Feeding and Nutrition :: Nutritional question

[Aqua8]

I was wondering if I could get some help with something...

My baby turtle Tortarita, is by my calculations exactly 4 and 1/2 this year almost 5. But she's only about 2 nd 1/2 inches. I've come to hear that is is small!! So I just came to post her diet and see if anyone sees anything I can do more.... (or have done wrong)

These on a daily basis
Turtle Pellits
Carrot or piece of squash

Once and a while
Strawberries
Watermelon
Grape

Now to tell you the truth I've NEVER heard of a pet turtle being feed live food such as guppies, till I visited your website. To say the least I'm a novice. But now that I know I'm preparing for it as we speak.

Well any help or idea will be appreciated!!

[SpotsMama]

How much does she get in the way of pellets? The rule of thumb is she should get enough pellets that they would fill her head (not counting the neck) if it were hollow - every other day for a grown turtle.

But at 2 1/2 inches, I'd almost think she should be fed like a baby - in other words she'd get a headfull of pellets every day instead of every other day.

What brand of pellets does she get?

A big reason for turtles growing slowly or not growing at all is internal parasites. It's not that uncommon in turtles. Has your girl ever been checked by a vet?

Actually, the diet sounds ok except it's lacking greens. Turtles should get frequent servings of greens like romaine, leaf lettuce. What a lot of people do is put anacharis or some other water plants in the tank. The water plants stay in there until the turtle eats them - they don't spoil like lettuce. You can get water plants at pet stores like Petsmart. If you try this, be sure and rinse the plants off real well before you put them in the tank to get any snails or bugs off.

What about cuttlebone? Do you ever give her cuttlebone?

[Aqua8]

Well pellet wise she only gets about 2 of 3 long pieces or maybe 4 or 6 tiny pieces. And the brand I feed her is called ReptoMin Tetrafauna, floating food sticks. Now these she eats very quickly without giving them time to hit the water almost, and the extra I give her like watermelon or carrots she swims around it then pokes at it then nibbles and eats it. And if you mean by cuttlebone, the calcium blocks and calcium shaped turtle thingies then yeah of course I've given her those. She loves the turtle looking ones. And I'll give her some greens asap, i read on this forum a post of what not to and what to feed you turtle so I'm planning to go with that post.

Thank you And I'm posting some pictures so you get an idea of the size in the photo gallery.

[Aqua8]

well I justed visited my petstore today and bought a trio-food feeder. Its the regular types of pellets I feed Tortarita but it comes with baby shrimp and Mini krill. She loved it, at least as far as the shrimp goes...lol

[steve]

That Reptomin food container is not really a good idea.. I can't believe they market that thing. Shrimp and Krill are rare treats. They are high in protein and not very nutritious. Stop using those white turtle blocks.. again its one of those worthless things petstores sell.

What brand of pellets do you normally use?

[Aqua8]

Really!!! Ok. I wasn't planning on feeding her the shrimp or krill every day but in any case I usually feed her the pellet food froM ReptoMin tetrafauna. And whats wrong with the white turtle blocks??

[marisa]

They're really not worth the money you'd spend on keeping them in the tank. If you want to increase the calcium in the diet, cuttlebone is better. Many of the blocks do not contain a form of calcium that's readily available to your turtle. If you're thinking of using them to keep the water "healthy" and to prevent disease, regular cleanings and water changes will do more to ensure that than any block. And if the block contains sulfa, regular use can lead to your turtle becoming resistant to the drug.

[reptilegrrl]

Well pellet wise she only gets about 2 of 3 long pieces or maybe 4 or 6 tiny pieces. And the brand I feed her is called ReptoMin Tetrafauna, floating food sticks. Now these she eats very quickly without giving them time to hit the water almost, and the extra I give her like watermelon or carrots she swims around it then pokes at it then nibbles and eats it. And if you mean by cuttlebone, the calcium blocks and calcium shaped turtle thingies then yeah of course I've given her those. She loves the turtle looking ones. And I'll give her some greens asap, i read on this forum a post of what not to and what to feed you turtle so I'm planning to go with that post.

Thank you And I'm posting some pictures so you get an idea of the size in the photo gallery.

It sounds to me as though two things are at work here: poor nutrition and intestinal parasites.

First of all, you are not feeding her enough food. She needs to eat more and have more variety. No more watermelon. Look at the nutrition section of this site and that will help you. Your turtle has been literally starving for four years. 2-3 pellets a day is starvation rations.

The other issue is parasitism. Many turtles are infected with intestinal parasites. These parasites will absorb the nutrients from the food the turtles eat, which means that the turtles don't get that nutrition. Take your turtle and a fecal sample to the vet for examination. If she has parasites, the vet can treat her for them. But I really suspect that starvation if the problem here.

Try feeding her more and see what happens. But, at 4 years old, she may be too old to grow any larger :/ . It might be too late for her.