The Turtle Eats!

[dreamshark]

We brought Bucky inside in mid-September as the weather was getting nippy and she seemed to be getting kind of sleepy outside. Richard fixed her up a big new tank near the window with two basking bulbs: one for heat and one for daylight spectrum light. She adjusted quickly, showing interest in her new environment. She wasn't as active as shed' been in the summer, but she swam around in her tank and observed game parties with interest. Every day she climbed up on her pile of bricks and basked for 2-3 hours, which is a key component of turtle health. And she looked just fine - clear eyed and alert.

But she would not eat. In the summer she was a voracious, if slightly picky eater. She wouldn't eat vegies at all, but eagerly gobbled up worms, hamburger, chicken, shrimp, and any other kind of raw meat. She was always begging for food and would eat a couple of times a day (which is actually a bit excessive for a reptile). But as fall came on her activity level and appetite declined. And once we moved her inside she just stopped eating. She would swim over and sniff at food when it was dropped in her tank, but wouldn't take a bite. Richard, bless his heart, had dug up a bunch of earthworms and planted them in a jar of dirt to save for Bucky's winter treats, but she wouldn't even eat worms (her favorite food) and there was never any turtle poop in the tank, which is a pretty good indication that nothing was happening in her digestive system.

We added a tank heater and warmed the water up to 72 degrees. She seemed to kind of like the heating element and took to sleeping next to it, but still nothing was going in or out. On Sunday I finally saw her swim down to a sad little piece of decomposing hamburger that had been left in her tank and ... she ate it!  I told Richard, who was all excited. He's the nurturing type and felt bad that all his turtle meals had been rejected. The next day he successfully fed her half a shrimp (which is quite a lot of food for a 4-inch turtle). Yay! Maybe we can stop worrying about her now.

I know that reptiles can go a long time without eating, but it's been TWO MONTHS!

Comments

[skylarker.livejournal.com]

I'm glad to hear that! I was a little worried, too, when Richard told we gamers that she wasn't eating.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

The crabs did this except they went underground completely.

K.

[huladavid.livejournal.com]

You know, it's funny, I was just thinking of our turtles. Mine's eating ok. I tossed in a nip of yellow squash the other day, and she had at it. She's been a bit sluggish, but then I don't have her near a window right now, and have also been sleeping with at least one window open at night, so my place tends to be cool. (My "office" is really warm, though, so maybe I should move her in there.)

[(Anonymous)]

It probably doesn't hurt them any to slow down for a month or two. At least yours is eating.

And so is ours, now. Richard reports that she ate another of her big carnivorous meals again yesterday. Funny, now that she's eating again she's also become more skittish. I guess it's a function of a higher degree of alertness.

[dreamshark.livejournal.com]

That was me, obviously.