If Your Turtle Isn’t Eating, Don’t Feed It Blindly! 3 Major Reasons like Indigestion and Pneumonia, and How to Handle Them

First of all, don’t panic. Turtles don’t starve to death.

Turtle’s Refusal to Eat: Causes and Solutions

Indigestion

If your turtle was eating normally before but has suddenly stopped eating in the last 2 days, it’s likely due to indigestion. This might happen if you fed it when the temperature dropped, or if you have been feeding it continuously for several days. The turtle’s stomach can’t digest that much food, so it stops eating.

At this point, you should not feed it for a few weeks. If the temperature is below 20°C (68°F), place your turtle in a heated tank to rest quietly, because a higher temperature helps alleviate the turtle’s indigestion problem.

As long as the temperature is maintained, you don’t need to do anything but wait.

Illness (Pneumonia)

If a little turtle is sick, not eating, stretching its neck out very long, and making noises, it could be pneumonia. Buy a box of Amoxicillin (a broad-spectrum antibiotic), open 2 capsules, and soak the little turtle in warm water mixed with the powder. This will greatly help the turtle’s recovery and reduce inflammation. If you are raising multiple turtles together, they should be separated, otherwise it will be contagious.

Environmental Stress

A sudden change in environment, noise, or frequent disturbances can also cause a turtle to have a stress response (referring to the non-specific response of an organism to external or internal stimuli) and stop eating. You should provide the turtle with a quiet and stable living environment, avoid excessive disturbance, and let it gradually adapt to the new environment.