Ok so here's the exciting thing. I seriously got Varuka my 2.5 inch baby eastern to eat banana while I was holding her and the banana in my hands. And I am just thrilled to pieces about this because it happened twice! At first I thought maybe she was just trying to bite me, but when she kept taking bites of the banana and actually "chewing" it and waiting before taking another bite I realized this wasn't an act of aggression or fear. (She's never been afraid of me before at all anyway.)
Ok and the second great thing about her is this, I have seen with my eyes on two difference occasions, my little Varuka, eat two full sized crickets And I didn't have to do anything to help her. Apparently these little babies aren't as helpless as we'd like to believe. I didn't have to pull the legs off these crickets or anything. I can't make myself do that anyhow. I don't touch bugs, I can't stand the feeling of something touching me. It's a phobia.
So all my worries about my little baby not eating are gone. She was eating all along. I knew crickets couldn't just vanish, I was pretty sure teleporting was impossible.
I just had to share my news with everyone here, my friends that don't speak turtle all think I'm crazy