Feeding and Nutrition :: feeding question

[ninjaturtles]

my turtles only eat if i put the food in the tank. if i take them out and put them in a plastic container to try to feed them the pills/worms/lettuce/ect, they simply won't eat. they just try to escape. i kind of dont want to keep feeding them in their regular tank because i don't want to dirty up the tank. should i just keep trying to feed them in the plastic container? anyoen else have these problems?

[SpotsMama]

Why don't you try a feeding with something irresistable like a shrimp or some boiled chicken. That might get them used to the idea that they can eat in the plastic container.

I don't know what age your turtles are but it's possible that they are still too young and nervous to eat in a strange place. If that's what's happening, then they may still come around later when they get a little older and more confident.

[steve]

I agree with SpotsMama... it doesn't always work, so I would just keep trying or wait awhile and try again. Once they realize they get food in there, it will be much easier

[SpotsMama]

And just to be sure I didn't mislead anyone - you would only feed the shrimp or chicken for a short time to give the turtles the idea of good things to be had in the plastic container. Then they need to go back on their healthy diet!

[kc]

they don't eat in the new tank because of a couple of reasons:
1) a sudden change of environment will increase their stress level so they won't eat right away.
2) they don't tend to eat right after being man-handled.

what i suggest is don't try to feed them anything right after you put them into the new plastic thank. leave them in the plastic thank for a few hours then put food inside. how many hours depends on how adaptive your turtles are.

[marisa]

If your turtles have been fed in the tank for a while, that is the place they associate with getting food. It can take quite a while before they're comfortable and realize what being put in another container is for. If they refuse to eat, don't put them back in the tank and then feed them---you will only be reinforcing eating in the tank.

You have to keep trying for a reasonable length of time, and sometimes it just doesn't work. My painteds wouldn't eat outside of the tank no matter what they were given, so they're fed in the tank.

[megcornell]

If you do end up continuing to feed in the tank, you can always come back a few minutes after feeding and scoop out any extra food, I think that's what a few people here do. I feed my turtle in the tank, and truthfully, she's such a hog, that I really don't see the food making that much, if any, of a mess. Plus, I usually have a rosy red or two left in the tank to nibble on the scraps.

[kc]

i just feed my turtle in the tank. she doesn't make a mess and she cleans up her own poop too