[bellamissimo]

Hi,

I recently bought 2 yellow bellied sliders about a month ago. At first everything was fine and they were enjoying everything. One of them is still happy and eats a lot although she seems to bask all day and never go in the water. Also her shell seems to be fading a bit. The other one has completely stopped eating. All she does is swim against the side or just float around when the food is presented. She hasn't eaten for about 2-3 weeks and i'm not really sure what to do.

They have a 2ft tank that's filled half way up, a filter, a water heater set at 25 degrees and a basking area with 100w uvb light. I feed them in a separate tank to make sure the tank doesn't get too dirty.

Any help would be appreciated!

 

[MattClare]

Take them a vet that has exprience with turtles.

It might also be helpful to post pictures of the set up.

 

[Shellsfeathers&fur]

:welcome: to the Forum.

Sadly this seems recently to be fairly common with people buying turtles only to find that they are ill. I would say that the turtle was most likely ill before you got him/her.

It could be a respiratory infection in which case this is contagious and will need veterinary treatment.

For now I would separate them. I would not remove from the tank in any case for feeding as this stresses them. Obviously if one has been aggressive at feeding time then that one should be removed, but provided they are getting their fair share of food then they are best left alone.

Which filter do you have? A good external one such as an Eheim 2213, 2215 or 2217 is recommended with Alfagrog as the media. The tank should not have a lid nor gravel.

If you have females then they can reach 12"+ in a relatively short period of time, if one male and one female unfortunately he will pester her and she will have a miserable existence and they will need separating. Two males may get on as will two females.

A much larger tank will soon be needed as the recommended amount of water is 40 litres per inch of shell for the first one and 20 litres for any subsequent ones.

Do you know the basking temperature as this should be 10c above water temperature. 25c I think is a bit warm but as one appears so poorly it might be better to leave it at this.

As for shell colourations - yes as they mature they do loose their colours. As they bask it means their scutes dry out and shed, which is all perfectly natural but often leaves a different colour shell underneath.

 

[bellamissimo]

None of them have been aggressive at feeding time. It's just one eats and one doesn't. My filter is a fluval U1. I will upload a picture of my set up later.

I was wondering why you say that there shouldn't be any gravel? my terrapins are about 1 and a half inches. I made sure that the gravel is too big for them to eat.

It might also be worth mentioning that they haven't really grown at all since I got them.

Also I have been looking out for signs of infection. Like breathing through the mouth and such but I haven't see anything as of yet.

 

[boxman]

None of them have been aggressive at feeding time. It's just one eats and one doesn't. My filter is a fluval U1. I will upload a picture of my set up later.

I was wondering why you say that there shouldn't be any gravel? my terrapins are about 1 and a half inches. I made sure that the gravel is too big for them to eat.

It might also be worth mentioning that they haven't really grown at all since I got them.

Also I have been looking out for signs of infection. Like breathing through the mouth and such but I haven't see anything as of yet.

Floating on their side and refusing to go in the water are signs of respiratory infection. Waiting for breathing through the mouth would be too late- this sign is the end game for a turtle. They need a course of anti-biotics at least as a precaution.

 

[bellamissimo]

Well none of them are floating on one side. I've been looking out for that. I'm taking them to the vet today so hopefully I'll find out what's going on. One of them is refusing to go in the water but eating fine. The other is refusing to bask and not eating at all, but as i said hopefully the vet will shed some light on what is going on.

 

[3 county girl]

Possibly if not going in the water that the water is too acid?

 

[bellamissimo]

Well for answering countrygirl, one of the terrapins is always in the water.

Unfortunately, Heidi died last night. I did take her to the vet and I was halfway through her antibiotics course. I came back home one night and she was at the bottom of the tank Very upsetting.

I just need to worry about my other terrapin, Feryn, not eating anything. I want to get her better so I can get her a new friend. She's always on the water heater and never on the basking area and hasn't eaten in 4 weeks. Not sure why.