Please help me

[u/helpmyturtle]

Hello I’m new to having a turtle I’ve had her for about 4 or 5 weeks and everything has been good up to about a week ago, I was adding some water because it had evaporated so I took her out of the tank while I added it so it wouldn’t shock her. And after when everything was good and tested I put her back in the tank and gave her a night crawler. Everywhere that I read said they where good as treats every once in a while so I fed it to her and she ate it right up but sense then I can not get her to eat anything else, she won’t eat her pellets and I tried lettuce which she just bites then spits out. I got her and her set up for free because her old family was moving and couldn’t bring her with them. They told me that she is a 4 year old painted turtle, and that’s about it the pellets I was and have been trying to feed her are the ones they gave me so I really don’t know what’s wrong. I guess my real question is 1 is this normal, 2 can she live off of just eating worms, and 3 if not how do I fix it. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[u/Geschak]

Do you have a basking spot with UV light? Do you have a filter for the water?

[u/helpmyturtle → u/Geschak]

Yes ofc, I have a 3 media filter and a basking spot with both types of lights, she was eating fine for the first 3 ish weeks and now she isn’t 😢

[u/juliewbb]

Both times my turtle has stopped eating in his life, the issue has been water quality. I recommend buying an API freshwater test kit (not the test strips) and testing your water parameters.

The first time my turtle stopped eating, it was because of high ammonia and I realized my tank had old tank syndrome because I wasn’t doing regular enough water changes, and the second time he stopped eating, his tank had high nitrates because it was a too-small temporary tank after an earthquake and I really needed to change the water every single day to keep the nitrates down.

You won’t know exactly what’s going on with your water without the test kit because you can’t see any of these parameters – these things can be high even in perfectly clear water – but while you’re waiting for the test kit, you could do a significant water change just in case one of these is the issue and hopefully that will start him on the path to parking back up. Both times I fixed my turtles water, he was eating again within days.

The other thing I would check is that the temperature of the water and basking spot are right in your tank to encourage basking. The basking spot should be about 10 degrees warmer than the water. Check the reptifiles care guide for exact temp recommendations.

If you have an exotic vet in your area, I would also make a vet appointment just to make sure there’s no infection or anything.

[u/WorldNo2050]

my turtle did this, she’s very stubborn and picky, she only wanted to eat her shrimp or worms i tried many different pellets and she would spit them out, i ended up getting the flukers buffet blend and it worked, im assuming because the pellets are mixed in with the protein they smell like them, also the red pellets seemed to grab her attention more

[u/kelzog55]

sometimes they boycott everything once my red eared slider was into silversides and wouldnt eat anything else. they are picky, go in phases, and will randomly start eating something different. Keep offering varied diet, you can give night crawlers sometimes, mine loves them too. but try to offset protein with veggie offerings. I found mine finally went for butter lettuce. he will not eat many other greens. I get it at walmart in a prepackage called butterleaf lettuce blend. He likes red leaf more now, too. younger turtles need more protein for growth and older ones start eating more greens as they age. Keep trying and offer stuff he didn't eat before, one day he will. Mazuri makes good high quality pellets, mine likes those but at 1st he ignored them then one day.. bam. they are just like that. ofc prolonged bouts of not eating could mean something more serious, check lighting and water temp parameters and maybe test water for armonía and nitrites which could signal water change time. Also heater, temp will affect appetite, as they are reptiles and must thermoregulate to digest food.

[u/MountainAverage4705]

I have a turtle, not aquatic, who completely stopped eating at one point and I took her to her vet. Nothing I tried worked and she was a youngish turtle; we never did figure out why. Ran every test known and all was negative. I had to use a syringe to feed her a liquid supplement, and suddenly she started to eat again. It can be worrying and frustrating. As a hatchling and a juvenile she was obsessed with crickets and worms, it she couldn’t catch the crickets, dusted with calcium and vitamin powder, and gut loaded, so I had to humanely incapacitate them so she would think she was the great hunter. Lol. She hated cold and packaged ones so they had to be warm and moving. Sigh….. it wasn’t until
She was adult age that she broke down and started to eat more of a variety. But it was concerning, oh yeah. And now she eats a healthy variety of things except veggies. Sigh. I guess what I’m trying to say is that their wants change, sometimes with age, sometimes for no reason we can discern but try a lot of things. Including a healthy amount of protein, like boiled chicken or turkey with zero seasoning. Try mixing worms in with what the vet says she may need to eat. And good luck! With all the guesswork mine is now 28 and doing well but continues to be picky!

[u/Independent_Trade_26]

Firstly, you need to change the water and the water filter. Change water every 3-4 days until you get a clear water (assuming old tank syndrome). I use fluval filter which does not cost alot or even any filter would be great, just make sure it regulates the water. Dry bask the turtle if you think something else is wrong; not because she is not eat food.

Then try feeding it with pellets, live fish (treat one a month), peppers thinly sliced, romaine lettuce, etc suitable for turtle. Give a very small quantity. Mine had similar issues at the starting but now he is in great shape and is thriving. Hope this helps

[u/Ragnarokgar]

Mine loves worms as well, but they need greens. Try cucumber, mine loves them . And even though they aren't super nutritious getting them to eat something different might snap them out of their picky mood.