Feeding and Nutrition :: Feeding outside of tank

[myahs_mommy]

Hello
I want to start feeding my turtle outside of her tank, is there anything i should be worried about with doing this. I have a small plastic tub to put her in to do this. Also is it okay to only feed once a day, I thnk i am overfeeding her. She is about 4inches and she gets 4 to 6 reptomin sticks and romane and an occasional shrimp treat. Sorry I am new to this so I have a lot of questions. Thanks for the help

MYAHS_MOMMY

[RiverChubbs]

You can feed them s much as will fit in their head. Mine are 5 inches and their head is about the size of to top of my thumb. So I feed them this much every third day. Try to change it up a lot...so that is is as realistic to nature as possible. Ex: Day 1 half a cap full of reptomin sticks, Day 2 romain lettuce, Day 3 crickets or meal worms, Day 4 anarcharis plant (try to have this water plant always avaiable (it is tough though, cause a lot of times pet stores are out of it). Day 5 reptomin sticks, Day 6 Romain lettuce or other vegetable listed in Sticky, Day 7 a few dried shrimp treats and maybe an earthworm. OUR turtles are big enough to where they don't need as uch protein anymore...so make sure to give her veggies too. You could also feed rosy red minnows instead of earthworms, they are really healthy...but my turtles are too lazy to chase these...So I have 3 living in my tank now. Also the followig week you could do Day 1 reptomin Day 4 worm Day 7 Lettuce...They don't have to be fed every day. One of mine will eat outside of the container...but the other won't and I can't tell the difference until I have caught them and it really stresses them out. So I wish you the best of luck with it! It will cut dow on waste.

[N4784N R4613]

Just make sure you have some water in your plastic tub, RES can not eat without water. They have no saliva.

[myahs_mommy]

Thanks for the advice, it is much appericiated

MYAHS_MOMMY

[kidzncatz]

I have been feeding Tubby outside of the tank for the past few weeks and it has made all the difference with regards to a cleaner tank and monitoring what she eats. We are fortunate to have a nice big (deep) utility sink that is working well for her. My one concern with any container would be to make sure that your water is deep enough (at least as deep as she is "tall", if I remember correctly) so that she cannot flip herself over and drown (if she were not able to "right" herself, that is.) Also, I would be sure to keep an eye on her during feeding if you have any other critters in the house that could mess with her.

Well.. good luck with everything. I think feeding outside the tank is wonderful (really, it has cut my tank cleaning in half

[marisa]

For eating, you really only have to have the water deep enough to cover the shell---so your turtle can grab it and eat it easily. Your turtle is in the container to eat and not move around and try to climb out of.