Feeding and Nutrition :: pellet-only diet!

[powerofvoodoo]

When my parents bought my little sister her RES for Christmas 3 years ago, we were told to just give him pellets and he doesn't need light, or filters, etc.
Recently, my sister gave him to me because she was tired of taking care of him (she kept him in about an inch of water with no filter so it was constantly dirty and she never cleaned it out)
Apparently, a short time after she got it, she researched exactly how to take care of him, but never bothered to fix her mistakes, including food.
He will ONLY eat pellets. I've tried throwing lettuce in his tank when I first got him and today I tried some bloodworms, but he only ate one (I think) in about 20 minutes before I gave in and gave him his pellets.
For the horrible care, he's been growing nicely (I think. He's about 3").
Is he on target size-wise for his age?
Also, what can I do to entice him to eat? Would it be okay if I threw a couple of my frog's gutloaded crickets into his feeding tank to see if he will it them? I don't know how to get him to eat veggies either (short of soaking them in tuna fish water--I'm vegetarian and the thought of me touching tuna repulses me but I guess I will do it if I have to)

Thanks!

jes

[Tenodera]

hmm his growth is definetely stunted. Usually RES reach 3" by the time they're one year old.
Yes, you could try the crickets, but dust them in clacium first.

and yea, you might have to try the tuna trick, since that's one of the only things that will convince them to eat.

good luck,



Kevin

[SpotsMama]

I'm afraid I agree with Tenodera. Turtles are usually three or four inches long at the end of their first year. Hopefully with an upgraded habitat your little guy will grow some more.

What kind of pellets does he get and how much? Have you read up on the guidelines on here about turtle nuitrition? They are very good - you can't go wrong if you follow the guidelines on here.

Often turtles will eat aquatic plants and this serves as their main green vegetable. A good example is anacharis, which is cheap and easy to find. A big benefit of an aquatic plant is that you can leave it in the tank until the turtle decides to eat it - it won't spoil like lettuce. Of course, your turtle may decide to just rip it to pieces instead of eat it!

Be sure your turtle has a cuttlebone in his tank for calcium. He has to get plenty of calcium for the health of his shell and bones if he's going to grow any more.

Also, it's essential that he bask under good UVB light. The UVB enables the turtle to absorb the calcium he eats - otherwise it will go to waste.

Good for you for helping the little guy out and providing a good home for him! We'll be happy to help with whatever questions you have as you put it all together.

[powerofvoodoo]

She eats ReptoMin with calcium and Vitamin C and I'll give her between 4-8 pellets every other day.
I do have a UVA/UVB light for her as well.
Today I bought her red leaf lettuce, baby carrots, green beans, banana and tuna. I broke up the food into smaller pieces (since she's used to pellets that are a lot smaller than a piece of lettuce) and dipped them (well, everything but the banana) into the tuna water before dropping them into the water. She took a couple of bites of the red leaf lettuce but is otherwise completely un-interested. She actually seems more annoyed than anything because she keeps looking for her pellets. Are there any other tricks I could try to entice her to eat or should I just keep up trying to feed her the lettuce (and no pellets) for the next couple of days to see if she'll give in and eat it?
Also, can I give her the tuna? She doesn't have a problem eating food, just as long as it's the pellets, so should I save that trick for turtles that won't eat at all?
thanks!

[roseK]

i would go without giving the pellets, she will have to give in

[powerofvoodoo]

She's slowly eating the lettuce, so I think I will stop giving the pellets to get her to start eating the lettuce. Should I wait until she'll eat the lettuce without the tuna water before I go back to giving her pellets or should I start again when she starts eating more?
I'm only asking this because she ate VERY little today. As in, she ate half of a piece of lettuce that started out about the size of a quarter.
Next time I go to the petstore (hopefully sometime in the next week or two since I just went and stocked up on crickets and everything else I needed at the time) I'll get some aquatic plants to see if she likes those.

[xsavingsaturdayx]

Get a multivitamin like RepCal/Reptivite/Jurassivite and sprinkle very little of it on some moistened pellets atleast once a week. In addition to lettuce, try anacharis (turtles usually catch on to this stuff fast) or any other aquatic plant sold at pet stores along with other fresh greens like kale, collard greens, or dandelion. You can, like spotsmama said offer cuttlebone for a calcium supplement a few times a week. Give it a earthworm, cricket, or fish atleast once every two weeks and be sure that the turtle is exposed to UVB light.

Just keep offering your turtle greens even if it doesnt take it..it will sooner or later be interested even if you have to starve it for a few days.

Your turtle can still, maybe grow (if the damage from all those years isnt too severe) just be patient with it and take things slow and steady.. a good diet and a lot of UVB light can work miracles for ya.

[powerofvoodoo]

I hope she grows (at least doubles in size) because I'm preparing to buy a 75 gallon tank (as in begging for all the supplies she needs for christmas/birthday presents). For most of her life, she was next to a window but the blinds were probably closed all of the time and for the past 6 months or so, she was living under a desk (my parents divorce makes things hard on EVERYONE)
I don't currently have a car so it'll probably be another week before I make it back to the petstore but I do plan on buying a few aquatic plants to see what she'll eat.
Yesterday the poor thing only ate a bite of strawberry, a bite of carrot and a bite of lettuce (at least, that's what I saw her eat and only the lettuce had been dipped in tuna water) but nothing really looked like it had been eaten.

The Rep-cal I currently have (that I bought for my pacman frog) is calcium with vitamin D3. Are there different kinds that I'm not aware of that have more vitamins that I should buy?

[xsavingsaturdayx]

Yes. Get the multivitamin (you can use another brand besides repcal too) kind and use cuttlebone for a calcium supplement since the turtle is already going to get enough vitamin D3 via the pellets and multivitamin, and too much D3 is a bad thing.

Remember to not overdo it with the vitamin supplement. LIGHTLY sprinkle some of it on some moistened pellets atleast once a week max.

Also remember to not ignore fresh greens, those are very important for your turtle. Just keep offering it greens everyday - one day it will accept it, though it may take some time so dont get discouraged.

[marisa]

That's the same RepCal you use for turtles. It's a calcium supplement, not a vitamin supplement (although if you have it with Vit D, it would be a supplement for that vitamin as well). It sounds like you've had the RepCal a while(?) If so, check the expiration date on it to make sure it's still good (it can be a bit beyond, but not a lot).

I'd make a slower transition to plant matter rather than just trying tough love. One thing you might try if you can get in at a freezer section of a petstore like Petsmart is San Francisco Bay Brand Aquatic Turtle food, a blister pack of frozen cubes that contain both plant matter (dandelions, carrots, etc.) along with fish. Most turtles really like it. I'd cut a cube in half and give that along with some other foods to get your turtle going. What pellets has she been used to eating?

With an improved diet and habitat, you may actually see a bit of a growth spurt. You want slow, steady growth, though, so don't try to make your turtle catch up to what you think she should be quickly.

[industrial_girl_2000]

If I could get my turtle to eat greens after 16 yrs of not having any greens, then anyone can do it (before I found this website).

I agree that the tuna is kinda gross to work with, but if you think about it, it would be a lot more gross to watch your turtle eat a LIVE fish, LOL. The good thing is, you can take the "grossness" out of it by using a baby spoon to spoon out a little bit of tuna, mix with some chopped greens, then feed this to your turtle. That will get him/her used to the "texture" of greens/plants. Over time, add less and less of the tuna. After a while, you will see your turtle eat the greens with NO tuna. This works fab. They just have to get used to the feeling of the veggies. Once you get them turned on to one kind of veggie (greens), they will more readily accept other veggies/fruits.

Someone suggested "anacharis" pond plant. That is a great idea too since turts would encounter anacharis in the wild anyway & would probably have a chow-fest just on that stuff alone.

Feel free to try feeding something bright in color too, like a strawberry. RES's are attracted to red colors.

Lastly, just be patient! During this time of adjustment, I would hand-feed the turtle as much as possible. And when you feed pellets stick around so he/she sees you are the giver of food. That will also help get him/her used to the fact that when you give them something it actually IS edible. Have fun!

[kmichael55]

I second the anacharis, it was the first thing my turtles ever ate plantwise, and they ate it weeks before they would even try lettuce, etc. I just put it in there and they immediately attacked it. I thought it was odd that they saw the anacharis as food right away but left the other vegetables i had offered them alone, as if they were just decorations. Now that they've started eating lettuce, etc., they eat a bit less of the anacharis, but still love it.

[tissigirl]

Also, what kind of lettuce are you giving him? If it's just plain lettuce then not only does it have no nutritional value for him but he may not be tempted to eat it since it has little flavor. Try some dark greens, like collard greens, or at the least romaine lettuce or red or green leaf lettuce. Also maybe try some carrots. He's just used to his diet and is a creature of habit. Try different veggies and water plants until he gets used to eating veggies. Some turtles like some veggies better than others so varying what you give him may help him get used to it better.

[powerofvoodoo]

Actually, I think animals eating live food is fascinating (I used to beg my roommate to let me feed her pacman defrosted mice--mine's still too young for it) and as long as I don't have to feed her live mice, I'm fine and I have no problem with feeding animals fish or something, although I'm wary of it because I think my old pacman died from a parasite from the 1 fish I ever gave her.
Tuna, for some reason, grosses me out. (The longer I'm vegetarian, the more I hate the smell and texture of meat)
I have been throwing a brightly colored fruit or veggie in with the other food whenever I feed her in hopes that she'll like the color and I'll give her a couple of pellets today and I'll definitely try handfeeding at least the pellets for now, but she's definitely really good at ignoring what she doesn't want to eat (I've tried given her some freeze-dried shrimp before and she will eat maybe 2).
The rep-cal is good through next year, but should I get a kind without D3 or with a multi-vitamin for my turtle? (I don't mind buying another container of the stuff but I won't if I don't have to)

marisa-- the pellets are ReptoMin with calcium and vitamin C, and I'll definitely try the San Francisco Bay Brand Aquatic Turtle Food.

Thanks so much, everyone, for all of the advice!

[powerofvoodoo]

Currently, I have red leaf lettuce, green beans, and carrots in my fridge to feed her and when they go bad, I'm going to start experimenting with other greens to find out what she likes best.