Feeding and Nutrition :: Greens!! My TURTS WILL NOT EAT IT! HELP!

[camee1991]

Until I went on this site, I didnt know about the lettuce varieties and dandelion greens (which I cannot find anywhere to save my life) that I should have been giving her... But since almost 8 months now I have tried and tried and tried ALLLLL lettuce varieties, mostly red leaf; yet Tobi WILL NOT even nibble it! I have floated it, hung it on the vege clip, etc.. and she ignores it totally.

The new baby isnt interested in anything at all but pellets, shrimp, krill, etc. I AM hanging a baby split carrot in the vege clip and lettuce for him daily in hopes he will "learn" it is for eating and will start on it young.

HOW do you get these little buggars to EAT THIS?! Its maddening! I know Tobi needs it for sure. All she wants is stuff with calories and a good taste! And she cant afford to get fatter...ya know?

Please..anyone with any info lemme know! Or if any of you who DONT have turts that eat lettuce or any greens and its ok; tell me!? Thanks!!!

[xsavingsaturdayx]

Maybe you can put tobi on some vitamin supplement's on the meanwhile? I know that pellet's are good, but pellet's alone doesnt cut it. It doesnt have all the vitamin's and mineral's that toby need's in order to be healthy. Vitamin supplement's alone wont cut it either, she need's fresh veggie's. Have you tried aquatic plant's? Have you tryed to dip the lettuce into something smelly like tuna, shrimp etc?

The new baby might not be taking in the vegetable's just yet because he/she is young and when they are young, they are more carnivorous. It's when they grow up that they start taking in more vegetable's and etc. But you should still offer the baby vegetable's and aquatic plant's every day until he/she decide's to try it out. Try putting in some lettuce or carrot's in a container of krill and leave it in there for about an hour and then take it out and offer it to to the turtle.

[steve]

A number of people started with aquatic plants and then moved on to lettuce. Aquatic plants are more natural to them and can survive in the tank if your turtle chooses not to eat them right away. For larger, healthy turtles, some people use a tough love method and only offer veggies until their turtle takes it.

[camee1991]

Thanks guys! You know, Tobi LOVES almost everything BUT greens...

Tobi likes carrots, grapes, bananas, most fruit, occasion "bland food scraps" (very occasional) from the kitchen when cooking...but NO lettuce greens... I gave her anarachis when she was small a couple times and she did eat it, but I didnt realize that it should have been a staple! So, I didnt keep buying it.

Guess I need to go to the pet store! Hope she remembers that she liked it! Then MAYBE??? she will start eating red or green lettuce leaves!

I dont know if I could handle the "tough love method"....lol Poor hungry baby.... lol

Also, can anyone tell me what exact store they get dandelion leaves at? We have Wally World, Albertsons, United Supermarket and thats all. And NONE carry it and had NO idea when I asked them so either. DUH! I would LOVE to try some of that!

YES, I will continue to daily offer to both. Especially the baby since I have hope he will eat some SOMEDAY... He did nibble on a carrot slice tonite:P

[steve]

I've been able to find dandelion greens at a regular supermarket near me. I think marisa says that she's seen them at more ethnic supermarkets. Despite the superior content in dandelion greens, I found them to be a bit stiff and bitter compared to red leaf/green leaf lettuce.

[camee1991]

Hmmm, I guess I wont worry about the dandelion greens then too much. Just wanted to try them. Maybe I will sometime IF I can ever locate some!

[marisa]

I've found the size and taste of store-sold dandelions to vary with the stock that's put out and where the dandelions originated. The leaves from Texas (Big Bear brand) tend to be bigger and a bit more bitter than those grown locally. I pretty much buy from two supermarkets and if the stock of one doesn['t look that good, I'll wait until I'm at the other one and try there. I go through the bunches and find the one with the smallest, most tender leaves.

If you can't find dandelions, speak the manager of the produce section and see if they ever get any in (sometimes stores will get them, but not as regular shipments). Last summer after I asked, one supermarket started selling prickly pear cactus fruit with their ethnic produce. If the manager says they don't ever get them, ask him/her who would sell them.

Camee1991, is there a Petsmart near you? If so, look in the frozen food section and see if they have any San Francisco Bay Brand Aquatic Turtle Diet. It's a blister pack of frozen cubes that are a mixture of good foods, including dandelions, carrots, bloodworms, pollock, etc. and are vitamin fortified.

Most turtles love this stuff, and it's really good to get a hatchling eating some plant matter. I've gotten hatchlings to move on from this to aquatic plants and veggies. For hatchlings, I cut a cube into quarters to make it easy for them to eat. For larger turtles, you could cut it in half.

The stuff is messy, though, so unless you're going to do a tank cleaning shortly after, it's good to feed it to them in a separate container.

[camee1991]

Marisa:

There isnt ANY very close Pet stores near me. The nearest is Petco, an hour away. But I can always get the Turtle Diet online I suppose. Im used to that
Thanks for that info!

I DID ask my local large supermarket chain about dandelion greens, and they laughed, as they had never heard of em' , and told me to GO DIGGEM' UP! BUH! Anyhow, they DID let me fill out a "request form"...havent seen them in there yet. But Im always looking. And again, thanks for the smaller leaves tip for the dandelions!

You all are always so helpful on here!

[SpotsMama]

The one green leaf my turtle would eat long before he'd eat any other was fresh basil. He still loves it, though he also will eat anacharis, leaf lettuce and romaine now too.

[PinkyTurtle]

Try a veggie clip too. Alpnose would not touch his greens, untill they where placed in the veggie clip. I think it makes it easier for them to eat.

[camee1991]

Cool! At least I know my store has Culantro and fresh Basil! I have 4 vege clips..lol Sooo...that shouldnt be a problem.

I will get some when I go next and "try" these!

Man, I hope she gets a hankering for SOMETHING green and fresh!

[octpusgirl8]

It took me a long time to get Turtley to eat his veggies, i offered them at least every other day for months with no luck. I tried carrot strips in a veggie clip and he took to that, and once he learned that delicious food comes in a veggie clip he started to eat the lettuce i was offering. Now he devours his greens everyday. I'm so proud of him I'm sure Tobi will take to them eventually, just keep trying. I bet once she starts to eat them she will be a salad eating machine!

[camee1991]

I hope so Octpusgirl! She already eats carrots and most fruits...and I try all greens in that doggon clip...but still waiting...

[octpusgirl8]

When you give her the other veggies do you put them in the clip?

[industrial_girl_2000]

Heck, if I could get my turtle to eat greens, anyone can do it. Here's how you do it: take the greens & maybe some cooked carrot, chop into small pieces, mix with something they love like canned tuna (kinda like a "stew"). Feed either by hand or with a baby spoon. Slowly back off on the mixed-in canned tuna until they take the lettuce by itself. During this process of switching them over to the veggies, feed them an occasional piece of fruit like a blueberry, strawberry, grape (whatever) as a treat when they finish their dinner "stew". This just gets them used to the texture of plants & is a nice treat for "eating their veggies". You can also opt to mix some cooked sweet potato with some tuna as well.

It is important to note that I was very patient with this process & didn't expect miracles right away. I also fed my turtle by hand which helps a lot. Since the tuna-veggie stew can be a little bit messy, feel free to feed with a baby spoon so your fingers don't get in the way. I feed my turtle with a spoon all the time because she bites really hard.

Within 2 weeks of doing the above, my big Sheba baby was hooked on veggies.