Feeding and Nutrition :: Feeding Behaviour Concerns

[Juxtapose13]

Hello everyone,

It's been several years since I last posted, and I hope you and your turtle(s) are all doing well.

My own red eared slider, Tokka, is 34 years old, and she's had some feeding behavioural changes over the last 4-5 months that I'd like to discuss.

Generally, she now acts like I never feed her, and she aggressively and frantically begs for food far more than before (begging was always a thing, but she's now so aggressive about it and can do it at all hours of the day, where as before she used to do it only closer to her usual feeding time).

A few years before the pandemic, when she was regularly passing eggs, she would eat them and seems to have equated that to anything coming out of her cloaca being food. She regularly began eating her own droppings, something I could not stop her from doing, but she's frantically doing this now. If I see her pass a dropping I scope it out, but I need to be insanely fast as she instantly gobbles this up. Unfortunately, she's fowling her water up horribly because of this.

My concern is there might be a dietary issue at play.

I feed her:

Daily

- 16 Reptomin floating food sticks
- 12 Zoo Med Maintenance Formula Pellets
- 2 x Small Feeder Goldfish
- 2 x Night Crawlers

2-3 Times a Week

- Half a baby carrot, diced
- A few spinach leaves

Basking and other behaviour is not an issue. A consistent feeding time for her has been disrupted due to my wife's chaotic work schedule and return-to-office. I try to feed her between 6:00 and 7:30 pm each day, which is a greater range than I'd like. Note for her begging, I do not give in to it and make her wait until it's proper to feed her.

Basically, I'd love for her to calm down, and ideally to stop eating her own droppings.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

[Juxtapose13]

To update, I've read over the feeding recommendations here on the site.

What I'm going to try doing is reduce her pellet intake to 6 Reptomin and 4 Zoo Med a day, 1 x Feeder Goldfish and 1 x Nightcrawler a day. I'll reduce the baby carrot to once a week or so, no spinach, and begin introducing green and red lettuce to her diet.

For the lettuce, my question is: is there a general guideline as to quantity to feed her?

[steve]

I don't think they realize they are pooping or laying eggs, they just see something small and new in the tank and they will try to eat it. The poop infused lettuce will be more messy in the water, though it might also help satiate her appetite a bit. As for how much, I would use the size of a dollar to gauge her interest.

You could also reduce the Goldfish/Night Crawlers. That seems a bit much for daily use.

[Juxtapose13]

I don't think they realize they are pooping or laying eggs, they just see something small and new in the tank and they will try to eat it. The poop infused lettuce will be more messy in the water, though it might also help satiate her appetite a bit. As for how much, I would use the size of a dollar to gauge her interest.

You could also reduce the Goldfish/Night Crawlers. That seems a bit much for daily use.

Thanks Steve.

For her, she gets excited and sometimes starts foraging _before_ she has a dropping, so she knows what's coming. She does seem to know.

Am I correct that you mean the size of an American dollar bill?

I've cut back to a single goldfish and night crawler a day as opposed to two, and I'll see how that goes.

[steve]

Yes, I was referring to an American dollar bill. Doesn't have to be precise, but also continue to monitor the consistency of her poop.