that has otherwise affected them. They didn't bother with the pellets after I'd given them meat, which is fair enough because the meat would be a lot tastier. - They are somehow still in a hibernative state, even though they were only cold for a couple days max and have been warm now for a full week. - The lack of UVB on the female is causing her digestion to be insufficient (as the UVB is in the basking area), however this doesn't explain why the male is similarly not hungry. They still swim around, maybe a little less than usual but are still plenty active. I've inspected their heads and eyes and I can't see any infections or anything on them. Their poo is normal too (although they don't poo much at all now, obviously). Should I just wait it out? It's been maybe 1.5 weeks now since they were eating regularly. They were a bit fat before so a diet can't hurt them, and if they aren't physically ill or act weird is there any way to definitively say there's something wrong with them? Before anyone suggests it, I am a student and can't afford to take it to the vet (unless they started showing some visible symptoms, of course). Also, is there any way to get the female up on the basking area? It's been 6 or 8 weeks now and I thought by now if she was going to go up there, she would've done it by now. The only way I got her up on the previous in-tank basking area was to tempt her up there with pellets, then she figured out it was nice in the heat. I think she just doesn't know it's there, despite the few times I've physically placed her there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted July 1, 2012 Report Share Posted July 1, 2012 increase temp up a bit to 24 - 26degrees also check out http://www.redearslider.com/entice_eating.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted July 1, 2012 Report Share Posted July 1, 2012 They are somehow still in a hibernative state, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinnadian Posted July 1, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2012 So keep the temps up and just keep waiting? I just fed them, they had about 2 mouthfuls each then left the rest of the food on the ground. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted July 1, 2012 Report Share Posted July 1, 2012 personally i would keep the temp up and just wait some reps will go into hibernation or brumation at this time of the year no matter how warm they are the drop in temp may have triggered this and it may take a little while for them to get back to normal so long as they are active you can offer food, but if they are not that active don't worry about feeding them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonnaM Posted July 1, 2012 Report Share Posted July 1, 2012 personally i would keep the temp up and just wait some reps will go into hibernation or brumation at this time of the year no matter how warm they are the drop in temp may have triggered this and it may take a little while for them to get back to normal so long as they are active you can offer food, but if they are not that active don't worry about feeding them Yep, what he said! :slfg: Increase the water temp, check out the turtle care sheet stickied at top of this section in case there is something you may have missed and give them some time. Don't worry about feeding them liver. It makes the water slimey...was advised as a good food in the past, but not seen as suitable nowadays. Stick to a fish based diet with pellets and greens. Have they got come form of calcium in the water? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Insect Direct Posted July 2, 2012 Report Share Posted July 2, 2012 Basking light (warmth) will encourage her onto the basking platform ... My little res are only at 20C atm but still bask all day long and are still eating. Basking temp would be a good 25C may be upto 30C I would increase water temp upto 26-28 if not eating much. cold chill may have upset them... especially if small. Also wouldn't recommend feeding at night time ... go for at least an hour before lights out at the latest. Feed early to mid morning then they can burn off the energy during the day. good luck wth the little beggers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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