Other Ailments
Of the many and varied factors that influence the vitality of turtles and ultimately lead to severe illness there is one frequently occurring phenomenon that should be mentioned here: refusal to eat.
The reasons turtles refuse food may derive from one or a combination of factors, of which only a few will be discussed here. Unless one can succeed in persuading the animals to take food fairly quickly, they go into a rapid decline, suffer a marked weight loss, and finally die.
Loss of appetite may be caused by outside factors, such as the turtles in question being kept at too low a temperature or their tank being overstocked, but it can also occur in certain individuals after hibernation, in circumstances where the animal went into its winter rest period in a less than healthy state. It is also quite common for freshly imported animals, especially weakened individuals, to refuse food that is often unfamiliar to them.
In such cases intramuscular injection of water-soluble vitamin preparations usually brings about a rapid improvement. These preparations must contain the whole vitamin  complex and also contain vitamin A. The dosage depends upon the concentration of the mixtures to be used, and veterinary help and advice should be sought.
If the creature in question does not revert to its normal feeding pattern after this, one can assume there must be some other cause for the condition, such as a severe attack of intestinal parasites or a bacterial infection of the alimentary canal.
Whatever happens, do not let this set of potential problems put you off keeping turtles. Look after your turtles correctly, and you will probably never see any of these illnesses and ailments.
