General Care Discussion :: Am I overfeeding my turtles?

[neraky71]

Hi, I got 2 hatchlings 2 & 1/2 months ago. I followed the direction on this website about feeding the pellets (around the size of their heads) to them daily. However, I noticed that they have grown from 3 to 4.5cm now. I have changed their diet to jello shots instead lately. Should I be feeding them every other day instead. They seem to grow much faster than my friend's which we got on the same day. My friend's 2 RES look exactly the same size like before, but then her 2 RES don't seem to eat at all and very slow and sluggish compared to mine. Are they supposed to grow this fast? I don't want to overfeed my turtles but I thought they need to be fed daily when they are young.

[AllTheCandies]

since they're just little babies, they will grow fairly fast. Feeding them daily is good

[neraky71]

thanks for your quick reply. Good, I was just worried after seeing my friend's RES today because they haven't grown at all.

[meltedspork]

Maybe the problem is with your friend's RES and not yours?

[AllTheCandies]

yeah, thats what I was thinking. babies of most animals grow pretty fast. plus sluggishness is never a good sign :/

[neraky71]

I will definitely let my friend know. I always think she needs to get hers a basking lamp.

[AllTheCandies]

yes she definitely does if she wants them to live

[steve]

If the seems between their scutes are noticeably wider, then you might be feeding too much. Not all pellets have the same amount of protein, so make careful observations and when in doubt, feed less pellets.

[marisa]

It's common for hatchings to have growth spurts. As long as your not overfeeding them a high protein diet, they should be OK. If they continue to grow noticeably, then you might adjust the amount of food you give them.