Feeding and Nutrition :: How Often to Feed Greesn?

[LKitsch]

One guy tells me to feed my adult RES's greens daily. Another guy says no, just a few times a week. What is the consensus on this board?

[turboturtle8]

An adult RES should have greens daily along with pellets just make sure you are feeding him a variety

heres a link
http://www.redearslider.com/plants.html

[nomimalone1978]

The red tipped lettuce is a really good option for me. It floats and when it degrades - still floats. (Keeps the filter clean.) Iceberg has no nutritional value. But I also find that daily I will give mine some fresh greens (I am new to this too, though, so don't take my word for it.) I find that he is getting used to veggies and won't necessarilly eat all of the greens every time.

[LKitsch]

I was surprised to see lettuce recommended for every day because I was told it has no nutritional value, and surprised to see the article say go easy on collard greens---which is too bad because they are so cheap.

Seems like dandelion and turnip greens are the best. They are also the most difficult to find in the average supermarket. Anyway, for some reason, my sliders love chinese pea pods!

Actually, they love all greens because it all disappears after several hours.

[Safdar]

It depends on the type of lettuce
Red leaf lettuce is good
Just have a varierty

Veggies are recomended everyday for adults and pellets every other day

[industrial_girl_2000]

I was surprised to see lettuce recommended for every day because I was told it has no nutritional value, and surprised to see the article say go easy on collard greens---which is too bad because they are so cheap.

Seems like dandelion and turnip greens are the best. They are also the most difficult to find in the average supermarket. Anyway, for some reason, my sliders love chinese pea pods!

Actually, they love all greens because it all disappears after several hours.

WHITE ("iceberg") lettuce has NO nutritional value & you want to stay away from feeding this to your turts.

ROMAINE, GREEN, or RED lettuce has LOTS of vitamins & is great for the turts so feel free to feed these!

Same goes for "mixed greens" (the salad that looks like "weeds" with dandelions in it). Try to get the varieties without spinach. Spinach actually has something in it that keeps a turtle from absorbing calcium which is bad in the long run. Of course, one or two leaves isn't going to hurt, but since we have so much variety of things to feed, we don't need to concentrate ONLY on spinach, LOL.

Collards are GREAT for turts....I feed collards to my adult RES quite often & she loves them. She gets 1 leaf per day when I buy a bundle of fresh collards (and you know how big 1 leaf is....it's pretty big!). That's it. More than 1 leaf gives her an upset tummy.

[marisa]

Dandelions do pack the most nutritional punch, but some of the lettuces (especially red-leaf and Romaine) do have nutritional value as well.

[xsavingsaturdayx]

I wouldnt say lettuce has ALOT of nutritional value, because it doesnt. But I do agree that romaine, red leaf, green leaf lettuce are the best choice of lettuces to choose from. But better stuff like collard greens, kale, endives, dandelion greens is a wiser choice.

Feed veggies to your turtle everyday.

[Tenodera]

Veggies everyday? I feed Serra veggies every second day since she gets so full from eating pellets and such she can't finish it...Also, her poop gets really runny if she eats veggies everyday.

[xsavingsaturdayx]

Mine are the opposite, they rarely get runny stools or get too stuffed from eating pellets. Might just depend on the individual but I and a lot of others feed veggies everyday.

[Kayra33]

By collards you mean what? Do they actually sell something that is just collard greens? I gave Brooks some turnip greens and she wouldn't touch them. They just went bad She loves the red leaf lettuce and green leaf lettuce. I am going to try the dandelion leaves next, maybe she'll eat those. But I do give her a big leaf of the leaf lettuce every day.

[industrial_girl_2000]

Collards....that's what they are called. You can buy them in a bundle of large leaves at a local grocery store (I get organic fresh collard greens at Whole foods market).

Turnip greens can sometimes be bitter so that's why I usually skip those. There are so many other things I can feed Sheba anyway.

[Kayra33]

Industrial_Girl you are so wise!! That is probably why she doesn't like the turnip greens!! Well I will make sure that I look for the collard greens, I like to give her a variety so she tries new things. Thanks a bunch!

[industrial_girl_2000]

Thanks Kayra! I used to be a vegetarian so I have tasted almost every kind of veggie/fruit on the planet (I still love veggies/fruits, keep them in the house, and munch on them daily). Whole Foods Market is where I buy most of my food. It's the BEST!!!

[Kayra33]

I went to the store last night and got Brooks some collard greens....I gave her 1/2 leaf (b/c you were right they are big!) and she took a few hunks out of it. We'll see if it's gone tonight! She really still prefers her red leaf lettuce but we're going to try!