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Am still new to owning turtles (1.5 months now) and even newer to owning fish. Well, feeder fish.

I bought my two RES 4 feeder fish several days ago. They ate a feeder rosy and a feeder goldfish. Now there are 2 feeder goldfish left that they haven't touched for days. But they do have bits of fins missing from being chased around and almost eaten !! I know now that goldfish aren't the best feeders cause of their fat content and a bony spine fin or something.

Anyway, should I feed the goldfish anything? They've been eating turtle waste, algae, and their own waste. Will they get sick and possibly infect the turtles if they don't get proper goldfish food? Will this apply to other feeders as well (rosies, guppies)?

Secondly, it seems one of my turtles, Cinderella isn't growing, or is growing reeeeeeeaaaaaal slow. When we 1st got them Cinderella was almost 1.5" and the other RES, Rex,was much smaller. After a month and a half, Rex is now almost 2" and Cinderella has barely grown. Should I be worried about something?

In the 1st week of having them, Cinderella wasn't eating much, but now she and Rex eat a good share of food. They are fed in separate containers so Rex doesn't eat all the food, which he was doing initially. Cinderella will only eat the Zoo-med aquatic hatchling food and Flukers freeze dried crickets, Rex will eat everything!! They are living in the same aquarium that has the right heat, light, clean water, basking and swimming space and thus they are both living in the same conditions. I'm really puzzled why she isn't growing...

Turtles seem to grow at different rates, and have a taste for different things. One of my 2 turtles, who were the same size to begin, is 3/4ths the size of the other. He has been since the 3rd month I had them. They have eaten about the same amount all their lives.

I'm curious about the feeder fish too. I was thinking about getting some but I'm not sure if my turtle would eat them immediately, if at all, and I don't know if I would then have to feed the fish in addition to the turtle or if they just eat leftovers.

ok, so I don't have to worry about the size difference. Guess I should also stop trying to feed the smaller one more then?

Sgt Pepper, based on everything I've read so far, turtles will eat just about anything you put in their aquariums with them. If they don't eat it immediately, then they will eventually. Actually, when I first gave them the feeders, it took them a day before they ate one, then another day before they ate the next one. Now several days later, they've yet to eat the remaining fish.

still though, I dunno if feeder fish should be fed proper fish food

A diet of Zoo-Med pellets and freeze-dried crickets won't have the balance that a more varied diet would have. That said, genetics do play a role in growth rates. I have an eastern painted that was the runt of the clutch, and he's always going to be smaller than his siblings. If they're getting the same opportunity to eat and Cinderella is healthy otherwise, I don't think I'd worry too much. I would still try offering a little of other foods, though. If you haven't, you might try a second pellet brand of pellet as well---Reptomin Baby if you can find it.

On feeding the fish, most people don't feed their feeder fish since that encourages them to keep the bottom of the tank clean. Do you feed your turtles in the tank? If so, then crumbs of turtle food are around and the fish can eat that too. You can tell when a fish is getting thin. If it looks like yours are getting thin then you might throw in some fish flakes when your turtles are out of the tank from time to time.

I've had three big minnows living in Spot's aquarium for close to a year now. When Spot's inside they don't get any fish food - they just "live off the land" so to speak. When Spot was outside in his pond for the summer, though, I did feed fish flakes to the inside minnows.

There are also minnows living in the outside pond - dozens of them. I throw them some fish flakes pretty often.

I feed him in his tank so I suppose they'd be ok. I think I'm definitely going to get at least a few minnows to test it out. They're only 12 cents a piece here.

Yes, Zoo-Med pellets and freeze-dried crickets aren't a balanced diet. I give her other stuff, including Reptomin Baby, but she is so picky. When I feed her, I give a piece of something else first (Reptomin, Wardley, etc...). After the first piece I drop in a second piece, which she refuses to eat. I leave that second piece in there as I give her the food that she eats. She'll eat all of the stuff that she likes. She'll even inspect the food that she doesn't like once or twice but won't eat it.

I think there are a few threads here on introducing new foods new foods - - guess I better read up on them!!

On the feeder fish, one turtle is fed in the tank, so the fish have been "living off the land" So I guess it's ok not to feed them unless they start to get thin

12 cents each - - wow, feeders are 30 cents over here!! Yeah try it out - and shoot some video!

Im having this same issue i hAve a roughly 2 inch RES and he's around a year or two old and still has not reached 3 inches

Can you post a new topic with the relevant information?