General Care Discussion :: feeding hatchlings

[kendra]

I am finding a lot of conflicting info. I have two (potentially sick) hatchling res. The are under 2 inches and weigh about 8 grams each.

I was wondering about how often to feed them. Some people say everyday for babies and every other day for adults. Once a day or twice a day? In the morning or afternoon?

And how much should that be eating? They usually have about 1 floating food stick and maybe a krill and a small bit of carrot and romaine, are we overfeeding? underfeeding?

Because the vet said she is not optimistic about either of them making it, a third baby already died :0( I am being overly cautious.

Thanks.

[flutterby]

From what you said, it looks like you're underfeeding them. You should feed them the amount of pellets that would fit in their head if it were hollow (per turtle) you can feed that to them all at once or you can split it during the day plus you can feed them greens on top of the pellets.

[z-chic]

What is wrong with the babies? Did the vet give any meds? I recently helped nurse a baby RES through a bad illness, he was noit eating, his eyes were swollen shut, and he was lisless. The vet did next to nothing (other than yell at my sis-in-law about how she had no buisness having a turtle that small). I ended up helping them pick out the right basic supplies for the turtle (lighting/heat/filteration) Then we used fish antibiotics in the water in a small critter keeper (his isolation cage) (we also followed the directions on the med for dose per gallon and totally cleaned the cage and added fresh water/meds daily) in addition to that we used turtle eye drops from the petshop for the eyes (vitamin A defficiency) and made sure his environment stayed really warm. i still wasn't sure he would pull through, but he did. His cagemate is almost 3 times his size because he was sick for sooo long, but he is now eating like a pig and growing.

[marisa]

How long have you had them? Eight grams is awfully light for shell lengths of close to two inches. They get only 1 pellet each daily? What pellet are you giving them? If they readily eat the pellet as well as the plant matter, that's a very good sign. I'd increase the amount of pellets, a head-size amount for each (how many depends on the size of the pellet you're feeding). You can feed once daily or break the amount up and feed twice a day, half of the amount each time.

What's their set-up like?

Why isn't the vet optimistic about their chances? Lack of weight gain?

[kendra]

I have had them for 1 week today. They are probably about 1.25 inches long. We have been giving them a variety of foods. We take them out of the tank to feed because the tank is so large and because we want to make sure that both of them are eating.

We give them 2-3 reptomin floating food sticks (cut into smaller pieces), 1-2 krill/shrimp, 1-2 food pellets (also cut up, provided by the website we bought them from), and also about 1/4 of a baby carrot cut up and some romaine lettuce.

It seems like enough to fit inside their head if it were hollow. But they do not eat all of it. They pick at everythingm usually one shrimp and one food stick and some of the carrot and lettuce.

They live in a 20-gallon tank filled with 10 gallons of water, a whisper 20 power filter, a stealth submersible heater, a 50-watt basking lamp (basking area ususally about 85), a turtle dock, a reptisun 5.0 UVB light, and a floating island that is actually about 2 inches underwater.

The vet isnt optimistic because Sal is not doing a lot of swimming and Peter Venkman also seemd lethargic when she saw him. She prescribed a liquid anti-fungal to be given orally, but it has been really difficult to get them to take it. She also said that the medicine causes kidney problems in adult turtles and the dosage is not precise because they are so small (~0.0375 cc).

[kendra]

One other question: how long should we leave them in their smaller bowls to eat?

Some food containers say to give them as much as they will eat in 5 minutes, but that doesnt exactly tell me how long to give them to eat.

Thanks.

[Andrew7769]

the containers want you to give more food so you will have to buy more food, just give them the amount that will fit inside their head if it is hollow the same rule does not apply to romaine and other stuff

[marisa]

The have fungus? Just curious, but what anti-fungal are you giving them?

As long as they're trying to eat some of the food, I'd leave them in their containers for about 20 min, or until they show absolutely no interest in it.
What's the temp of the water in the feeding containers?

What is the water temp in the tank? (Around 80F or a tad higher since they're not well would be good.)? I'd up the basking area temp several degrees, nearer to 90F.

[kendra]

We are giving them Diflucan, which I know I have heard of for human use. Their water temp right now is 82F.

[kendra]

I upped the basking temp to 90F and bumped the water temp to 85F, but alas we still lost Sal yesterday morning.

Peter Venkman seems to be doing well. He dives off the dock when I come into the room and he's eating and swimming around and stuff. So thats a positive.

[marisa]

I'm really sorry to hear you lost him. Take good care of your other one.

(Perhaps lower that water temp a few degrees.)