Feeding and Nutrition :: 2nd Batch of turtle shots... a couple questions

[happycamper]

So my turtle is finally reaching the end of his first batch of turtle shots. He absolutely loves them, but I wondering if I should tweak the recipe at all...

Sheldon's shell has shown great improvement since he started eating the shots. I have been feeding him the shots as pretty much a staple, with occasional pellets and green leaf lettuce.

I used the jello shot recipe on the sticky, and I am wondering if I plan on pretty much having him live on his shots I should replace the kale with green or red leaf lettuce?
Is it okay to still add the potato blueberry etc.?
Or should I maybe make 2 separate types, one with fruit veggies carrots and everything, as more of an every one and a while treat thing?

Also, is there any benefit to getting the calcium with D3? I read that a turtle who gets enough UVB light shouldn't need any additional D3, but is there any reason too much D3 would be bad? Couldn't I use it just in case he isn't getting enough? He has a UVB light but I can't take him outside this time of year at all... it got up to about 17 degrees today. Brrrrrrrr

Sorry such a long post. It's just a batch of these things went a LONG way. SO I want to make sure the shots are as healthy as possible!

[steve]

Tweaking the recipe sounds like a good idea. I don't know of anyone who uses it as a staple, most turtle pellets would suffice.

Kale is not really recommended, so I would definitely move towards green or red leaf. I'm not sure about blueberry, that's more of a treat and can probably be omitted.

You are correct about D3, but if he has a light then I would just check to make sure his pellets have it rather than adding it into the recipe.

[happycamper]

Okay thanks! It's kind of confusing me, because on redearedslider.com it says that a pellet should only make up 10-25% of the turtles diet... then further down the page it says that pellets should be a staple. To me a staple would represent the majority... kinda wacky!

I think I will just make two recipes, one consisting of mostly green and red leaf lettuce and another with more "moderate" options for an every-once-in-a-while thing.

The only reason I did kale in the first place was because that's what it said on the sticky

I really just want his shell to continue improving, but I guess the calcium is probably the most helpful aspect anyway.... right?

[steve]

Staple is meant as a key or important element. What's wrong with the shell? Do you mean from back in October? Things looks pretty good in the pics.

[happycamper]

Thanks for clearing that up. His shell is looking pretty good, I guess I am just nit-picking. For some reason it seems like the back half of his shell isn't shedding as well as the front half. I just want to be the best turtle mommy I can be

[steve]

As long as they do shed regularly, things sound good

[Karawr]

I have been using a modified jello shot recipe to get my turtle his veggies... I fee him one jello shot every second day, and 15 pellets on the days in between (he is 5inches).

I used a mixture of romaine lettuce, green & red leaf lettuce and radish leaves. Then I sprinkle 2 pellets on the top. I pour it into ice cube trays for the form.

1 - 1/2 Cups of pureed lettuce (and one cup boiled water) to two packets of knox seems to make a good, firm jelly mold. It's hard to get a good ratio so that they're not too runny...