Feeding and Nutrition :: How exactly do you feed a RES correctly?

[yarndiva]

I have been feeding my turtle by hand with tongs for years. Sometimes I put anacaris (seaweed) or feeder fish in the water for her to catch and eat. I see that she should be eating more vegetables. Do you put it in a dish? She's 8, so it may be hard to teach my old gal new tricks. Help!

[Starchick]

I just throw everything in the tank, some stuff floats and some sinks and they eventually find and eat it all. It's not bad to feed by hand if your turtle likes it, and accepts a variety of foods. It's more what you give them than how that matters.

[industrial_girl_2000]

Hey, sometimes I feed Sheba with a baby spoon. Sheba is an older turtle on the board (I've had her for over 17 yrs) and she has no trouble adapting when I want to feed her a different way. Actually, food is a great motivator for teaching them things, LOL. And if you had your turt for 8 yrs already, she is used to you! That's good since it will be much less stressful. I would go ahead & get a plastic rubbermaid dish pan (the ones that hold about 2.5 gals of water), fill it up with water & put your turtle in. Chances are, she will have no problem eating this way, and it will be cleaner for her tank.

If you are feeding her lettuce daily, you can just toss it in the tank. Lettuce doesn't dirty up the water like pellets (or any other meaty/fishy/protein things) do.

[yarndiva]

Thank you, I'll try all those ways. I appreciate the help!