Feeding and Nutrition :: feeding baby qustion?

[karbay]

know yall said to get a turtle food that starts with a R but when i went today they had crickets, worms, something called turtle sticks, shrimp but my question is with a baby res what should i feed him on a daily base ? what do start with adn when do i give him something different?

right now he is eating lettuce he loves it but when we put pellets he doesnt do thing to them ?

[xsavingsaturdayx]

karbay,for a baby about 5 pellets a day should be fine and as a treat you can give him some worms or shrimp every week or so vegetables should be offered everyday(ROMAINE LETTUCE,CARROTS etc..).You dont HAVE to buy reptomin pellets theyre are other turtle pellets out theyre.Next time you go to petco or wherever you shop for your pets ask a employee about "turtle pellets" and they should show you what they have.Just keep offering pellets he will eat it sooner or later,dont worry.

[karbay]

ok thanks well he just ate his lettuce is there a amount of lettuce i am suppose to give him i been pitching a piece or two (smaller then a dime) and he eats all up ? any certain amount?

[xsavingsaturdayx]

I am pretty sure he can as much vegetables as he wants.If it is easier for him to eat the lettuce in small bits then keep doing so.

[CountryGirl68]

Karbay, you can give him more lettuce than what you're giving him. Since he's small, a *small* leaf (minus the vein) should be okay.

Keeping trying with the pellets (soak them in tuna water - the smell might get him to eat them), and feed the pellets every day as well as lettuce. Shrimp, cricket or mealworm can be given once a week.

[karbay]

thank you country i will start doign that

[marisa]

Be careful with the mealworms---they're smelly and turtles usually love them, but their skins are hard to digest and they have an extremely bad calcium/phosphorus ratio (and calcium is really important to hatchlings). I'd give them very rarely and only a few if I did. Try an earthworm (or pieces if the worm is really large)---much healthier for him.

You'll know if your turtle is eating too much lettuce if his poop become fiberous and falls apart, making a real mess.

[CountryGirl68]

Be careful with the mealworms---they're smelly and turtles usually love them, but their skins are hard to digest and they have an extremely bad calcium/phosphorus ratio (and calcium is really important to hatchlings). I'd give them very rarely and only a few if I did. Try an earthworm (or pieces if the worm is really large)---much healthier for him.

I had heard about the calcium/phosphorus but didn't know about the skins. For earthworms, where do you get them? I've looked for them in the pet stores but all they have are mealworms. Are the ones found at fishing bait stores okay?

[kc]

i believe you can get earth worms in fish bait stores. OR, this is what i do: put a piece of large stone in the backyard. make sure there's no grass. leave the stone on top of the "no grass" area in the backyard. after each rain, you remove the stone and just dig earth worms yourself. after you are done just put the stone back. it doesn't have to be a large stone. you can use bricks or a log.
p.s. i only do that in the summer.

[flutterby]

I would be careful with anything that you "wild" catch because you don't know where they've been and what chemicals/fertilizers they may have come in contact with.