Feeding and Nutrition

Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2008 2:48 pm **Frankie is such a good little eater!**

On the forum you always read about picky turtles not wanting to eat anything that's good for them.

Apparently I've hit the turtle jackpot in that respect. Both Ralph and Frankie are good little veg eaters. Though Ralph goes through "phases" when he'll eat more or less veg, Frankie is pretty darn consistent in eating just about anything in the tank.

Anything green and leafy will disappear within the hour, and for about a month she's been good on her other veg too (carrots, squash, zu, sweet pot, etc.)

A couple times, she's chosen cuttlebone over kibbles :shock:

Yesterday I was thinning the carrots. The bigger ones you can eat, but you always get the tiny little ones that are useless - so that's what the turts got last night (carrot tops and all). Frankie was all over that! Shredding it to pieces! I was surprised, since I figured that might be an "acquired taste".

Strangely enough, the only thing she's not keen on is berries... Yesterday I cleaned out the tank, and found all 4 blueberries that I gave her a few days before. BLUEBERRIES for goodness sakes!!! :roll:

Anyhow, does anyone else have good little eaters?

Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2008 3:14 pm

I know what you mean. I tell my husband about the picky eaters on this forum, and he's like, wow, Mikey will eat anything you put in there, edible or not. So he's always surprised that some turtles don't eat veggies or anything. I love my not-picky eater!

Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2008 3:26 pm

Spike wouldn't eat anything other than pellets when we first got him. Now he has just had carrots and red lettuce for the first time and he loved it! I even got to watch him battle the filter intake for a piece of red lettuce....he won....lol.

Other than when we first got him (& were over feeding him pellets), he now seems to be willing to try anything else we have put in.

The list so far is;
- romaine lettuce (he really loves this stuff now so at least I know he is getting some calcium in him)
- iceberg lettuce
- butter lettuce (aka Boston lettuce)
- apple skin (small piece of a red delicious apple)
- blackberries (just a couple of the little round bits, not the whole thing)
- carrots (just a few small strips)
- red lettuce

I think I may try some Turtle Bites and if I can find any locally, some Mazuri, just for some variety from the regular pellets.

Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2008 3:32 pm

Squirt is a good little eater! He loves his veggies and cuttlebone! and he's only about 3.5". He liked veggies from day one, when he was about 2.5"! A shell size piece of lettuce is gone within 10minutes or less :shock:

I would hate to have a picky eater.

Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2008 5:03 pm

haha im on the same boat with my turtles!
raphael eats anything regardless, haha and his actions have the big brother effect on hulk.

Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2008 7:35 pm

ha..both babu and brownie eat like a fatty. so far, they havent refused anything that i introduced them to. they are still babies and i was really worried about the long transition they might take to start on the veggies but im glad they like it. they wont eat veggies in front of me but when i get home from work, huge portion of the romain is missing. i introduced them to carrots this morning and im so curious to go home and see if they ate it or not. thank god i dont feed them that much or they would blow up....

Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2008 7:58 pm

Mine eats anything that I put in the tank. He has been that way since he was a tiny baby. The last time we went to the doctor she asked what his diet was. I told her he eats anything that doesn't eat him first.

Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2008 9:11 pm

Crush had problems when we first got him but he isn't picky when it comes to anything except live food, oh well. Better off that way I guess!

Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2008 5:16 pm

darn...they refused the carrots. tuna flavored carrot is my next move.

Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2008 7:13 pm

I'd can the iceberg lettuce---it has no nutritional value. Red leaf, green leaf and romaine lettuce are fine as part of the diet.

Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2008 1:59 am

Sylar/Pickle eats just about anything. Loves veggies, loves cuttlebone, swallowed a cricket covered in calcium powder WHOLE the other day. (she is still under 3 inches) When I got Sy she wouldn't at at all. Then slowly she started to eat a few pelets at a time but NO veggies. Now it all I can do to keep her from taking a finger with her pellet!!!

Bulldog>>BLUEBERRIES? seriously? :shock:

Feeding and Nutrition :: Frankie is such a good little eater!

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