I am concerned about my one year old painted turtle. She is in a ten gallon filtered tank. She has been happy as can be until two weeks ago when she completely stopped eating. We had some green algea from to much light, but that's been fixed. I am wondering if that could have made her sick. She seemed fine for the first week of her hunger strike but now she is getting lethargic. I feed her primarly ReptoMin floating food sticks every other day. Any idea what is going on or what I can do. I'm worried. :(

Her tank is pretty small. What is the temperature? What kind of filtration do you have? How big is she? She may not technically be a hatchling anymore but the information on my page at http://www.fishpondinfo.com/hatchling.htm should give you an idea of what her setup should be like, foods to try, etc. Turtles can go a long time without food but it's not normal for such a young turtle to do that unless she's too cold or is ill. What did you add to kill the algae? I suggest getting her a large home, trying some live foods like earthworms, etc. Do you have both incandescent and fluorescent lighting? If she doesn't improve, take her to a vet to see if he/she can help.

Her tank is about 70 degrees, but it's been that temp all winter. I have only a 60 watt full spectrum, spot incadescent heat lamp. Should i get a floresent light also? I didn't use anything to kill the algea, I emptied the tank and gave it a good scrubing with a rough sponge. It stays very clean with the Wisper 10 filter (i feed her in a seperate tank). I'll try some different food. Please let me know if you have any other suggestions. THANK YOU

Ok. Certainly try some other foods. Most turtles can't resist live foods. Incandescent heat lamps are not full spectrum; they don't produce UV radiation. The turtle needs either a full spectrum fluorescent light or natural sunlight in order to make Vitamin D. Problems in this area will result often in swollen eyes or shell abnormalities. Your having cleaned the tank shouldn't have bothered her as long as no chemicals were added. I hope she starts eating again!