Habitat - Indoor :: Cosmo and Saucy's owner has Q's

[sonyj]

Good question, tY2i. I believe that after a year they don't need to be growing as fast for one thing. And in the wild they would not be eating daily; they'd eat when the oppurtunity arises.

Also, the pellets have a steady supply of protien in them that if turtles get too much of it will lead to overgrowth and a number of health issues later. So after the first year of growth, they should be averaging about an inch a year after that. Cutting back the pellets to every other day would be good for this.

And as turtles age they do become more herbivorous, eating more veggies/plant matter than when they were younger.

Does this make any sense to you? I have never really thought about about the specific reasons of cutting them back, but these are the most logical reasons to me why it would be done. I'm sure someone could have said it much better than me though.

Here's a quote that I found on a web-site:

Young sliders tend to be more carnivorous than adults; eating about 70% animal matter and 30% plant matter. Adults eat 90% plant matter and 10% animal matter

[tY2i]

Makes perfect sense to me, explains it all! Thanks alot for that.

Another thing, about the seperate feeding: feeding them from different ends of the tank won't work. I think it may be that they love to eat together, or the big one enjoys to crash Saucy's party and pick at both portions. Feeding them in containers doesn't seem to work right from the start. They'll just swim against the ends to escape... is this tough love (making them learn that this is where they feed) or are they just not meant to be fed outside the tank?

[tY2i]

I'll just feed them seperately in RubberMaid containers. Preferably 5 times their size??? I'll figure it out.

[marisa]

The container? It doesn't have to be that big, just big enough so that your turtles can comfortably eat; the water level can be high enough to cover the shell, and a water temp that approximates that in the tank. I feed my RES in a light-colored dishpan, and he's more the size of your larger turtle.

Get only one container and feed them in it in turns, if you want.

[tY2i]

5 months later and everything is going well. Thanks to all!