my turtle wont eat

Question
QUESTION: I have had my turtle for about 7 yrs. For the last 3-4 days she wont eat or even show interest in food. We looked on another website and it said to keep the temp of the tank at about 70 degrees. Today I took her out of the tank to try and warm her up but when i put her in the tank she still wont eat. What should i do.     p.s. im not sure what kind of turtle she is but as i have been saying she is a female if that has anything to do with it?

ANSWER: Hi pj,

I really need more (detailed) information:  species of turtle, size of tank, type of filtration system, type of basking/UVB lights, temperatures, and diet.  Most turtles need a water temperature around 78 degrees, and a basking temperature 10-15 degrees warmer than that, plus a good source of UVB.  If you don't know what species it is, please post a very clear picture from the side and I'll try to ID it for you.  

The main reasons for lack of appetite are:  too warm or cold, parasites, illness, and general poor husbandry.  Please post back and we'll see if we can figure out what the problem is.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: we have a heat lamp and that i think has been doing good she  is eating now so i think that was the problem o and she is a red belly. We use a plastic tub that is about 4 gallons she is 7 an a half inches long (from one end of shell to the other) i just bought a new whisper filter i put some salt in the water as it said on this website to kill some bactira we feed her wardley reptile sticks it says its fortified with calcium.

Answer
Hi PJ,

If the tub is really only 4 gallons it's way too small for a 7 inch turtle.  She needs plenty of swimming room.  The basking light is good, but you also need a UVB source--either a separate bulb, or an all-in-one bulb like the T-Rex Active UVheat, which is what I use.  Pellets are OK, but you need to offer greens and animal protein sources as well.  I don't think bacteria is the problem unless the water quality is really poor--you just basically need to improve her living conditions, and then she'll do much better.  Turtles are very tough, and as you can see she managed to survive this long, but if you want her to be healthy and live a full life you need to keep her correctly.

Here's links that give you information on temperatures, etc.:

http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/cs-flredbelly.htm
http://www.chelonia.org/Articles/pseudemyscare.htm
http://tortoise.org/general/watcare.html