Other Turtle Discussion :: i need help bad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[turtle nut]

how many pelets shoud i give my turtle?

[Starchick]

The general rule is the amount that would fit in your turtles head if it were hollow, not including the neck. Feed that amount every other day. How old is your turtle?

[SpotsMama]

Here's some good info on the subject:

http://www.redearslider.com/pellets.html

While you're at it, why don't you read all the info on nuitrition. it's very helpful.

You can't really say the number of pellets to feed because some pellets are little and some are big. So, as it says in the info cited above, you're supposed to feed the amount that would fit into the turtle's head if it were hollow every day while they are little.

After about a year, you decrease the amount as follows: give the turtle the amount that would fit in his/her head every other day (instead of every day.)

[turtle nut]

my turtle's are babys and i feed thim 5 pelets a day

[turtle nut]

They are not the stick pellets, they are the tiny round ones. I was told to feed them 5 per day, but they seem hungry all the time, so I've been giving them about 7-8 per day and some tiny bits of lettuce.

[ellman605]

Please read the website

[SpotsMama]

You can give them all the lettuce they want as along as it's green leaf lettuce, red leaf lettuce or romaine lettuce. Don't give them iceberg, it has no appreciable nuitritional value.

On the pellets, look at your turts heads and try to imagine if they were hollow. Don't count the necks. Then imagine how many pellets it would take to fill up the hollow heads. That's how many pellets they should get every day. As the turtles grow, this amount will increase.

When they get to be about a year old, only give them their pellets every other day instead of every day. You can keep giving them the lettuce every day, though.

Be sure they always have pieces of cuttlebone to nibble on - from the time they are little until they are 60 years old!

Little turtles are the best beggers in the world. They will always beg for food, even when they are stuffed. Try not to give in and overfeed them as it would have long term harmful effects on their health.

Good luck!

[turtle nut]

what is cuttlebone???

[Starchick]

Sounds like you need to take a little time and read through the information on the main site at www.redearslider.com! It'll explain all this basic stuff and save you a lot of time.

In answer to your question though, cuttlebone is a hard white oblong disc that provides calcium. Most pet stores carry it for birds. You buy them, then on one side there's a hard coating, you need to chip that off so they don't bite down on it, then you can break off little peices and let them float around the tank for the turtle to bite at when they need it.

[steve]

Yes! I would start reading here:
www.redearslider.com/hatchling_tips.html

www.redearslider.com/startup.html