Feeding and Nutrition :: How to get him to eat?

[VanishingReality]

We just got our baby turtle (2 inches) yesterday and he has slight pyramiding. Talking to the store they said they fed him "turtle pellets and occasionally brine shrimp", that alerted us that he needed a better diet.

We have to feed him:
Frozen bloodworms
Aquatic turtle frozen cubes
Assorted aquatic plants
Feeder fish
Romain lettuce
Carrots
Butter lettuce
Reptomin 3 in 1
Crickets

So far he has eaten his bloodworms, half a feeder fish and muched on his aquatic plant (we aren't sure if he ate it). We have tried to get him to eat his veggies but he doesn't seem to care. And how in the world are we supposed to get his calcium dust on his food if he only eats when he wants to aka over half an hour after we put the food in.

[TheComputerGremlin]

Okay, slow down and breath ...

So, you still have a little turtle, which means that every day, you should feed him 1 headful of pellets. Careful not to overfeed. That's all the pellets he gets, so you can divide it in half and feed twice daily if you want.

Second, veggies aren't esp necessary at this stage, not yet. You can continue providing him with them and take out any uneaten old stuff. Eventually he'll come around, mine just randomly started eating his lettuce one day.

Third, most of what you mentioned are consider junk food. Bloodworms, feeder fish, crickets should be given only once per month. They contain too much protein, which causes pyramiding. And don't feed goldfish, try rosie red minnows.

Fourth, as for calcium, don't bother with powdered stuff. Turtles need to be in the water to eat, so dusting their food is pointless. Go to the bird section of the pet store and buy cuttlebone. Search cuttlebone on the forums for how to feed it.

[VanishingReality]

Sorry, he's just so small I want him to be healthy :/

He did get a rosie red, we just put it in to make sure he ate something, don't want to starve the little guy.

I was told he needed more protein because he is a hatchling then told he needed a lot of veggies. So just pellets are good enough? And how am I supposed to know if he is eating?

He only comes out of hiding when he knows you aren't watching him or if we have live food for our other animals (we have goldfish and tropical tanks as well).

[megcornell]

No, just pellets aren't good enough. You should give him a varied diet, starting as young as possible. Since he is still new, he's still stressed and adjusting so for now it's important just to get him eating. What you should be offering are pellets and veggies, nothing else. Once he gets an established pattern down feel free to give him an occasional treat like feeder guppies but you don't want to get him hooked on poor foods now.
Since he hasn't had vegetables as part of his diet before he'll probably resist them at first. Try a variety of them and see what he likes-- most like lettuce and carrots and the plant anacharis. If he's particularly stubborn you can try some tough love and only offer veggies or try to bribe him by coating the vegetables in something appetizing like tuna juice.
Having a protein only diet will cause shell and organ problems so it's important to get him eating vegetables at a young age.

You can tell that he's eating simply by watching what he leaves. Remove any vegetables left at the end of the day, once they get soggy and gross they certainly won't be appetizing.

[VanishingReality]

Thanks.

We gave him his pellets and veggies today. We think he ate his pellets but we didn't see him eat them so his filter could have sucked them up. In a week if he doesn't eat his veggies we might try just veggies. He seems to like to rip apart his plant rather then eating it now.

The aquatic turtle cubes are mostly veggies and a few bloodworms, they are for adult turtles. Once a pattern is established would it ok to feed him part of a cube as part of his diet?

[Tenodera]

Those cubes are good, but you should feed them once a week AT most.

I just got a baby RES, too and he hasn't been eating. I put some duckweed and water lettuce to munch on if he's hungry.

[daniela]

Tenodera... can I ask where you bought the duckweed?!?! I can't seem to find it... I leave anacharis for them to munch on... thought I'd give then a little change... they don't eat their veggies... but I'll have to try dipping them in tuna juice before feeding it to them... maybe they'll at least try it?!?!

[VanishingReality]

Success!... well sorta.

We got him to eat his pellets in front of us so at least he is eating. Then he took a bite of a slice of carrot then spit it out.

If he doesn't eat his veggies by sunday we will be starting an all veggie diet until he does eat them.

Also is soap as deadly for turtles as it is for fish? We want to cut up the cube and veggies with a knife. Would it be ok to wash the knife with soap or do we have to get a knife just for the turtle?

[megcornell]

So long as the knife is rinsed well and dry I don't see why it would be a problem.
Although, most turtles do better with shreds of vegetables like carrots, it's easier for them to eat. When I first started feeding carrots to Leo, I gave her small chunks and she had a difficult time biting into them because they were too small to grip.

[marisa]

I feed the SF Bay Aquatic Turtle Food cubes to my turtles weekly (today was the day for it, actually) and cut them into smaller pieces so they're easier to eat (and less messy). I have one knife that I use to cut the cubes, but you could use any knife. The "turtle knife" I used is washed with soap and rinsed well and it's never affected my turtles.

[Mdassouki07]

I have a question. My turtle was bought at a flea market and he is a little guy. he came with Wardley turtle delight. He hates it he will not eat it under any cicrumstances. I tried soaking it in tuna oil and stil nothing. I put Tuna in the water and he couldnt stop eating it. is this ok? for how long can I feed him tuna? will he ever eat the can food? please email me @ Mdassouki07@aol.com

[steve]

I would try a different pellet... HBH Turtle bites are colorful and might get his attention. Baby Reptomin is also well regarded.

It's good he ate but try to leave bits of tuna on the pellet. Then if that works, just soak it. They can be real picky, but you're getting there