I'm worried about my RES

[SebastianTheGirl]

I have a baby RES and have had it for about a month now and It's about the size of a 50 cent coin. I have a few problems:

1. It's very skittish around me, it hides the majority of the time and even if I walk in the room slowly, as soon as it sees me it runs frantically. I don't know what to do about it.

2. It's muscle development isn't the best because of the conditions I got it in (it's kind of complicated) and as a result it doesn't really know how to swim too well. I tried helping it exercise by puting it in a bowl filled with water (the tank is a pretty low water level because of the struggles swimming) and I think that just stressed it out and made it upset with me.

3. It's starting to get chubby because of the lack of exercise, I feed it 3-5 pellets and a meelworm (sp?) or a tiny shrimp.

I don't know what to do...I'm so stressed please help

 

[tortoises101]

As hatchlings RES have a habit of skitishness and that seems to be the case here. Hand feeding or covering part of the tank to develop a sense of security is what I suggest. I'm not entirely sure about the muscular problems, but you do need to provide more information on that. The increasing amounts of body fat could be from lack of excercise or high fat content in its food. What brand of pellets are you feeding? Also, some types of dried shrimp can carry a lot of fat.

 

[Dagashi]

hatchlings are a bit sensitive. But out of two, only one survived. One just stopped growing and eventually died. We never knew why.

Does your hatchling get sun? does it have a place to hide? perhaps it's just really really shy. I second Tony's suggestion on providng him with a sense of security..

Also.. I don't know if this will work.. but apparently it works for babies.. have sounds of rushing water (gurgling brook) or something similar played ( or perhaps install a water feature?) to mask the unfamilliar sounds in the house. this helps them calm down as it's something familliar and masks out other sounds as well. he may be naturally jittery. However I've never tried the above. Just thinking that it may assist in providing some natural sounds and calming him down.

My Res, although this may sound weird, grew up in a round low tub. to give them exercise, I would use the pipe to spray in one direction of the tub to make a whirlwind effect.. my RES would swim against it. this will go on until the tub is semi full. They seem to have tons of fun swimming against the current!

Also be careful hand feeding. the mouth of the RES can be very very strong and painful!

I hope it gets better soon!

p.s. why do you say it doens't know how to swim? I thought that would be it's natural instinct!

 

[ascott]

1...skittish, normal---give the little one time and don't mess with him physically too much for awhile.

2...the little turtle swims a little clumsy and not as graceful as a larger turtle...so give em a break---even babies take awhile before they get it down...just make sure that he has plenty of water to swim and dive and just be sure to have some floating plants (real or fake) for him to hang onto to relax as well as bask under his heat lamp and uvb lamp...I would not move him from place to place too much until he is a bit adjusted...at least 6 months or more (the babies are a bit shy and need to adjust and get a sense of safety in their enclosure/tank)..

3...remember that their stomach is roughly the size of its head...so do not over feed...you don't want a fatty...lol

They will leap from spot to spot rapidly if you surprise them, this is normal--will subside as he gets a bit more secure. They will tire easily as a baby...so make sure to have floating items that the little one can hang onto to float and hide in....

Lastly, take a deep breath and don't make yourself crazy...take a breath and enjoy the little one...they are very comical and get funnier as they get older.... I have a couple of RESs here that put on a great shamu and mamu show every time I get close to their tank...it is very funny, they will climb their feet right over the edge of the tank and take their greens from me (now, keep in mind that I have had them for, oh, 2-3 years---and for the first year and a half they were very shy but as they age they get much more curious and show that curiosity ....so, be patient

 

[Jedimastercasey]

It definitely takes time for them to get used to you. I have two RES at home and when they were hatchlings they had the same problems. When I'd walk in they'd fly off of their basking stop and hide. But it's been a year and a half, and there finally accustomed to me.... For the most part, lol. And one them seemed to have trouble swimming at first, but he eventually figured it out.

 

[idan_uk]

I had the same problem with my new YBS's
Very scared and would always hide away, had them for 2 months now and they still run off the basking area when I come into the room,
I got round this by hand feeding them, when I show up they swim to the front and I know they want feeding, but at least they don't hide from me anymore they know they get fed when I show up.