Feeding and Nutrition :: How can i tell if my turtle is eating?

[77f2504by4]

i have 2 baby red eared sliders. one seems to have opened up and eats infront of me. he will eat krill, grasshoppers, and chicken. the other one i have never seen eat. i have never seem him eat anything in the 2 weeks i have had them. he just hides from me anytime i am on the same floor of the house as the turtle tank. i have tried feeding both turtles in a separate container and neither will eat anything. i have left them for hours in the "feeding tank" seperatly and together. so i started feeding in their main tank and still, one appears to not eat.

the one that wont eat, rarly basks, he does but as soon as i start walking down the stairs plop into the water he goes. and he hides or swims real fast around the bottom of the tank.

any ideas for how i can tell if he is malnourished or if he is eating?

also both of them refuse to eat pellets or anything that leeks like turtle food. this may sound mean, but should i starve them into eating pellets?

[steve]

After feeding the more open one, take him/her out and leave food for the other one in the main tank. If you had them at the same time, and they were roughly the same size, the other one would be noticeably bigger or heavier after 2 weeks. It's not unusual to be skittish, particularly during basking. That's why they're called sliders. Cover the sides if you think they're disrupted too often.

Make sure they are eating and healthy before making big changes to the diet, Try the jell-o shot recipe... try bits of tuna or boiled chicken...

[marisa]

Can you tell if they're pooping? The one that doesn't seem to be eating may be eating his or the other's poop (or both).

[77f2504by4]

i tried taking one out after he eats, it doesnt work, because then the other one just hides near the heater. anytime i get anywhere near the tank, the skittish one hides under water and nothing gets his attention, not even live prey.

i did get them at the same time. they are both about the same size, too close to see a difference. i try to avoid touching the skittish one in the hopes of opening him up a bit. so i dont really know if he weighs any less.

while basking, the other one wont stop unluss i pick him up, he really doesnt seem to care if i am near by. the skittish one on the other hand wont fully climb onto the basking area i think because he wants quick easy access to the water.

i cant tell if they are pooping or not because i really dont know what i'm looking for. i see bits on the bottom of the tank, but i dont know if they are the un eaten pellets/sticks.

[steve]

How long are you leaving him in the feeding tank?

[77f2504by4]

i have tried leaving them in the ffeeding tank for 15min all the way up to 1 hour. and i count the peices or pellets, and there are never any missing.

little bit of an update. i saw both of them eat krill. so now i know that are both eating.

also i noticed that if i toss some pellets in one of them will simm over, attempt to peck at one, and then thats it, nothing else. no matter how long i leave them in there they wont eat them.

[steve]

What kind of pellet are you using now and can you try a different pellet like HBH? Their poop will probably be bigger than the pellets and darker in color.

[77f2504by4]

another update...

they are both eating the krill, and they love it. they now beg for it. but i know its not the healthiest option so i am still dropping leafy things is the tank, (that they flat out refuse to eat) and pellets. the pellets i have are in order from smalled to largest. T-Rex juvenile formula, Reptomin baby, petco brand, wardleys and Reptomin. they do try to eat pellets, but they don't swallow them. they spit them out... now that i know they are both eating, how can i get them to eat pellets? should i not feed them anything but a few pellets? should i mix all the pellets together for variety? i plan on trying the jello shots, but it would be more convenient if they ate pellets.

[steve]

I would try pellets only for a couple of days, if not then the jello recipe.

[77f2504by4]

when i dump the pellets in, they both swim over and look at the pellets, then they swim around all crazy untill i give them the shrimp.

i guess tomorrow i'll give them only pellets!

[kellycraig125]

I can hardly ever give mine shrimp or krill or anything like that. If I do, that's all he'll want and begs for it like crazy, turning his nose up to everything else. I stick to the jello shots, greens, and pellets generally because he just seems to get spoiled so quickly.

So maybe just try the pellets for a few days and then the jello shots, cutting out the shrimp. I know it seems mean, but at least they will be eating what's best for him.

[77f2504by4]

i am in the process of trying that, its going good so far. i have seen them eat pellets.

they dont go crazy for them but they ate a couple.

i also discovers that they both LOVE fish food... i tried feeding the feeder fish that live in my turtle tank, and i'm fairly certain that the turtles ate every last peice. i''ll have to look at the ingredients, but i think that they are almost the same as the pellets...

[77f2504by4]

Just a little update...


So i didnt feed them any shrimp since monday. yesterday they ate about one-two pellets each. far less than there heads size if empty. but they ate a ton of fish food...

Today, they went crazy for Baby Reptomin!! i was putting the pellets in the tank and accidentally spilled about 3-4 extra in there, and they ate every single one!

i guess i'll keep on giving them the baby reptomin. but that leads me to my next question, i want them to also eat veggies. but they dont want anything to do with them, its understandable, they are still pretty young. but what kinds of water plants should i put in the tank? i cant buy duckweed anywhere but online, and anacharis is also online only. i am quite angry that no one carrys anacharis. and i cant see spending 20 plust S&H for a couple of sprigs. i even tried aquarium shops and the people look at me like i have 2 heads when asking if they have any. i even tried bringing the clerk over to the plastic plants and showing him what it looks like!

[steve]

You might be limited to what's available locally since some may be considered invasive and are banned.

I'll concentrate on getting them to have a steady and regular protein source first, then veggies... maybe try carrots and lettuce to see if there is any interest.

[77f2504by4]

thats the thing, anacharis is found in EVERY local body of water. and its not listed on the states list of banned invasive species.

so at about what age do veggies become important, i'm just afraid of over feeding them protein...