General Care Discussion :: They are hatching!

[Bumby's Mom]

Well Gimli is eating now! He ate 3 shrimps and 2 meal worms. Marvolo ate 1 shrimp and went to sleep. I think I might have a problem. Gimli swam over to Marvolo (who has been in the fake plant since I put them in 2 hours ago) and put his hands together and fluttered them at Marvolo. Is this aggression or does he not know what he is doing yet? Marvolo is the bigger of the two but he did hatch a few days after Gimli and he is no where near as active. Earlier today they were sleeping together so I am just really confused about it. Should I just keep an eye on them and see what happens?

[Opus]

That's good that ate something but don't give them meal worms too often,maybe 1 meal worm each every couple weeks maybe?

[Bumby's Mom]

Well that is all they are wanting to eat, the mealworms and the shrimp. I have offered 3 different pellets and they won't touch any of them. Poor Gimli acted like he was starved. He was going after those shrimp really agressively.

[Opus]

Well,give them the shrimp I recomend them more than meal worms.

[DavidY]

That's great that they're eating! But I agree with Opus. If you can get the tiny or "mini" sized mealworms, about 1/4" in length, those tend to be safer to feed than the normal sized ones. In general though mealworms tend to not offer enough nutrition and their tough shell can cause impaction especially in baby reptiles. But at least for their first several meals, whatever they'll eat is good. Have you tried soaking the baby pellets in some tuna juice?

[SpotsMama]

I'm surprised that a three day old hatchling would flutter a one day old hatchling. I've never had a hatchling so didn't know the behavior started so young. Yes, you should keep an eye on them in case it turns into more serious aggression, though it's pretty common for people to keep little immature turtles together in the same tank without a problem. It seems to be as they get older that they start seriously fighting. If Gimli dominates Marvolo you might need to separate them for feeding to make sure little Marvolo gets his fair share.

[marisa]

Bumby's Mom, cut up an earthworm into small pieces. It's better for them than just mealworms.

[Bumby's Mom]

I am going to try pellets again today. I didn't try the tuna juice because I don't eat meat and think that the smell of that would make me sick. I am hoping that they are like Nyx. When I first got Nyx the only thing she would eat were meal worms and then after a few days she started eating pellets and has been fine ever since. And about the meal worm, I has broken it into pieces for them (I did put a whole one in there to see if they could bite pieces off themselves which didn't work). Are the shrimps ok? They seemed to like those more than the meal worms. Also the one type of pellets I have are only fruites and vegetables but I read that the babies need more "meat" and the veggies shouldn't be fed for a few months so should I not give them that particular pellet? I do have the baby reptomin and adult reptomin which I am going to see if they will take today. I was just happy to see them eating after I read about how hard it is to get them eating. The pellets actually smell like fish (to me atleast) but the worms and shrimp do have a stronger smell.
I haven't seen any agression yet today so I am hoping it was just because I had moved them into a tank and they were adjusting to the new surroundings. They slept in there over night (not what I wanted but they both has a fit when I put them in the container) one in each of the fake plants so I think they are fine now with swimming and knowing when and how to get air. Marvolo is way more skittish than Gimli. Gimli doesn't mind me but Marvolo swims away and hides when he sees me. They act so completely different, is that a characteristic of a certain sex? I know Nyx warmed up to me after a few weeks and loves attention. She actually gets mad now and hisses if I don't give her attention.

[untsmurf]

I would stick to the reptomin, they're better for the babies. Make sure it is small enough and soggy enough for them though.

[Opus]

And it your turtles don't eat all of the worm,take t out because when worms die they have a horrible smell too them!