The Albino RES Pond update

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Levi the Leopard

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I've had the albino at home for a few weeks now. I thought she was eating, maybe the first day or 2 she was but she hasn't eaten since. Per Gerards advice (who she came from) I bought the exact pellet he was feeding her and am only offering that. She still weighs the same 81grams and has for over a month. Her legs and body look like a tiny skeleton in baggy skin. Her limbs remind me of a foster farms chicken wing to be honest.

I was putting her in a small tub of shallow water everyday with food for about an hour but she wouldn't eat. I finally resorted to just tossing food into the pond daily and hoping she'd eat in there as she was more comfortable. Cleaning out lots of un eaten food and no weight gain leads me to believe she hasn't been eating in the pond either.

I put a bunch of water hyacinth into the pond. I am pretty sure she enjoyed hiding in the roots. I never really saw her but checked for her a few times here and there. Unfortunately ALL of it died. Turned brown, soggy and nasty. I had 6 petunias planted around the edge of the pond. That died, too. The geranium was eaten by caterpillars and so I just pulled the grasses and put them in the Russian pen.

Right now the pond has no plants in it or around it and I have the RES inside a tank in my house while I "re do" the pond.

BTW the pond has morning shade, Sun from about noon to 3:30 and is shade the rest of the day.

Here are my questions:
Any tips on pretty/safe plants I can put around the pond that will be ok with only hot afternoon sun?

What plants can be in the pond that the turtle will like for cover and wont die on me? Also, the roots of the hyacinth were constantly clogging up my filter. Maybe some type of potted water plant??

At what point do I determine if I need to heat the pond? In the morning 8-9am I temp the pond at 65-70 degrees. Once the sun hits it the temps increase. I'm going to chart the temps over these next couple of days so I have a better idea of how the water temps fluctuate.

Should I just keep hoping she eats or is there anything more I can do?

Just to share:
The first pond set up (pic taken with the hardware cloth cover off)
35a6vrl.jpg


With the hyacinth before it died..
1z4ads6.jpg


Now it is just dirt, and the water tub until I decorate it again.

I tried to get some close up pics of the turtle and how skinny she is but I didn't get any good ones. I'll try again.
 

Len B

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She may be confused,and getting ready for winter. She came from Florida all day direct sun light and very warm water temperatures, now she is getting lower temps and less direct sun. What I would do is keep her inside in a tank that most would consider to small for her, slowly raise the water temp and keep the lights on at least 12 hours a day. In the tank have a dock to get on and some live plants,duck weed and some of the water weeds (can't remember the names) for her to eat along with the pellets. I also would not have a filter at first, do water changes, sometimes the moving water confuses their sense of smell and they miss the food and will just get a mouth full of water when trying to eat. The eyesight does get better with age and yours may be able to see just fine by now but just in case make it easy for her to find the food.
 

kimber_lee_314

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Have you weighed her to see if she is gaining or losing weight? The hyacinth may have died because she was eating the roots. My dad's RES will eat the roots and then they die - which is maybe a good/bad thing? Depends on how you look at it. You can try some water lettuce or frog bite too (Linda always has frog bite to give away.) What kind of proteins are you giving her? We had a sick RES for a while that wouldn't eat until we tried some shrimp. Have you tried something with a really fishy, smelly scent? Are you feeding her in the afternoon when the water is the warmest? (She may be too cold in the morning - my box turtles have been rather sluggish in the morning with this cooler weather.) I wish I had more advice for you - I'm just guessing at this point. Let me know if I can help. I would be happy to take her to my vet to have her checked and get some advice. :)
 

Levi the Leopard

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Hi Kimber :)

Yes I weigh her regularly and its always 81. Never more, never less. I hope the hyacinth died from her eating the roots! I wondered if the water was too cold for the plants or something because when I had it in that gray tub of Linda's I gave you it was thriving!!

I've tried to feed her everything. From live crickets to all the dried stuff. You name it. The last suggestion Gerard gave me was to stop trying all the other stuff and just try the pellet since it's what she has had her whole life with him. I figured once she began eating I'd start adding other stuff in.

Where can I get water lettuce? I've looked around but no luck yet. I would LOVE to get some frog bite from Linda. I'll see if she can bring some to the next meeting.
I toss the food in once the sun hits the water.

Your vet is Dr. Greek, right?

I have some pictures of her. Let me upload them. I think she is very skinny.


Front shot.
mwr48j.jpg


See the "foster farms chicken wing" look I was talking about?
1zf649l.jpg


She is skinny, right?
29fpaag.jpg

s3cw2d.jpg


When I compare her to the female southern painted, that one is a porker with chunkiness popping out of her shell. This little girl seems so hollow.
 

Levi the Leopard

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Ok I'm putting together a hospital tank. It's a 20 gal tall tank. I'll have a heater in it so the water stays around 80F, a 95F basking spot and no filter.
I'll set it up in my room and keep close tabs on her.
If I get her eating and gaining weight then can she live in the pond I built for her?

Btw, len she has been with me since Feb so she left FL a while ago. I kept her in a 125gal tank in a classroom. She wasn't eating there and the other turtle ate the food before enough of it fell to the floor for her to eat. As her weight continued to drop, I brought her home so she could live alone and have food all to herself. And now you are caught up to our current situation.

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Gerards

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I sent you a email before I read the thread. She doesn't look skinny and you said she hasn't lost weight, right?
 

Levi the Leopard

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She really doesn't look skinny to you? Well ok, you'd know :) so I feel a little better.

She hasn't lost weight but hasn't gained either.

I have been googling around and read a tip you gave another albino keeper on a different forum. You mention feeding bloodworms. I have some in my freezer right now and plan to try that today.

..I'll go check your email. Thanks.
 

Grandpa Turtle 144

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I would put a mop bucket of water in the back yard in 1or 2 days you'll have skeeters in the water . Net them out and try putting them in the water ( they are food and they have a lot of movement ) and he should eat them all and in a week or 2 you can try feeding other stuff. My baby res. eat lettuce , carrets, mealworms , and pellet food
 

wellington

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She looks very skinny to me, but I have t seen what she looked like before. Have you tried force feeding with a syringe? Soak pellets in water, like you do Mazuri, then add other good stuff ground up to it and syringe feed. I have a RES that is loosing weight and not wanting to eat. I have her in a hospital tub in the tortoise shed. Little water, basking spot and syringe feeding twice a day, lots as she looses some of it when I put her in the water after every syringe squirt.[/b]
 

mike taylor

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She looks skinny to me. I would go ahead and set up the hospital tank. Get it warmed up to 75 f. Then see if she eats if not . I would make a pellet mash out of your food . Get a
Syringe and attach a soft tube to it like the tube you add air to a fish tank. Then mix your pellet mash with cream of chicken baby food and force feed her . Just make sure it is nice and wet they don't have saliva . But this is a last resort I would try everything I could before you do this .
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Gerards

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If she hasn't been losing weight this whole time, she's been eating something, probably on the plant roots. Is not the weight gaining pellet diet we all feed but will maintain them. Do what I said in the email and she will be fine.


DO NOT FORCE FEED HER!
 

Levi the Leopard

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Thanks everyone. She came from Gerard and he has been very helpful.
I tried a tub with the bloodworms and pellets. Watched her for about 30 min and nothing. Then I put the food into her water so maybe she will eat some later. I'll keep trying that.

The tortoises are so easy compared to this little girl. She is giving me grey hairs!

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mike taylor

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I was just saying it is as a last resort. Don't do it just to do it . TRY EVERYTHING YOU CAN FIRST . Don't force feed till every other thing is tried and felled. Sometimes it will save them . I've had to do it to my slider and a ball python. Only do it when everything does not work . More than likely it just the water temperature.

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Levi the Leopard

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She ate.... can you believe it? I had her in a tub with bloodworms and pellets for 30 min and she didnt eat at all. I put her and the food into the pond (I was still setting up the hospital tank but it wasn't ready yet) and walked away. I went out a little bit later to bring in the leopards and peeked in on her. SHE WAS EATING! There were some sinking algae discs at the bottom of the pond from earlier that morning and I witnessed her eat 3 of them! I was in shock.... I was happy she was eating but also felt so dumb that I had just made posts about her not eating. Regardless, I was happy about that. I'm still going to keep her in a tank and feed her to monitor her. When she is ready to go outside I'm going to set up the pond in a different location and a different way. So, today I started a remodel on the pen to turn it into a baby leopard pen ;)
Thanks everyone for the tips. Hopefully she keeps eating and I stop worrying so much!
 

jnh42573

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Def not skinny looks very healthy :) most are chunkie and over fed :) glad to hear she is eating.


5 - Diamondback Terrapins
2 - Redfoot Tortoises
1 - Sulcata
2 - Golden Phase Hypo Translucent Albino Res
3 - Albino Res
2 - Mississippi Maps
1 - Southern Painted
1 - Clown Yellow Belly Slider
1 - Yellow Belly Slider
1 - Rio Grande Res
2 - Pastel Res
2 - Bearded Dragons
3 - Boston Terriers
900 gallons of water in my home and 400 gallons outside :)
 

Levi the Leopard

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Thx jnh. I think my southern painted is super fat and needs a diet then.

Today I watched her for a while. I think she will be ok :) . I got her some more hyacinth and just put food in and left. I go crazy waiting to see her eat and that's part of the problem.

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