Feeding and Nutrition :: mango and apples among other things...

[kulki]

Hi guys! (sorry long post!)

I've been reading this forum and its great! My husband got me 2 4''in RES for my birthday and like everyone else here, I want to do a good job while they are under my care (for about the next 40-50 years or however long they live).

I've had my turtles for about 2 weeks now, so I've been slowing lessening the amount of Reptomin pellets I've been giving them and increasing the amount of veggies.

For the first couple of days, they refused the baby mixed greens (i pull out the spinach and some of the romaine), but now they love it! I thought it was going to take them longer to like it. (I'm really happy about it!)

I've also introduced green and red leaf lettuce and they aren't crazy about it yet but I'll keep on adding it to their diet.

I've introduced thin apple slices and thin mango slices as well and surprisingly they LOVE it! (right now they are sharing a piece of mango!! aww!!) It's really cute to watch them gobble it up... but is it alright for them to have it twice a week?, the mango is in season so i myself have been eating it a lot...

I feed them pellets first and they still "seem" to be hungry so that's when I've been adding the greens and the fruit.... is that ok for now?
(I'm working towards feeding them pellets about 2 times a week).

I've been feeding them when i get home from work, so it seems that now when i walk in the room, they are sorta waiting to be fed, they swim cautiously up to the surface eyeing me but are ready to duck and hide at any second, i think that means they are slowly warming up to me... but they are still very skittish...
if they are basking and they see me, they bolt in the water swimming as fast as possible away from me...


I sit and watch them when they feed, I dunno if that bothers them but I want them to know that I'm there and I'm alright after all... poor guys, sometimes I feel like Elmira from Tiny Toons... but about how long does it take before they can come out to bask and eat comfortably in my presence? and is it best to feed them in the morning or the evening?

thank you in advance and I'm sorry for the long entry here...



fewf!

[TheComputerGremlin]

Hi and welcome! So, I'll try to address everything!

First, apples and mangoes should be fed probably no more than once per week as they contain natural sugars which can be bad for their health. You can switch out them for strips of carrot, sweet potato, or squash.

Second, you should probably aim for pellets 3 times per week, or every other day. Make sure since you have two that one doesn't hog the food.

Third, they are notorious beggars. As long as they only see you at feeding times, they will constantly beg. I managed to overcome this by visiting my turtle's tank at various times during the day without giving him food.

Fourth, some people have had their turtles for many many many years and they still don't see them bask and they still dive off when they see you. Some ways to help this, spend a lot of time visiting the tank area. Don't carry heavy objects or step heavy when going towards the room (turtles can't hear but they can feel the vibrations, so eventually they'll get used to your weight and step, but if you change it, it will scare them).

Fifth, I think it's best to feed them at a constant time. I personally feed my turtle pellets in the morning and lettuce or other veggies/fruits in the evenings. I've noticed that he's more receptive to the lettuce when he's not got a belly full of pellets.

Hope this helps!

[kulki]

Hi ComputerGremlin!

Thank you so much for your response!!
I gave them strips of carrots and they eat it immediately!

YAY!

I'm going grocery shopping for sweet potato and squash, so i may vary what i give them. I'll definitely aim for pellets 3 times a week.

I've been watching how they eat, and one of them is definitely a hogger! so I've been pulling them out to feed them pellets in a separate little bowl, at first they are scared but when they see the little pellets they focus on eating.

I was wondering if turtles could hear! i guess not, huh?
That's so interesting!
I tiptoe in the room when I'm consciously trying to sneak up on them so I guess when I'm walk around normally i must scared them...

I've started to feed them pellets in the morning and veggies in the evening.

aw...man... so i may never see them bask! hmmm... now i have many more questions but i will post them in the appropriate forums

Thank so much again for taking the time to respond to my post!
You've helped a lot!

[TheComputerGremlin]

You can set up a webcam, a lot of people seem to like doing that, so you can see them basking when you aren't in the room. But yeah, I've seen my turtle bask maybe once since I've had him, but my husband has seen him bask like ten times. Must not like girls!

[kulki]

Hi ComputerGremlin!

I'm so excited to report that my turtles LOVE sweet potato! tomorrow I'm giving them squash...
I've been leaving leafy greens in their tank like baby mixed green minus the spinach, dandelion greens, and red and green leaf lettuce and i must say they don't really touch the latter much...

and today when i came home, they swam up to the surface to greet me face to face! and didn't freak out and swim away ! (ha! I'm fooling myself, i know they just want food!)

I've been sneaking peeks at the when they are basking... a web cam sounds like a good idea!! i have to find my camera charger so i can take pictures of them in the mean time that's so funny about your turtle! i have to find out whether i really have a boy and a girl!
thanks for you help and tips!

[imderanged]

Everyone turtles are different. I can get right up next to my turtle tank when he's basking and he doesn't really care. I've even touched him while he was basking. Sometime he does get in the water when he sees me catch him basking, but he doesn't really "jump" in, he just...ambles. then he swims over to see if I have any food. They might get more comfortable with you watching them in time.

[kulki]

imderanged: your little guy is so cute!

Turtles are very different, huh? the one i think is a girl is a little more adventours while the one i think is a boy is definitely more timid, when i hold them, the girl is all out of her shell and quite calm while the boy is a super squirmy worm...
it scares when they bolt in the water cus i think they are gonna get hurt, their tank is big but sometimes they hit the side of the tank :*(
they are definitely getting more and more used to me as the days go by