General Care Discussion :: new RES owner a few questions

[auto119]

so i need to know, how much is to much to feed, i usually drop maybe a palm full two times a day, before i leave for work around 530 am or so and feed her agan around 6 pm. and also i need some opinons on pellets. when i bought her i got omega one pellets and they seem to ALLWAYS get stuck in the filter so i decited to get a different food i bought tetra reptomin and they never get stuck it seems like they float long enough so she will eat them. just wondering what the best pellets are for her so she gets what she needs. and also anything thing els i should put in there for her to eat. she wont eat fish that ive seen i have a fish and a "sucker" fish in there for a few weeks and she hasnt ate them. i also put live crickets in the tank with reptocal and she ate them right up.

[SpotsMama]

Hi and Welcome to the Forum

I'm not suprised your turtle hasn't eaten the fish - she's probably too full to even chase a fish. How much they should get depends on the size of the turtle and what stage of life he/she is in, but I can almost guarantee two palm fulls a day is way too much.

Here's the basic rule of thumb: Up to 4" length, every day a turtle gets as many pellets as would fit in his/her head if his/her head (not neck - just head) were hollow. After 4" length, cut the amount back to a headfull every other day.

If you (and your turtle) prefer, you can break the daily amount of pellets up into several small feedings just so you don't go over the total for the day. For instance, I feed my 7" male a half a headfull of pellets every day since he enjoys feeding time sooooo much.

For the rest, they can have green leafy things daily - as much as they want so long as they don't get the runs - in addition to the pellets. In addition to that, they can have a couple of servings a week of other veggies and some fruit like blueberries, carrot, tomato, bell pepper, steamed sweet potato, etc. In addition, one a month they can have a high protein treat like a few freeze dried, gut-loaded crickets, some shrimp, boiled chicken or live minnows. On the days they get the high protein treat you can skip the pellets.

Here's the complete version of turtle nuitrition. Be sure to read every word. Then read all the other stuff on the site - it's very helpful.

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

[SpotsMama]

On pellets, use several different brands to round out the nuitrition. Two good brands are the reptomin and mazuri. Others are listed on the link above.

[trudykurz]

It's so easy to overfeed, you see them begging all the time and it's fun to watch them eat! I give my turt a collard green leaf or lettuce leaf every day. Every other day I give her a mixture of pellets and fresh veggies, no bigger than her head. Once or twice a month I give her a small piece of mango, apple, or a couple of blueberries. I also give her cuttlebone every few days. Check out the listing of foods to give and not give it's very helpful. I swear I think turtles will eat almost anything you put in their tank but we need to be careful, they aren't like dogs that can walk off extra weight gain!
Good luck with your turt!

[TheComputerGremlin]

Yes, way, way too much protein! With that type of feeding, she'll have significant pyramiding very soon, and that will decrease her life drastically. One excellent suggestion is to put the total amount of pellets to feed daily in one of those daily pill cases, and then you can drop in a few as often as you want, until you run out for that day. As some help for the amount of pellets, when my turtle was 2.5", she got about 4 ReptoMin sticks daily, now that she's 5", she gets about 6-7 pellets daily (a half-headful). It may not seem like much, and they'll beg like they are starving, but they aren't. Their bellies are about the size of their head!

[trudykurz]

I read something about turtles on this site just don't remember where, you have to treat aquatic turtles like you would fish. People overfeed fish all the time, and the rule of thumb for fish is feed according to eye size, because their stomachs are actually very small. I feed my aquarium fish once a day, and I don't feed my pond fish at all during the winter. Check out the turtle anatomy section there is a great picture posted there. Just remember they are animals and they don't eat nonstop in the wild, they graze, so don't overfeed it will lead to health problems.