Feeding and Nutrition :: How long did it take your turtle to learn about new foods???

[mcghee.kevin]

Yah so Im introducing new foods to my turtles.... and the little guys having trouble finding out whats food and whats nots..... specifically I have veggies clipped into a clothes pin attached to the tank at water level... he keeps trying to eat the clothes pin but never trys the veggies..... I thought turltes were supposed to be inquisitive about different foods???

[SpotsMama]

Sometimes they are receptive to new foods and sometimes not. Is your veggie clip red or orange? Maybe they are attracted to the color.

My turtle's favorite vegetable is fresh basil. He's always loved it. I hear about other turtles who love it too. I grow it so there's always some around.

My turtle has never liked carrots....until a few months ago. Now he seems to really enjoy them. I thought he didn't like new things but i gave him a little piece of steamed sweet potato this AM (for the first time) and he gobbled it down!

Generally speaking adult turtles are a lot more attracted to plant food than little ones. Also, turtles that have lived a long time without veggies will be slow to adapt to them. Keep offering them the good stuff though, even if they don't appreciate it now. Eventually they will come around. They all do.

[FLhaven4strays]

My son's 2" map had water plants in his tank for weeks (water lettuce, water hyacinth & anacharis) and never touched them, though my pond turtles eat the roots all the time.

Then a few days ago he nibbled a hyacinth leaf (not the roots like my other turtles eat). He ended up eating 4 entire leaves in 5 days. The leaves are bigger around than he is. Ya never know...just keep offering. One day he'll shock you.

[industrial_girl_2000]

It took me about 2 weeks to get Sheba to eat all sorts of veggies. I had chop the lettuce/carrots very small, then mix with some kind of meat product that I knew Sheba liked already (like tuna). I fed her this mixture with a spoon & then gradually (over the course of several feedings) cut back on the meat till there was no meat, only veggies. Then once she ate only the veggies, then I also tried some brightly colored fruits like strawberries & blueberries (which she loves!). After that, no problems & she basically likes any kinds of fruits & veggies.

[iac637]

Our turtles tear up anything in the tank. Except one pleco that is not almost 4 in. long they never touch him.

[Niblit]

My turtle babies had a hard time eating for about a week, now they are little piggies!! I feed them each 5 pellets twice a day, plus they have anacharis and duckweed in their tank, they chow that, and I put a large lettuce leaf in every other day. Im so excited that they like lettuce! Ive been trying to incorporate other veggies in too. It takes them a day or two some times to get interested, but i just wait and they usually grub down anything I put in there

[emma]

My turtles are hogs too! They will eat anything they can get their hands on.