Feeding and Nutrition :: Turtle Jello Shots

[theartbook35]

That's the best "om nom nom" picture I've ever seen.

The spell check on my browser is so funny. It says "om" is spelled correctly, but that "nom" isn't. But, you can't have the om without the nom, or the nom without the om...

[Caphits]

What? (the first part)

[silentaoi]

A couple days ago I fed Lenny a block of your Jello shot creation (thumbs up btw) and he dove right at it. At first he just picked at all the tuna bits but eventually he scraped up all the little miscellaneous veggie pieces too.

However I noticed that the next few days afterwards, he started swimming lopsided??? I know that this is one of the signs of RI but he is still extremely active and shows no other signs of RI. Could Lenny's lopsided swimming be just a temporary buildup of gas from having eaten too many veggies? It was his first time eating so many greens at once..

[marisa]

It's very possible. Wait a day or two and see if the problem doesn't resolve itself.

[pumpkin14]

I just made some tonight around 9:30... they're in the fridge setting right now! I'm no cook, so hopefully they turn out okay. I'm excited.

[turtleluv]

Is it really safe to feed the jello shots to the turtles frozen? I am just wondering because they are cold blooded and they can't maintain body temperature, so wont the cold food harm them? :?

[Caphits]

Nah, its fine to feed them cold food. The water they are in is plenty warm to keep them not cold.

[together28]

I'm a new RES adoptive Mom and I have a question about the jello shots.

This may be a stupid question, but here goes.... the ingredients read "skin off large apple". Does this mean I should only use the skin of the apple, or does it mean that I want to use an apple without the skin?

Thanks,
Debra

[Caphits]

Use the skin.
The skin contains much more nutrition than the "flesh," which is very sugary.

[bently11]

I've tried giving Bently apple skins as his fruit serving but he won't touch them and they eventually get sucked up by the filter. He'll eat carrot skins, but not apples. I know I'm not talking about the jello shots here (which work great by the way) but I don't understand why.

[blueace23]

So i tired the recipe that's on here for the turtle jello shots, but unfortunately the first batch i made, he just tore them to shreds and got tiny pieces of tuna all over in his tank... won't eat the tuna pieces, so i made another batch. Without tuna, since he has no interest in eating the tuna. I also didn't put blueberries in it, because I can't find them in any grocery stores anymore- they must be going out of season... oh and he didn't eat the pieces of pureed blueberries either. He did eat the jello and the other pureed veggies tho. So the second batch I put in all different kinds of lettuces, some carrots, a tomato, some sweet potato and topped them off with reptomin food sticks. He has no interest in them, and honestly, I'm getting tired of making a batch and he has no interest in it, let alone taking the time and spending the money to make all of this and he has no interest in it... He won't eat veggies by themselves, so I thought that maybe this would work for the best and I could trick him into eating veggies without him knowing it, but he has no interest... I even tried to put crickets in the middle of the shots, he just picked them out and didn't touch the rest... I don't know what to do, any pointers? please? anyone else have this problem and tried another batch that worked really well? Please share. On a side note, I'm worried about him not basking too... i haven't seen him up there and I have even been taping him for hours when I'm not around, nothing. The water temp is 75, and the basking temp is 90.... don't know what to do? HELP!

[bradmeisel]

I am really surprised. Are you freezing the shots after you make them and cutting them into small pieces easy for your turtle to swallow whole.

I use the rubber molds that make sticks and then i freeze them and cut each stick into six pieces (diagonally). I feed my turtles by hand and they take it and swallow it whole. They NEVER ate any veggies until I did this. Do you sprinkle the red reptomin treat pellets over them before they set? I am so surprised. If this doesn't work I am stumped.

With respect to basking. Is the basking area easy tro get on to? Are you sure it is 90 degrees? (are you using a 100 watt?) Is there enough room on the basking area? My turtles go through periods where they bask more than other times but not really not at all ever.

Good luck with your turtle. I really think if the veggies are chopped well and you put pellets in the mix and the red pellets all on top (all ground up). Freeze it all and chop it into easy to feed and swallow thin stick like pieces. I bet she'll love it. Oh yeah, I think its a she.

[blueace23]

well, i tried again today, but he didn't have any interest in them, i guess i will just keep trying....

oh, and just so you know, the basking temp is 90, i checked it today. The basking area is built in to his aquarium and there is plenty of room up there... he's been up there before, but i guess he just doesn't feel like going up there lately or something... He's completely healthy and normal in every other way, so i'm not sure what changed to make him not want to go up there anymore... i'll post a pic of his basking area...

Thanks for the advice... i guess i'll just keep trying with the jello shots...

[zoologist]

try mixing more protien and less veggies into the first batch, mix it with his favorite foods and add only a tiny amount of veggies. you could also try purreeing the veggies and protien seperately so you can mix varying amounts in one batch, for example.

say you have an ice cube tray that can hold hmmmm 12 cubes. 3 cubes can be 90% protien, 10% veggies. next 3 cubes can be 75% protien, 25% veggies, next 3 cubes can be 50-50, and the last three can be 25% protien, 75% veggies. see how that works? get him used to the idea of veggies

[dixie8123]

Tryin 2 talk my mom in2 this but zoologist, I live right near you, just in town!