Feeding and Nutrition :: Balanced Diet for Hatchling

[ashipyor]

I'm currently feeding my hatchling Tetra ReptoMin Floating Sticks and Anacharis Aquatic Plants. Is this a balanced diet for a hatchling or is there something else I should work on including?

Also, does anyone know anything about the Healthy Herp Aquatic Turtle Diet frozen food? My local pet store sold it to me before my I brought Tilly home but I haven't began feeding it yet...I was hoping to get some feedback first!

[Daniel3507]

for a hatchling you should feed however any pellets (turtle food) would fit in the head if it were hollow. i have never tried the frozen food so i dont really know much about it

[octpusgirl8]

That frozen turtle food is good stuff, i give it to my turts a couple times a week. I still use reptomin for a staple, but the frozen food has a lot of good stuff in it to add some varitety to the diet. Try feeding various veggies on the list (you can find the list in the feeding section of the main site), the more variety the better!

[ashipyor]

I just gave Tilly the frozen food for the first time and she went CRAZY! abosultely loved it. Since you are supposed to feed hatchlings every day should I give this plus the reptomin every day or do you think I should do every other with the frozen? I'm afraid now that Tilly has tasted this she'll never eat the Reptomin again.

Also...is it possible for a turtle to eat too much of the Anacharis Aquatic Plants? Tilly really seems to be going to town on these for someone who is only an inch!

[steve]

I haven't used the frozen food before, is the nutritional content roughly the same as pellets?

[ashipyor]

Here is the nutrition information:

Adult Aquatic Turtle Diet

Ingredients:
Carrots, Anacharis, Krill, Romaine Lettuce, Turnip, Pollock, Bloodworms, Dandelion Greens, Spirulina, Algin, Menhaden Oil, Vitamin Premix: Wheat Flour, Vitamin A Acetate, Cholecalciferol (source of Vitamin D3), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin, Niacin, Calcium Panthothenate, Folic Acid, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamine Mononitrate, Biotin, Inositol, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate, Betaine, and D-Alpha Mixed Tocopherols (source of Vitamin E).

Guaranteed Analysis:
Dry Weight Crude Protein 44.4% min
Crude Fat 7.0% min
Crude Fiber 15.1% max
Moisture 0.0% max
Calcium to Phosphorous Ratio 2:1


Wet Weight Crude Protein 2.21% min
Crude Fat 0.35% min
Crude Fiber 0.75% max
Moisture 95.02% max
Calcium to Phosphorous Ratio 2:1

[ashipyor]

For comparison:

Tetra ReptoMin Floating Food Sticks
Ingredients:
Fish meal, wheat starch, dried yeast, corn flour, shrimp meal, wheat gluten, potato protein, dehulled soybean meal, soybean oil, monobasic calcium phosphate, L-lysine monohydrochloride, lecithin, algae meal, ascorbic acid (Vitamin C), inositol, niacin, L-ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (stabilized Vitamin C), D-calcium pantothenate, A-tocopherol-acetate, riboflavin-5-phosphate, thiamine mononitrate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, Vitamin A palmitate, menadione sodium bisulfite complex, cyanocobalamin, cholecalciferol, manganese sulfate, zinc sulfate, ferrous sulfate, cobalt nitrate, artificial colors, blue 2 lake, yellow 6 lake, and ethoxyquin as a preservative.

Guaranteed Analysis
Crude Protein 42.5% min.
Moisture 8.0% max.
Crude Fat 8.5% min.
Phosphorous 1.8% min.
Crude Fiber 2.0% max.
Calcium 2.0% min.
Ascorbic acid
(Vitamin C) 100 mg/kg min.

[steve]

Seems pretty good. Though even with a good brand of pellet, it doesn't hurt to mix it up and offer a bit of variety.