The most particular and possible reasons why a red-bellied turtle does not eat can be:
- stress;
- malnutrition;
- a sharp change in habitat conditions;
- addictive to captivity;
- overheating or hypothermia;
- the period of puberty in males;
- constipation;
- disease .
Most often, a turtle does not eat anything after buying and changing homes. Moving and changing living conditions for a turtle are a great stress.
When supercooled, the red-bellied turtle also does not eat, becomes sluggish, swims only on the surface of the water, can not dive.
Solution
If you do not know why the turtle does not eat and what to do, follow the following instructions:
- Create the right conditions for the turtle to live in your home. To do this, you need a water tank capacity of at least 200 liters, which is approximately half filled with water. In the center there is an islet with a size equal to 25-30% of the base area. Such a piece of land is made from either plexiglas with incisions or holes on the facets for the convenience of the tortoise, or from wooden polished plates on suckers. You can put a soft litter of algae, moss, sand or a piece of any solid rock that will not pollute the water. However, we must take into account the size of the decor elements, since turtles can swallow small pebbles, which can lead to intestinal obstruction and even death. Therefore, their size should be 2 times the head of the turtle. On the other hand, when using very large and unstable decorative elements, the tortoise can break glass.
- Provide a comfortable climate. The water temperature should be at least + 26 ° C and not more than + 35 ° C, for which heaters are used. Sufficient air temperature (2-3 ° C higher than that of water) is achieved with incandescent lamps and special ultraviolet irradiators, which must be switched on 12 hours a day, not only for heating, but also for the prevention of rickets.
- Keep track of the amount (should cover not less than the width of the shell) and the purity of the water in the aquarium. It is necessary to install a special filter (only non-domestic), designed for a water volume of 2 times your aquarium. Change the water should be made as the contamination, but at least 1-2 times a week, while pour pre-standing water.
- Properly feed your pet. In his diet should be raw lean fish, liver, bird giblets, seafood (do not remove bones, shells, shells, etc.), earthworms, larvae of the May beetle. Of the plant products should be cabbage, carrots, spinach, lettuce, apples, dandelion leaves, duckweed and various algae.
- Special food should only complement natural food, and not replace it. Do not feed monotonously, in large portions.
- Do not send the turtle to walk on the floor, as possible supercooling and infection (eg, salmonella).
- If your turtle is severely depleted, it should be treated immediately.
When a turtle does not eat anything, it goes into hibernation, does not go out on land, does not dive, becomes sluggish, you can talk about the manifestations of a stressful situation and diseases, from which turtle can perish.
The best way to determine the reasons for the lack of appetite for a turtle will help you a veterinarian. But not ordinary, which treats mostly warm-blooded animals, and the herpetologist is a specialist in turtles.
Little red-eared turtle does not eat even in the case of water pollution, so you need to be especially careful about the purity of water in the aquatorarium for young red-rims. Special requirements are also applied to the ration of young animals - it should only be live food (small crustaceans and insect larvae), and also to the feeding schedule (daily for 5 minutes).