General Care Discussion :: Food

[RESturtle]

I was just wondering if it is good to feed my turtle 3 seperate foods in a 3 day cycle... is it healthy to switch three different foods?... 2 types of turtle stix and dried shrimp and i was also wondering would my turtle eat feeder fish?? he is a bby around an inch lenght

[xsavingsaturdayx]

Switching pellets is okay, just make sure that the 3 pellets contain different ingridients so what one pellet lacks, the other has and etc.

Try vegetables and aquatic plants. Romaine lettuce, red leaf lettuce, green leaf lettuce, carrots, and basil are all good. And for aquatic plants, anacharis, horn wort and duck weed is good. Baby's sometimes dont take vegetables or plants right away, but it should still be offered.

Dried shrimp shouldnt be fed too often, I'd say for a baby once a week (about 2 or 3 shrimp's is more than enough IMO) Feeder fish are good too, but not too much, for feeder fish I feed my guy's one small feeder fish already killed each every two week's, I change it up with cricket's, or mealworm's, and sometimes a piece of cooked chicken (no seasoning added, just plain cooked chicken) Too much of these food's will cause alot of health problems so you gotta becareful not to overfeed.

A head's up on feeder fish and other live prey. Wherever you get them from, make sure that the enclosure that they are being kept in is clean and free of dead animal's. If you see a couple of dead fish or dirty brown water, walk out and buy fish elsewhere. Alot of times feeder fish are kept in realy bad condition and as a result the fish often carry parasites which can make your turtle sick.

What I do is buy two feeder fish (I have two turtle's, if you have one, then just get one) then when I get home I empty out the bag and fill it back up with hot water (it kill's them instantly) and then I freeze them for a couple of days until I feed them to my turtle's. Freezing them gets rid of most parasites, or so I've heard.

But if you want to offer them live, just make sure you get them from a pet shop that houses them in a nice clean habitat.

[megcornell]

Its okay to swtich up the diet... in the wild, turtles can't be guaranteed the same meal everyday, so its no different in a tank.
I wouldn't make shrimp a normal part of their diet-- given its high protein content it should be a rare treat. At your turtle's size you should be feeding him mostly pellets supplemented with veggies daily and the occasional high protein snack ( fish, shrimp) about once a month or so.
Even as a hatchling, turtles eat feeder fish, you may want to ask for smaller rosy reds to begin with. Since disease is a problem sometimes in feeder fish, I always dump out the water they come in and just add the fish so there's less chance of passing along parasites or whatever the fish were exposed to.

[RESturtle]

thank you both for your tips... i am glad to learn more on my turtle diet because of you two... but my turtle doesnt like lettuce? he wont go near it.. and ok i didnt no that ishould only ffeed them shrimp once a week or month... now i no and so i should feed my turtle a feeding fish once a month more as a treat? and "savingsaturday" when you freeze them do u unfreeze them when you are ready to feed them the fish? like how long do u take them out b4 your feed them. thanks

[xsavingsaturdayx]

yes, I unfreeze them before giving them to my turtles (it usually takes an hour, sometimes less to defrost). I usually freeze them for like 5 days, sometimes 4.

Not all babys will take lettuce right away, but that shouldnt stop you from offering it. Keep on offering it to him even if he doesnt take it, one day he will. And a trick that I reccomend is to take the lettuce and put it in a can of tuna (packed in water) and let it sit there in the fridge for a couple of hours, the smell of tuna will stick to the lettuce and it will maybe make him eat it since it will smell more yummy. You can do this with catfood, tuna and shrimp too, once he takes lettuce, you can stop enticeing him to eat lettuce with all of the above

[megcornell]

Also, not all turtles like the same veggies so feel free to try a variety. My turtle loves romaine but I'm pretty sure she'd starve herself before eating collard greens ... sometimes its a matter of finding the healthy foods they like. Like Saturday said, you can also try to disguise the food if it makes it more appealing.

[DavidY]

Don't forget to try aquatic plants like anacharis. That's part of their natural diet in the wild.

Ok, I just checked their website and found this...
http://www.petco.com/product/102251/Estes-Turtle-Pebbles-Frost-Mix.aspx
I think I'm going to write to the manufacturer as well. It's amazing these stupid people never actually research or test their products before they sell them. Sleeaaazzzzy!