All Turtles Message Board

maggie44n · Level 1 Joined: 27 Jul 2007 Posts: 14 Location: Central PA

hi all,
am owner of the un-turtle. like everything else turtle that he refuses, nemo won't eat greens. i've tried every type of green recommended. a friend has given me dandelion greens & flowers, hibiscus flowers at every stage of bloom and i've tried rose buds to fallen off blooms. he did eat and seemed to like prickly pear cactus flower so am growing some from pads which may take awhile.

once i hid finely chopped greens in his dog food which he ate. but he didn't fall for it the next time and he LOVES his dog food. i've offered greens he refuses at least three times each in different versions (fresh, thawed, & very ripe). what a finicky little guy!

in the meantime, i got turtle bale (mix of orchard and bermuda grass) from turtlestuff.com. also purchased just a bale of orchard grass at pet store (for bunnies). i keep orchard grass and/or turtle bale in a separate food dish at all times and change it every few days. i add other greens and flowers occasionally. he doesn't touch it. but i keep it out in case he finally decides he craves it.

he didn't touch his cuttlebone for about a month and now he covets it Smile

anyone have similar problems and how did you handle it?
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"Turtle is the oldest symbol for the Earth. It is the personification of goddess energy and the eternal Earth itself."

maggie44n · Level 1 Joined: 27 Jul 2007 Posts: 14 Location: Central PA

I've maintained the dish of orchard grass and change it every three days. I also add leafy dark greens and turtle friendly flowers. i leave those in for three days before changing them too since I know sometimes they like food when it is not as fresh (eat off ground in natural habitat). He still hasn't touched anything.

He has begun to walk over to the dish after his daily meal and stare at it. Is that a precursor to actually touching it...other than to walk through it? I made appt with vet for late September just to make sure he is okay.

Am concerned he's not getting right balance when he won't eat what he's supposed to be eating. Rolling Eyes

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"Turtle is the oldest symbol for the Earth. It is the personification of goddess energy and the eternal Earth itself."

bobcrane · Level 1 Joined: 04 Aug 2007 Posts: 6

I have only had him for about 20 days now but he wont touch anything but live worms. He just started that today. I fed him a big fat worm twice today but he seems to like to eat in his water tray. I have tried romaine, spinach, strawberries, melons, mixed greens, tomatoes, etc. He still doesn't touch anything unless I unburrow him and put it in front of him. Any problem with feeding him in his water tray??

Rachel16 · Level 3 Joined: 18 Jul 2007 Posts: 365

try dog food the chunky kind they seem to love it.
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Tara Dakota

In memory of Tara who died unexpectedly 4Pm on January 14, 2007

maggie44n · Level 1 Joined: 27 Jul 2007 Posts: 14 Location: Central PA

Nemo met his new vet last week and pronounced him healthy and handsome. We talked a lot about diet. Nemo does like his low-fat dogfood but she said it wasn't good for them even though apparently lots of people do feed it. What we decided to do was a "tough love' diet. A mixture of sliced up greens and eggs (he likes hard boiled eggs) and a little bit of the dog food plus the box turtle pellets which are tiny balls of green yellow and something else.

Sort of a turtle salad. So if he's hungry, he has no choice but to eat the stuff he needs with the stuff he likes. Also provide fruit and she liked the idea of the separate dish for the grass and leafy greens. Shrimp was okay as an earthworm substitute but she said earthworms were the best. Nemo will have to wrangle his own worms outside.

Thank you for the suggestions. The vet seemed to know turtles really well and we'll see how the tough love diet thing goes.
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"Turtle is the oldest symbol for the Earth. It is the personification of goddess energy and the eternal Earth itself."