Feeding and Nutrition :: my turtle only plays with his food.

[360alex]

Mitch has been eating less and less lately, although I admit i've been feeding him too much the last couple of days. He usually eats the shrimp pellets .. and lately I've been giving him krill, but noticed vomit/diahrea on the dock so I figured that was messing up his stomach. He's been on pellets since he arrived .. and has always gobbled them right up after they got soft.

However, lately he's been swimming really fast to the pellet, bites it, takes it down to the bottom and chomps on it a little ... then he takes his claws and kind of pushes it out of his mouth. As it floats up, he chases it down and bites it again, but doesn't eat any. He tries "eating" the pellet like this 4 or 5 times, then gives up and swims away. It's kind of stressing me out .. even though I know he's not starving and will chomp at pieces of whatever floating around.

The other thing is, some broken pellets had collected between some rocks, and he was going crazy trying to get to them .. but when he finally moved teh rocks and they were freed, he just swam off.

Any ideas?

(merry christmas)

[flutterby]

How often do you feed him the krill because it should only be given to them as a treat. He could be "refusing" to eat the pellets because he's used to getting the krill.

[360alex]

I was only giving him the krill for a day or so .. maybe he liked it so much that he's not going to settle for the pellets anymore. I did stick some pellets in the krill container so that they'll soak up some of that awful scent.

[flutterby]

I think even once a day is too much I think its supposed to be once a week or two because its high in protein.

[360alex]

I understand that, but what about him playing wiht the pellets?

[flutterby]

I'm assuming he likes the taste of the krill better and he realizes that his pellets aren't the krill so he spits them back out. I'd withhold the krill til he learns to eat his pellets.

[cam722]

My turtles use to do that same thing but they were just taking bites out of it.. they'd chase the broken pieces down and eat them. Not sure what your turtle could be doing. Is he eating anything? Maybe not feed him for a day and see if the next day he's eating again.. maybe he's just been overfed?

[industrial_girl_2000]

The krill is too rich for his stomach & that's why he is throwing up. It would be like you eating rich sweet cake everyday for breakfast lunch & dinner! Your stomach would be upset too. Try the pellets & withhold the krill for several weeks. He may not eat the pellets at first, but keep trying, and after a few days he will. And with the pellets you can also try a piece of green romaine lettuce which should help settle his stomach a bit.

[360alex]

thanks industrial girl. is he just too young for that treat .. or are the pet stores marketing the wrong products for turtles?

[industrial_girl_2000]

thanks industrial girl. is he just too young for that treat .. or are the pet stores marketing the wrong products for turtles?

Nope, the krill is ok, just in small doses. You may want to only give him a treat maybe once every coupla weeks. To tell you the truth, I have found so many different foods that my turtle loves that almost everything she eats seems to be like a treat to her!

Feel free to experiment with different types of fruit as a treat too. The good thing about fruit as a treat (a blueberry or a piece of strawberry for example) is that they will get lots of vitamin C as well as other good vitamins for their immune system. I find that I like giving Sheba fresh fruit as treats & she loves it just as much as a piece of high-protein shrimp or krill. The moderators put a list of foods on this board.....I printed one out and keep it on my fridge so that I know when I go shopping what to buy for her. It's fun to get your turtle to try new things!