All Turtles Message Board

Theresa_M · Level 1 Joined: 09 Aug 2006 Posts: 8

I was given two small aquatic turtles recently and I have a few questions regarding food. I've tried giving them ReptoMin sticks but they show no interest in eating them. Is this common and should I continue trying?

I've been feeding them various greens including spinach which they seemed to love. I read on the care sheet here that spinach and iceberg lettuce are 'no' foods; what is the reason for that?

I would like to try giving them meat, any suggestions on what type is best to start with?

How often should fruits, veggies, and meats be fed compared to staple foods such as ReptoMin?

And finally...I've frequently read about using a separate container for feeding. Since I have aquatic turtles should I use some of the tank water, or just tap water? How long should they be kept in the other container before their meal is considered 'finished'?

Any help is greatly appreciated Very Happy

dixieee · Posted: Thu Aug 10, 2006 5:46 am Post subject:

hello

it's not uncommon for new turtles not to eat for the first week or two cz of the environment change.

spinach is a NO-NO so don't give them any more. try carrots, it's more likely that they like them better than romaine. meat, hmm i feed mine cooked chicken and they LOVE it. tuna works well too and u can even use it as a trick to make them eat the pellets by dipping them in tuna water.

fruits and veggies are ok to be given always but any other treat should be given no more that twice a week. turtle pellets should be the main diet especially if they're still babies.

a separate container helps in reducing waste in the tank. what water do u use to fill it up anyways? use that for the separate tank and u can keep them there for 30 minutes so they excrete in it and reduce waste in the big tank too Smile

_________________
Wed 10/27/2004 is the worst day..i lost my best friend Leo

so now i have a female RES, Green, and a cute stupid male YBS, Mint

5/4/2006 RIP Lemon, u were my first rescue and i'm so proud of u. will never 4get u

turtbert · Level 3 Joined: 14 Jan 2006 Posts: 272

I forgot about carrots, my little map turtles busy chasing a cattot chunk around the tank now which is quite amusing! Laughing

Theresa_M · Level 1 Joined: 09 Aug 2006 Posts: 8

Well, I'm having no problems getting them to eat veggies, it's the pellets they don't seem to like.

Would it be ok to stop feeding them veggies until they start accepting the pellets?

turtbert · Level 3 Joined: 14 Jan 2006 Posts: 272

why don't you try feeding them other things, mine weren't keen on Reptomin, try another brand of comercial food or some frozen bloodworm, brine or mysis shrimp, lots of people try tuna too!

hoover05 · Level 3 Joined: 26 Oct 2005 Posts: 137

I used lunch meat in order to get my turtle to eat. But eatting does not seem to be a problem for yours. Turkey and chicken are also good, as well as tuna, but tuna makes a mess. You do not "have" to use a different tank for feeding, some people just do it so they don't have to clean their huge tanks as often, or change the other tanks filter as often. For me, I only have to do it every 10-14 days anyway, but if you're changing your filter more than that than maybe you should feed it in a different tank.
Or, try getting a bigger filter. It should be 2 to 4 times the amount of gallons your tank holds up to. For example, a 10 gallon tank needs a filter that is really good for a 20 gallon one, or preferably one that can handle 30 to 40 gallons.

From what I've gathered, picking turtles up causes them stress so if you don't mind changing the filter every so often I would suggest that. Although, some turtles don't seem to mind if they are more used to being handled. I know mine hates being picked up out of the tank. She doesn't mind being pet, even if we grab her while she is still in the water, but take her out of the water and she'll start hissing and biting all of the place. And still I call her sweety? lol

Try soaking your pellets in tuna juice or water and giving it to them then. Or, keep feeding them other stuff for awhile (not to much meat though, their shells can get deformed from to much protein so only give them meat like twice a week, if that...).

How big are your turts? Good luck!
_________________
I love my turtle....

My wonderful sister payed out the wazoo to get me her so I guess I better love her Smile

sunny41 · Posted: Fri Aug 11, 2006 11:40 pm Post subject:

give 1 or 2 pellets to get use to them,give them time to their home and NEVER give them iceberg lettus and spinnach it bad for them.
_________________
[IMG]http://i9.tinypic.com/2rdhmq.jpg[IMG]

volume_91 · Posted: Mon Aug 21, 2006 2:57 am Post subject:

my RES seems to NOT like anything besides reptomin sticks.... kinda wierd Rolling Eyes

_________________

BLA!