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My RES is 3 years old but has had poor nutrition so far. I am fairly positive she is blind and she has trouble eating floating pellets (most of the time she eats them due to luck rather than skill). When she is trying to surface feed she randomly snaps at the water and occasionally a food piece is pulled into her mouth. She also scrounges at the bottom constantly though where she has more success eating because she can kick up food with her foot then snap at it and successfully catch it. Right now I am leaving pellets in the water constantly in hopes that some sink and she can find others but I know she is not getting the proper nutrition and it is making the water very cloudy. I am trying to find a sinking pellet that is healthy for a slider and can be used as a primary source of nutrition. I will take suggestions on good supplements as well but the key is that they need to sink because otherwise she will only eat it part of the time before it dissolves.

Thanks for any help.
Ashley

Does she have any coordination problems? Does she look at an angle? Swimming in circles?

Most pellets are designed to float. Have you tried feeding her in shallow water?

Omega One Shrimp Pellets - you'll find them in the fish section. It is made for fish - but will be just fine as a staple food for your turtle. It is important to determine what is causing the poor eye sight though.

Gurgi's Mom wrote:Omega One Shrimp Pellets - you'll find them in the fish section. It is made for fish - but will be just fine as a staple food for your turtle. It is important to determine what is causing the poor eye sight though.

There's very little difference in the ingredient list between Omega One shrimp and turtle pellets. The one glaring difference in the analysis, though, is calcium. The turtle pellets list 2% and the shrimp pellets don't list it at all. Possibly, that's because calcium isn't that important for bottom feeding fish. However, if you are using Omega One's shrimp pellets as a staple, I'd look to supplement calcium somehow.

How about making the turtle jello shots for her? You could feed her with tongs.

Try the food for Koy goldfish. Mine love them and it helped with the shedding of his scutes.

Ijapa - thanks... I noticed that too - luckily my turtle loves his cuttlebone. Plus I use the Omega One Shrimp pellets along with Wheat Germ Kio pellets & Reptomin.

Gurgi's Mom wrote:Ijapa - thanks... I noticed that too - luckily my turtle loves his cuttlebone. Plus I use the Omega One Shrimp pellets along with Wheat Germ Kio pellets & Reptomin.

The same combination I use! I started with Reptomin baby, and picked up Omega One baby because of the ingredients. I added the wheat germ when she stopped shedding, and she got the occasional Omega One shrimp pellets after the cories moved down to the refugium.