General Care Discussion :: Dislikes turtle pellets

[the_mushroom]

Hello again,

This is my second post as a problem, but it's my first week with louise and she seems to have odd eating habits.

1. She eats only greens (coriander leaves) and the mosquitoes that i manage to catch
She does her eating only when nobody's watching so i don't have a clue if she's eating or not.

I've tried feeding carrots, boiled chicken, turtle pellets but it just lies in the pool of water.

Is it normal for a turtle to not like turtle food and completely ignore it?

Are there any tricks i should try to entice, like should i stop feeding the greens and only provide the pellets and chicken or something like that.

Please help me, i'm a little worried about this particular habit

She does seem to poop though, i mean she goes twice a day on an average so does that mean she is getting nutrition?

[grey goose]

Louise is just nervous in her new surroundings and all. Keep giving her greens everyday, and offer pellets too, but don't stand there and stare, just let her be. Remove the pellets if she doesn't eat them in a half hour or so. I wouldn't give her adult mosquitoes or chicken though.....

[the_mushroom]

Mosquitoes and chicken was only because i read young ones need about 75% non-vegetarian diet.

Is there any reason i should stay away from boiled chicken?

[grey goose]

Chicken and beef should be avoided, too much fat and protein. Plus they will get hooked on it, and refuse to eat anything else.
Mosquito larve is OK to feed once in a while, you can get it at most pet stores frozen in little blocks. I believe they call them Bloodworms....Adult mosquitoes are filthy little creatures and should not be offered at all.
A good commercial pellet has all the nutrents your turt should need. I'm not sure about corriander, but offer a variety of greens everyday. Check the stickey under what to feed and what not to feed.

[Breigh]

They say if you put your pellets in tuna juice for a bit before putting them in the tank they gobble them up like nobodies business

[marisa]

You can give bits of boiled white chicken meat as a treat (this means occasionally); you can also buy "fortified" bloodworms in the freezer section of some petstores (as well as some other frozen turtle food). Have you tried an earthworm or two? Trying some different brand pellets might be good, as well as getting the scent of something smelly on the pellets to arouse interest.

Coriander leaves? Don't know their nutritional content, but if that's the plant matter your turtle is eating exclusively, it can't be good (too much of just about anything leads to an unbalanced diet and is unhealthy). Try some different leafy greens (Does fresh coriander have a scent? If so, crush them up well and try to get the scent of them on some other leafy greens.)