My Red-ear is acting goofy :(

[gfisher2002]

Ok, my oldest male used to eat everything. I've been feeding him feeders (just comets) more frequently. Now he says NO to reptomin, bananas, lettuce, kale, endive, everything. He only eats fish now. And, yes, I tried salmon, tuna, macral, all sorts of fillets. He eats about 10 medium feeders a week. Ok by me because my local pet guy gives me good deals on crix and feeders. I've been gut loading the goldfish with oranges, carrot shreds, fish food, endive and liquid vitamin/calcium supplements. He should be fine eating only this right? Ill keep trying other things but I wanted to know if feeder's will do.

What you think Matt?

[Wu-Gwei]

How old is your male? It is on a bad habit. I would curtail it even if you are gutt loading it. Feeding goldfish only is not good b/c of thiaminase... here is a brief article about it.

http://212.187.155.84/wnv/Subdirecto...thiaminase.htm



Cheers,
JJ

[eyespy]

I second Wu-Gwei's advice. Plus if they get stuck on fish, they often refuse to convert to more plants as they get older and their diet is too rich. Getting them to take the greens and other veggies is important if you want to keep them around for a long time. It's easy for a turtle to just want the "candy" food that's fun to hunt down but sometimes you've got to just say no.

[gfisher2002]

I'm aware of the thiaminase risk. But I've starved him for 10 days and only offered banana, greens, pellets, you name it. He won't touch it. Smells it and turns away.
He's about 2 to 3 years old. We rescued him 6 months ago from a evil owner. You know 10 gallon tank she bought him with 3 years ago, 2 inches of water, no lights, no filter, no rocks or ramp. He had advanced shell rot around the edges and the webbing betwwen his toes were red and inflamed. Also they fed him 2, yes 2 walmart turtle pellets a day. After several weeks of renutritioning, intense UVB exposure, shell treatment and antibiotic baths , he looked good. A vet checkup and stool sample turned up no parasites or infections, or signs of MBD. Lucky guy. Now he resides in his 60 Gallon home (filled to the top) complete with homebuilt wet/dry trickle filter(2XAquaclear pro4 heads) 1X2 foot basking area and his favorite part, a 100 Watt Powersun. He also had a 18" reptisun5.0 for the first few months.
Lately, hes been acting out of the ordinary. No very friendly, only eating fish. Also he keeps trying to get out of his land area. Waters 76 deg. and basking area is 85 to 95 deg. Maybe it's just the winter blues? I noticed he's CONSTANTLY doin his little mating thing with his plant. You know where they cover their eyes and vibrate their claws real fast. It's hilarious. I'm worried about his rapid change in behaviour. Is this an early sign of problems?

[gfisher2002]

Thanks for helping. Sorry though he just died. No need to post here anymore.
'me sniffs and stares at his empty tank with watery eyes'

[Wu-Gwei]

Man, sorry about the loss.... I thought you just took it to a vet and the vet said it was healthy.


Cheers,
JJ

[gfisher2002]

I did. Refer to my other post, Here lies omar.