redearslider.com

my two RES hatchlings weren't eating pellets for a while and were only eating meat so i gave them the tough love treatment and one day, one of them went for it but it seemed like he couldn't chew it, so now they still wont eat pellets. are the pellets too hard or something? they are about 1.5 inches and i tried feeding them wardley reptile sticks and zoomed turtle food.

I like reptomin (sold at walmart) because you can easily break it into small pieces, that dont need to be chewed.

Were they able to swallow any?

You could also try soaking the pellets in some water. That will soften them up.

thnx i am going to try to soak the pellets

You could pre-soak if you want, but they will soak in the tank if you leave them and the turtles will eat them eventually.
I had this same exact conversation with my girlfriend because the turtles were trying to eat the pellets and they were too hard.I let her do her thing and she crushed a bunch in a plastic bag with the bottom of a glass then put them in.They ended up being crumbs and just made a mess in the tank.

Reptomin softens fairly quickly ( if it sticks in the mouth he'll probably try to spit it out), and you can adjust the size to one that's easy to eat. I have to say that my turts were never crazy about Zoo-Med pellets. And to me, they have the most unappealing smell. They do make micro pellets for smaller turtles, and if you really want to give them the Zoo-Med brand, perhaps those would be easier to eat. (I'm not a big fan of Wardley's either.)

Gammarus pellets, reptomin, rep-cal, and wardley pellets are all pretty easy for them to chew.

I also like reptomin because they get soft in water. My turtle have trouble eating Zoo Med natural aquatic turtle food so i dont buy it anymore