Feeding and Nutrition :: all my baby eats is PELLETS!

[SaweetTURTLE:)]

He has no intrests whatsoever in fruits and vegetable.... i had three guppies in his tank a while back, he ate one long time ago..... they have reproduved, there are at least 10 babi guppies now, evey once in a while i see him chas a guppy but not intensly.... he just slowly follows and the stops... i put a cuttle bone in.... and he ignores it... i took him out for sun today.... and he KINDOF looks like he's pyramiding..... thats to me.... i could be holucinating... and he looks like hes becoming fat....... what should hs daily diet be?? he's only and inch and 7/8.... i beliee he is starting to shed his scutes...... he is growing i believe..... please reply and help!!! THANKYOU ALL

[Tenodera]

Sometimes, to get a turtle to eat their veggies, You gotta stop giving them pellets and only veggies. It's ok, he won't starve. Eventually he'll become hungry enough to eat the veggies. Especially if you coat it in a bit of canned tuna juice.

For the cuttlebone, try just leaving it in there and by the end of the week you'll probably see bit marks on it.

Could you post a picture of his shell?

Have you read over the feedubg guide? How much are you feeding him?


Kevin:D

[SpotsMama]

Here's everything you ever wanted to know about feeding a RES. at 1 7/8 inches he's a baby so you can feed him like a baby. Keep offering him green leafy vegetables and eventually he'll be interested in them. You might put some anacharis in the tank - that's an aquatic plant - and when he gets the urge he can snack on it. The aquatic plants don't spoil in the water like lettuce.

http://www.redearslider.com/index_nutrition.html

After you read the info on nutrition, if you still have questions come back and ask away.

[SaweetTURTLE:)]

here are some pics

[SpotsMama]

He's just a cute as a button! There is, however, something going on with that shell. It looks like he may be growing very very fast. Did you check out the nuitrition information? How did it compare to what you're feeding your turtle? He does look kind of fat. Why don't you tell us what you're feeding him and how much.

It looks like he should be shedding scutes but they're not coming off. Tell us about his basking situation. Does he have a place to bask where he can get completely dry - top and bottom? Does he bask much? What kind of light(s) does he bask under? Be as specific as you can about the lights - the brand name, watts, how far away from the basking turtle they are.

This information will help us advise you.

[SaweetTURTLE:)]

I have recently changed his feeding schedule ALOT!!!! i did have him eating 8 or more pellets a day!!!! ALOT I KNOW!!!!! he alwast looked so hungry... now i know that he isnt always starving... i now fee him 2 in the morning and 2 or 3 at night..... if he does get hungry there are guppies, cuttle bone and now lettuce availabe....... it seems like he has noticed the lettuce... he has eaten some of it..... 3 days ago the UVB light all the sudden stoped working.... i havent gotten to the store yet thoug...... a FREAK accident happened 2 days ago i was in my room and then i herd a big CRASH! and then a POP! i turtned aroung and the regular light had somehow faleen in the water and i guess 'popped' the was glass all ove the bottom of the tank.... i instantly look where my turtle was.... he was in his shell a far as hecould go ... the guppies looked fine so i was hoping he was... i grabbed him out put him in tupperware while i was setting up a temperary home (which he is still in) he is in a BIG plastic storage dror it has about 4 inches of water in it.. i got all the guppies in it now... he has his cuttle bone and lettuce... his turtle dock and everything else he needs... once his old home is back to normal he gets to go back. hes been acting very strangly though.... he's as scared of me as he was when i first got him... he has broken my heart........ i will tell you when i have him and his tank back to normal.......

[SpotsMama]

Oh my goodness how scarey! Both for you and your turtle. Just the change in habitat alone would be enough to make him shy for a few days. He'll settle after awhile. I'm glad everybody is ok.

On the UVB, what sort of bulb did you have before it stopped working (brand and watts)? How long had you had it? How far away from the basking platform was it?

How about the basking - about how much a day did your turtle bask? Did he have a place to bask where he could get completely dry - top and bottom?

On the pellets - what brand are you using?

[SaweetTURTLE:)]

yes it was very scary...



before it stopped working i had the repti glo 5.0 26w i have had it since june 11 of this year... it was garrenteed towork for a year.... ha ha i laugh at it now . it was about 6 or 7 inches away from the platform


about basking..... he's seemed to be basking more often since ive got him.... i have school so im not home to check on him 24/7 . I had a 'turtle dock' size small he can and does get competely dry with this


pellets..... i have the reptomin baby

[SpotsMama]

Ok, all that sounds good. Just be sure he basks frequently if not every day and basks for hours at a time and completely dries out.

On the heat bulb, was it in a clamp fixture that slipped? Or do you think some drops of cool water splashed on it and caused it? You may need to rethink the heat bulb situation. If water splashed on it, you could get a more powerful bulb and position it further away from the platform so that it will generate the same temperature as the other one.

You mentioned you're not home all the time. Is it possible someone else in the household also feeds your turtle? It's hard to resist a begging turtle.

[SaweetTURTLE:)]

here is a pick of the tank a little while ago..... i X'd out what is not there anymore..... what i circles in red is what "popped" the one circled in lime green is (well was) the UVB light









i am sure no one feeds him, i am the last one out of the house and the first one home

[SpotsMama]

thanks for the picture. It helps.

Both of the lights need to be positioned over the basking area. Right now, the UVB bulb is so far away from the basking turtle it's probably not reaching him to any effective degree. It's going to be hard to get the UVB bulb close enough with the heat bulb fixture as it is because the heat bulb fixture takes up so much room.

Have you checked out photos of other setups in the habitat gallery section? It will give you some ideas about types of fixtures and the placement of bulbs.

http://www.redearslider.com/habitat_gallery.html

Here's the info on basking and lighting:

http://www.redearslider.com/index_lighting_basking.html

Why don't you take a look at the photos and then if you have questions, get back to us. I think if you simply replace the UVB and heat bulb, your turtle is going to have shell problems because he's not really getting the UVB he needs when he's basking.

Lighting is one of the trickiest parts of the setup. Once you get if all down, though, it's not so bad.

[marisa]

I love his Buddha-like pose in that first pic.

For his shell, it looks like he's been fed too much and his scutes haven't had a chance to shed, so they're becoming part of the underlying scutes. What does he eat besides the pellets?

What size tank is that? When I used a small tank (10-20 gallons) and clamp lights, I clamped the lights opposite to each other on the sides of the tank so that they would both be aimed at the basking area (which would be at the end, between the sides of the tank). It would be good to move that blue-topped light back and put the UVB light in back of the basking area so it shines down on it.

[industrial_girl_2000]

Gosh, he is such a sweet little turtlekin!

[SaweetTURTLE:)]

UUUGGGHHH i dont get any of it!!!! someone told me to put a regular light RIGHT over the dock and the uvb just pointing towards it!! i have no idea how to put the lights!!!!! i am not allowed to get these clamp lights as marisa says....... OMG!!!!! im so frustrated right now because he's SOOOOO mad at me... he wont even beg he's so mad.... i just want to get this right so i can move him back in.... all i have right now is a 2 gallon 5 gallon and a 10 gallon tank......(which he is living in) i cannot afford to get a 20 gallon at the time... maybe after christmas when i get money but thats more than 2 months away..... please HELP ME AS MUCH AS YOU CAN!!! thank you for all your help so far you guys.....


WAIT i have a question.... how do i tell the basking the temperature???what king of thermometer do i have to get? any photos?

[SaweetTURTLE:)]

okay, i just got back from town, we stoped at the local pet store. its pretty small, but it still took me an hour to find the bulbs..... it turned out they had them behind the register desk... i got a new kind of bulb (new to my knolege atleast) its a REPTA SUN full-spectrum - neodymium Daylight Bulb 25 watt i got this for temporory use until i get a chance to go to petsmart (which i do not like going to because i have to close my eyes while i walk past the turtles [i look any ways]) last time i went ther they had like 8 res and an afican sideneck all together in ... well it wasnt even a tank the water was an inch maybe 2 inches deep... it made me SOOOOOO mad.............

so yeah, i'd like as much advice i can fet on what to do. if you see my tank pic above, are there any reccomendations about what to change?



THANK YOU AGAIN!!!!