Feeding and Nutrition :: Turtle won't eater feeder

Turtle diets and eating habits discussed here.

Post Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2007 2:02 pm   Turtle won't eater feeder

My turtle is showing no interest in my feeder fish...is it that my turtle is to small? about an inch and a half...but i asked for the smallest feeder fish the store had... they are much smaller then my turtle...wen i put my big goldfish (bigger then turtle) he showed more interest in eating him... why wont my turtle eat the ffeeder fish or show interest in them... i already tried to put a dead one in but still no interest...?
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Post Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2007 3:03 pm   

my turtles have no interest in small feeder fish. they only go after the bigger ones. what kind of feeder fish are they?

you'll need to pay attention to what kind u get for the nutrition factor, some fish are healthy for them to eat, some are not. goldfish are not. guppies and rosiered minnows are suppose to be good.
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Post Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2007 3:05 pm   

Goldfish are high in fat and low in nutritional value and are more likely to carry parasites that can get your turtle sick, they are not safe for your turtle to eat. I would take the goldfish out. Oh, and remeber that you should only feed feeder fish once every two weeks, or once every month. One fish for one turtle is fine.
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Post Posted: Mon Jul 02, 2007 3:49 pm   

Most turtles will take interest in feeder fish right off the bat and eat one or two. My turtle likes to let them live with him a while and pick them off one by one.
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Post Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 12:42 pm   

Some turtles simply don't like live feeder fish. Perhaps yours will eventually, perhaps they never will.
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Post Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 1:23 pm   

It's fine if your turtle won't eat the feeder fish if they are minnows because the minnows (live ones) will "clean up" after the turtle and keep the bottom of your tank nicer. That is, as long as there aren't too many minnows in there or the minnows aren't too large. If there are too many minnows they will add to the waste load instead of helping.

I'd take that goldfish out though. Not good for the turtle for him to be in there and definitely not good for the goldfish!
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Post Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 5:21 pm   

marisa wrote:Some turtles simply don't like live feeder fish. Perhaps yours will eventually, perhaps they never will.


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Post Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 9:11 pm   

Older RES are believed to have less interest in live foods like fish, though it can probably be attributed to increased difficulty in capturing and devouring them.
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Post Posted: Tue Jul 03, 2007 10:11 pm   

Captive turts, when fed on a schedule, will just get lazy. Why should they chase after a little fish when they know the Big head will be along soon with some veggies or pellets? :)
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