Feeding and Nutrition :: What should I do???

[mzkitty23]

Ok,
I recently acquired a 12-year-old turtle that was cared for very incorrectly by it's previous owner. So, now he has the "perfect" habitat and he seems SUPER happy. However, the diet we are having a problem with. I'm trying hard to put him on a proper RES diet, but he is REALLY set in his ways. The people that had him before fed him cat food and gold fish only! So, I have been going down the list of veggies/fruits and offering a different one each day and he HATES them all. seriously he looks totally disgusted by all of it and spits it out. He LOVES any meats (like cooked chicken pieces). He will not eat any of the turtle pellets from the store. He will eat the krill or shrimp treats like crazy (but i know he's not supposed to have too many). So, I don't know what to do or try next! If i don't offer him any meats he will literally just not eat until i give up and give him meat. He will also not eat anything live. so, I guess my question is, is it okay for him to eat cooked meats all the time and no veggies? But i don't know how to MAKE him eat the veggies! Oh and he gobbles up the goldfish food that I give the goldfish that the previous owner had in the tank with him that are now his friends...lol. i would love any suggestions!!!

[Chrisbarnett]

You can either try the tough love approach to feeding pellets and veggies, where you only feed those for say a week, after a few days he should be so hungry that he will just eat them.

Or you can put some tuna juice from canned tuna on the veggies and pellets. That should do the trick.

[SpotsMama]

He's a tough case!

Try the tuna juice on the pellets and veggies as suggested.

Another trick is to mash up some pellets in the food he likes - like boiled chicken. You'll have to find some way to make it hold together - maybe you can dry it out a bit before giving it to your turtle or put a little egg white on it and let that dry. At first, make the mixture about 1/2 pellets and 1/2 chicken. Then, day by day, gradually reduce the amount of chicken until eventually he's eating nothing but pellets. Several people have tried this successfully.

On the veggies, just keep offering them. At his age, a normal turtle really loves his veggies. He's just not used to them yet. Offer things that are most appealing to turtles to get him started - like fresh basil or a little steamed sweet potato. Most turtles really like anacharis, which is a water plant that you can leave in the tank as it won't spoil like lettuce. Eventually, your guy is going to figure out how good the veggies are, and then he'll never look back.

[mzkitty23]

What wonderful suggestions! Thanks so much!!!! I will try all of that!! So, I've heard that dandelions is really good for them, (which we have growing like crazy here in Texas), but which part do I feed? Also, are boiled eggs okay to feed him? I've offered him tuna itself which he LOVES, but I didn't give much b/c I was worried about the murcury, what do you all think about that, am I being paranoid? Man, I'm full of questions!! lol. Thanks again!

[mzkitty23]

do they like cooked beef? I bet I could hide some veggies in some ground beef.

[steve]

Boiled egg whites are occasionally OK.

If the turtle is healthy, then I think Chrisbarnett's idea of tough love will work.

[mzkitty23]

He's medically healthy, but was not taken proper care of by his previous owners so I feel really guilty depriving him of anything....but I guess i'm depriving him in a sense by him not getting the veggies he needs, so I will do tough love if I have to *sigh*. I did try the greens soaked in tuna juice which did not work...but if i really try to trick him and put tuna with it (fed by hand) he will eat it...but if there is more green than tuna, he will start to chew it and spit out the green. he's so stuborn! I'm going to keep trying this though b/c at least i got a few pieces in him.

[TheComputerGremlin]

I don't think beef is recommended at all, just nothing they would naturally eat. Good protein sources are: boiled chicken, boiled egg WHITE, cooked tuna/salmon/fish, crickets, feeder fish, cooked shrimp.

As for veggies, try different things. Sometimes turtles just don't like a specific veggie. Carrot strips, boiled sweet potato, mango strips, apple strips, squash are all higher in sugars, and should be restricted to once or twice per week, but turtles often love these foods. Also blueberries, peeled grapes, strawberries are a hit. As for greens, try the dark leafy greens, romaine lettuce, red or green leaf lettuce, and dandelion greens. I wouldn't recommend the dandelions that grow outside unless you are POSITIVE they were never exposed to pesticides; that includes neighboring yards being treated and trees being treated. You can buy dandelion greens in the stores. You can feed the whole green to him.

[littlecakes]

i have the same problem. our rescue turtle is a very picky eater. ours was very sick with pneumonia when we got her 3-4 weeks ago so i just wanted her to eat ANYTHING. for a while she was happy eating meats and i would hide pellets in them, then i tried hiding finely grated/chopped veggies but she really hated that and would do everything to not let any veggie matter into her mouth. now, i think i've made her paranoid that i am trying to trick her and she has stopped eating. i'm hoping it's nothing serious. it's been maybe 3 days since she had a real appetite. her nose isn't runny or boogery anymore so i can only assume her URI is better and so it can't be that..... tried ALL kinds of appropriate vegetables and fruits but still haven't had any luck. (even with tuna juice) i hope your new turtle will be an easier one to turn onto greens!!!

[mzkitty23]

I FEEL LIKE I CONQUERED A MOUNTAIN!! lol. Krueger ate some carrots! I had some freshly boiled chicken and i put little thin slivers of carrot against the chicken and after eating a few bites without carrots (and deciding I wasn't trying to get him to eat someting he didn't want) he finally gobbled one down and didn't even know it was there...hehe. now, if the carrot comes apart from the chicken, he won't eat it, and then he gets leary again and I have to give him just chicken for the next few bites, but if it sticks and it's real thin he don't seem to notice. so i'm going to try to keep doing that! what other veggies can i try that might stick like a carrot sliver and has a mild taste?