General Care Discussion :: Need turtle treadmill!!

[novroz]

Look at that picture!! How can I make her lose all that fat??

Is it healthy with meat hanging around like that??

She's been eating Veggie and Pellets, cricket (once a month) and yet she is still a bit obese

[BullDog]

It's normal for older females to get a bit of "baggage" in front of their rear legs, but looking at the front legs she definitely has some pudge on her. How much pellets and how often do you feed her?

[novroz]

She became this fat because I gave her improper diet, too many chicken and other high protein food.

But it stopped about a year ago since I join this forum. but she is still as fat as before.

Her diet are
Morning : veggie; turnip green, collard, ipoema aquatica, carrot (once a week), apple peel (few times a week)
Afternoon : cuttle bone
night : 1/4 head size pellets

is that okay?

[zuse]

Now, I'm still learning but I swear that a herpetologist at the zoo told me that reptiles and their metabolism make it hard to get the weight off? Snakes at least. I know that he said they overfed some of the snakes in their collection and have since fixed it. It's been YEARS now of proper diet and they are still carrying the weight.

Maybe I remember incorrectly.

[BullDog]

You're right Zuse. It can take a long time for them to lose weight.
Novroz, does she look any different from a year ago? Looking at that first pic it looks like she may have lost some weight and has some extra skin.

[blackforces get you]

mine used to have those. but then i cut back on some food and stopped feeding as frequently as i did. and once she started getting active, it started going away. especially since my turtle is usually a hyper turtle...sleep swimming

but anyway, i would try and cut down on the food. and hopefully she gets more active

[novroz]

Now that I think about...she might has lost weight a little...very little.

I have this picture of her sleeping with her head pull inside and all the fat was around her head....I want to take that kin of picture again but she hardly put her head inside anymore...so I can't make comparison.

If Zuse is right, so all I have to do now is wait??

Can exercise help?? Like walking around the yard, or made her chase her favorite food on land (like giving carrot and ler her chase that carrot around)?

[SpenceMasta]

dont feed her everyday, reptiles have very slow metabolism due to being cold blooded and thrive on a little starvation, snakes are good example sometimes you only feed them twice a year

[jozzep]

You are still feeding her too much.
Turtles should eat once a day or even every other day.Split her daily diet into 3 days, and you'll see improvement.
Also if she's an adult, you can start weighing her and see if the weight goes down or up.

[novroz]

so finally it comes down to cutting down her food!!

Hhhhfff very difficult to do, I have to avoid her begging eyes...But if it's for her own good I will do it.

What's your suggestion?? Give her food half than usual but still giving it daily or Give the same amount but only once in 2-3days??

Weight her?? I only have human scale...I don't think it appropriately scale her weight. I think scale for food is more appropiate..

[zuse]

I like to torture my turtle!

Ok, so you know if you just put 5 pieces or whatever they're gone in about .2 seconds? (inhale!) Well, I let my turtle see that I have them, then I put them on her basking dock. So, she has to go up, grab one, and go in the water to eat it. I'm waiting for her to become really smart and throw them all in at once... but she's not. She's alone in the tank, but I guess she's suspicious of tank-reflection turtle. Or she can't think that far in the future. Oh, well. But that keeps her busy for 10-15 minutes. So, you get more satisfaction from a feeding than the 0.2 second gulp. That's just my idea.

Honestly, pets get overweight because they beg. And it's because they know it'll get them a treat. Who cares if they aren't hungry! And people confuse food with love, haha.

But if you know that realistically she is properly nourished and is just begging then you're just feeding her for your own fulfillment!

[papoopeepoo]

I've read in multiple places that it's best to feed your turtle all the food it's going to to eat for the day all at once, as opposed to spreading it out over 3 major meals like people do.

The idea of burning fat to lose weight applies for turtles as it does for humans. Keep him/her active. Feed food that will give energy but is low in fat. Most importantly, have patience. A thing like patience is key in turtle care. Bad care can normally be recognized quickly, but it takes a long time to repair damage already done.

[novroz]

zuse >> that's a great idea...I'll try that one

Papoo>> Okay I'll put all in 1 day meal and cut it back into half.

and I can let her without food when I am working, so I don't have to look at those begging eyes

Thanks you all guys I'm still up for more suggestions