General Care Discussion :: My fatty turtle :)

[dave09]

Hi all.. my first post here. And sorry for my cheap english

My turtle (8-9 inches I think) seems to be hungry all the time.
I think I read on this site that RES's should eat every 2 day but mine could eat 20 times a day if I would give her that much amount of food.
Every time she sees the foodbox thingy she goes nuts.. she's hungry all the time. I have this food sticks from ReptoMin and then I also give her other food like kale (can't really remember the english word.. http://www.softhard.de/Bilder/Narungsmittel/Salat.gif - this)
So if anyone can tell me if that's normal.. and maybe tell me how often I really should feed her...

[sonyj]

Turtles over a year old should be fed once every other day only the amount of pellets(food sticks) that could fit inside their head if it were hollow. Veggies and plant matter should be given daily. There are lists of what to feed and what not to feed under the feeding and nutrition section of the forum.

Variety is important in a turtles diet. Try giving vegetables like red leaf or green leaf lettuces, dandelions greens, Romain lettuce, carrots, squash/zucchini, pumpkin, sweet potato to add variety. As turtles grow older they become more herbivorous, and should have plenty of veggies in their diet.

In the wild, a turtle eats when it has the opportunity not knowing when it's next meal will come. Your turtle would eat well past being full for this reason if you let it. As owners, we have to be responsible only to give them the food they should have, not feed every time they beg - which they are so good at doing.

[dave09]

Ok thanks for the info..

[missibsu]

I think just about everyone on here can testify to having turts who are master beggers! It's tough love, but healthy for the turt. Having a fat turtle puts a strain on internal organs and that isn't healthy at all.