My rescued wild turtle won't eat. How can I help it start eating?

Hello, Reptiles are cold blooded, and require controlled temperatures at all time in captivity. Noor likely became malnourished, dehydrated, and very cold in her time outside of her enclosure. This can lead to many different problems. It is difficult to force turtles to eat, and many require feeding tubes to get nutrition when they are ill. I would recommend taking Noor to a veterinarian. I hope this is helpful.

Thanks for reaching out about Loofa. It does appear as if antibiotics would be beneficial, but check environmental temperature and correct any problems. Offer food through a plastic syringe in the form of watered down pellets or vegetable baby food. Maybe you can convince the dog/cat veterinarian to help. Good luck.

Thanks for reaching out about Marshall. Anorexia can be caused by many things including inappropriate husbandry/diet, metabolic disorders (liver, kidney), intestinal parasites or infection, just to name a few. A veterinary visit is recommended to assess and provide a diagnostic/treatment plan. Check and correct husbandry parameters including temperature and UVB exposure. Good luck.

Thanks for reaching out about Balbasoor. A veterinary visit is recommended, and an esophageal feeding tube placed to provide proper nutrition. This sound serious and should not wait if goals are to save him. Good luck.

Hi, I’m sorry to hear about Tooter! He sounds very tiny, and that’s a bit concerning as there is a minimum size for legal sale of turtles in the US (greater than 4 inches). Regardless, there are a lot of possible reasons Tooter may not be eating. It’s impossible to say without knowing the details of your tank set up and doing an exam on Tooter. But the most common problems we see in aquatic turtles (I am assuming Tooter is an aquatic species) are lack of UVB light causing metabolic bone disease, poor water quality, inappropriate temperatures causing immune suppression and infections, vitamin A deficiency causing eye and nose discharge among other signs, and other problems. Since this is a long list, and some of these issues are easier to treat than others, I would highly recommend you bring Tooter to see a veterinarian for an examination and husbandry evaluation. In the meantime, check out anapsid.org and read the Chelonian section (red rated slider subsection) to make sure your husbandry is adequate. Sometimes, reptiles simply don’t eat because of a temperature issue, so it is best to rule that out first! If you would like to discuss turtle husbandry or Tooter’s care in more detail, feel free to request a consult. Good luck!

One of the most common reasons for a reptile to have a decreased or absent appetite is because of husbandry. I would recommend starting there, and ensuring that the husbandry is as perfect as possible. Often times, even seemingly minor things can make a big difference for a reptile. For example, it looks like your turtle has a glass enclosure from the picture (I apologize if this is not the case), and often this can be stressful for them as they don't understand the concept of glass. It is recommended to keep them in opaque/non-see-through containers, such as turtle tables or large Rubbermaid containers for example. Alternatively, this may also be a problem that started before you acquired Hades. Reptiles can take a long time to get sick, and then when they show their signs of illness, it can seem to come on suddenly. Due to this, I would recommend taking Hades in for an examination with a veterinarian, as this is a good idea for any new pet, including turtles! At the visit, your veterinarian will go over the husbandry for Hades, and can make recommendations. Additionally, they may recommend radiographs (x-rays) to look at bone quality, as metabolic bone disease is very common in reptiles. They may also recommend blood work and/or a fecal sample as part of a wellness exam to look for any signs of infection, anemia (low red blood cells), to look at organ function, and to evaluate the feces for parasites. If you would like to try husbandry changes first, and want to talk about Hades further prior to your veterinary visit, I would be happy to do a consult with you. I hope this gives you a place to start!

Walt likely got too cold when the power went out. I'm not convinced that 10 minutes basking outside would have made him that dehydrated. He may be on his way to getting a respiratory infection. What food(s) has he tried feeding him (turtle sticks, live meal worms, sun-dried worms, shrimp?)? The other option is that when he got cold it stimulated his body to go into hibernation mode. In the wild, sliders do hibernate, but it has to be quite cold and other conditions have to met for captive turtles to successfully hibernate. When they're a bit too chilly, but not cold enough to hibernate, they become inactive and quit eating. This leads to illness, and often death. Your boyfriend needs to make sure that his husbandry is 100% spot on - water temperature, humidity, basking area, etc. If he has a UVB light it needs to be changed every 6 months even if the light is still working. It will stop producing UVB rays and then he is not getting what he needs. So I suggest changing that bulb if that has not been done in the last 6 months. Reptisun 10 is my preference. Here is a great care sheet: http://www.reptilecentre.com/info-yellow-bellied-slider-care-sheet If his husbandry is 100% correct and he tries various other things to feed him and he still isn't eating in a few days he will need to see a vet. Hope this helps. Best wishes.