General Care Discussion :: Eating Problems

[comills]

I have two turtles in a 100 gal tank, 82 degrees, I have the turtle dock and plenty of filtration. I feed my turtles veggies and reptomin mainly. The problem seems to be that the male eats much more of the food then the female. So when I put the food in the tank most of it is gobbled up by the male who is much larger, 4.5" with the female about 3". I noticed that the female seems to not be in such a good mood. I thought that it might have something to do with the fact that the bigger one is always gobbling up most of the food. To test this again, I put 10 reptomin sticks into the tank for their daily feeding and the big turtle gobbled up 7 sticks and the smaller one only got 3 sticks. What can I do differently so that the little one is getting her share of the meal and why is this happening?

[Pugness]

You may want to try feeding them seperately in order to be sure that both of the turts have been fed the adequate amount of food.

[comills]

So what do you suggest, should I just take them out and put the into a tupperware? Do I add water to the tupperware since turtles do not seem to be able to eat without water? Is it hard on a turtle to transfer them back and forth out of the tank, my one turtle hates going out of the tank it really freaks her out.

[Andrew7769]

try getting a reg 10 gal container and feeding them one at a time u might even wait for them 2 poop 2 lol helps reduce tank cleanings

[Pugness]

I feed my turtles in i think its a 1 gallon but try to feed them in something not big enough so that they can swim around in and depnding on how big your turtles are mines are about 3-4 inches so i fill the water to about 3 inches high.

[missibsu]

It may take your turt awhile to adjust to being fed in another set up. Marisa mentioned this the other day - if the turt refuses to eat in the container and you place it back in the tank, don't immediately feed there. That reinforces the behavior that you don't want. It's like saying, ok, fine, I'll feed you here. Throw the fit and you get what you want...I don't have kids of my own, but I have students that try the same things, lol.

The other thing you can try is feeding them at opposite ends of the tank. Sometimes it helps if you can have someone else right there with you. Often times my boyfriend feeds one while I am feeding the other. That way they are both occupied at the same time.

[cam722]

Are your turtles both the same age? I'm just curious because you're saying the male is larger when usually it's the female

I have 1 male and 1 female in a 75 gallon tank .. both around 4".. maybe a bit over for the female. I feed them in the tank but each at different ends so they each get their share. Works good for me

If you do feed them in a separate container you must put water in for them to eat because as you said, they can not eat without water as they have no saliva and their tongue is fixed. Also, put enough water in so that the water is over their head .. they have a difficult time seeing their food it seems if it's not floating over them.. at least mine do

[steve]

The shyer turtle might also be more reluctant to eat outside of the tank. I know my male RES doesn't always like it.

If you're not interested in the benefits of feeding outside the tank like everyone is suggesting - which I recommend as well, then just separate them in the outside container during feeding, so the one can eat by herself at her own pace in the tank.

[marisa]

I'd take the piggish one out and feed the one that's not getting as much food in the tank. The piggy sounds like he'll eat anywhere. Try feeding him in a light-colored dishpan, fill it to a level that will cover the shell. You can take some water from the tank so the temp will be about the same.

I don't know how wide you tank is, but if you really don't want to take either out (or by chance the one won't eat after you've tried feeding out of the tank for a reasonable amount of time), you could slip a tank divider between them during feeding time (or just use a piece of plexiglass that you could divide the tank with to limit access to each other during feeding time).