Feeding and Nutrition :: Video of Turtles Eating Carrots

[kathleensandin]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJYNM84HJAY

It's not much but I still find them fun to watch.

[rsour24]

ok, idk if this is your tank or not but first of all those are painted turtles. also if this is your tank the gravel should be removed

[untsmurf]

I agree. And the little white turtle used for conditioning or medicating or whatever they claim now, should be removed. The turtles can eat it. And all it does is build up their immunity to medicine that they might eventually need.

[graceandmalu]

aw its nice that they have so much swimming space! they look healthy and fun to watch. I had a little white turtle thingy too, it's cute but my turtle wanted to eat it so I took it out. I also had some healthy-sized gravel in mine, but for the small pieces that were scattered in it she wanted to eat them, so i took that out too. it's all about experimenting and seeing what works I guess, but I do think taking out the gravel and the turtle-thingy will help so you don't have to worry, and will give them more swimming space.

[roo450]

nice turtles kat...

[marisa]

They're male Eastern painted turtles. Where are the carrots?

[Ranger The Red Ear Slider]

wow i did not know those white turtle block things where bad for them i was going to buy one the other day but my dad told me to hold off on that im glad he told me so.
I also i have gravel in my tank im probally going to take it out the next time i clean his tank.
Im also going to put one of those background things under the tank so it won't look so blah!

[untsmurf]

Definitely take it out ASAP, it's very dangerous for turtles and it traps all the turtle's waste so your filters won't work as efficiently with gravel in the tank.

[vic021]

wats so bad about the turtle thing

[untsmurf]

What turtle thing?

[vic021]

the white turtle medicine/conditioner thing in the tank

[untsmurf]

It's not necessary. It poses a health risk because the turtles can ingest it. And it adds a small amount of medication to their water, and the constant exposure to this medicine will increase the turtles' immunity to it. Which means, when you NEED the medicine, it won't work. It's like when people drink soda everyday, then on a day when they some extra energy, instead of drinking one soda they need multiple sodas or one (or more) of those energy drinks.

[kathleensandin]

I didn't realize the turtle was actually medication. I thought it was purely a water conditioner which led to a "healthier" turtle. But at any rate, I've only had one and never bought it again anyways. I only got it for the first time with the newly filled tank.

I've never had issues with my rocks but I know that a lot of people have mentioned it to me on this site. The turtles have picked it in their mouths, but have always spit it out, not being stupid enough to eat it. They're mostly temporary, at any rate, being left over from a previous aquarium. I have a bunch of small rocks that I'm switching in soon, simply because they're smoother.

[kathleensandin]

Oh, and the carrots had sunk to the ground and were tangled in the plants. You can see the turtles sniffing around and dig them out to eat them. You can see the fish get one at 3:08 and the turtle picking one up well at 0:32, 0:48, and 2:48 (taking a piece from the plants). I chop the carrots up really small for them. I keep most of their food bite size so they don't start thinking they can eat bigger things yet.

[untsmurf]

It's still highly dangerous to leave the gravel in the tank especially if you've already seen them ''inspecting'' it. You can't watch them 24/7 and chances are, they've already eaten a few rocks. You should take the gravel out ASAP and leave the tank bare bottom for a few weeks (there's actually no need for substrate) and watch their waste for rocks. After I removed the gravel from my tank, Mikey was excreting small rocks for weeks, which meant he was eating them regularly.

They also trap food and waste which contributes to your turtles sifting through them and eating them