General Care Discussion :: Fat Turtle? Skinny Turtle?

[norma]

How do I know if Norma is fat? My husband thinks we feed her too much. I think she's fine. How do we know?

Also, we can't seem to get her to eat fresh greens. She eats her pellets just fine, and fish and bloodworms. But put greens out for her, and she might bite at them, but not actually eat them. She loses interest quickly.

[Dein211]

usually if they have bulges of skin or "fat rolls" where they can't pull themselves all the way in their shel is usually a good sign that you have a fat turtle. a normal wieght turtle will have a little "fat roll". a skinny turtle's limbs will have baggy loose skin and well i guess its easy to tell a skiny turtle. the general rule about feeding is you should feed as mush as you would be able to fit in her head if it were hollow and for adults every other day to every three days. as to the veggies, just keep trying. you could make them more tempting by soaking them in tuna juice and give them to her. turtles are like kids in that they usually won;t eat their veggies untill they realize they realy are good for them

[SpotsMama]

Here's some good info on feeding a turtle - covers all the basics:

http://www.redearslider.com/index_nutrition.html

[norma]

Thanks! That was helpful!