Feeding and Nutrition :: How long without food?

[Rexamus]

I just found out today my neighbor won't be able to feed Curtis while we're away on vacation. I don't know anybody else who is responsible enough to do it. The lights will be set up on timers by the way.

I asked several months ago how long a 2" turtle can go without food. Someone mentioned an automatic feeder. Has anyone ever used these before with a turtle?

What about overstocking the tank with feeder guppies?

Aren't turtles reptiles? Can't they go a while without eating?

I would prefer someone to come and check on him but at this point I haven't a whole lot of options.

My neighbor just found out his wife has kidney cancer and undergoing surgery Wednesday. We leave Saturday for 4 days.

[steve]

There have been a few automatic feeders mentioned. I'd suggest a search of the forum to help find out specific experiences.

Adding guppies is certainly an option, though I wouldn't "overstock". If your turtle is not interested in plants or vegetables, this might be the time to add a few in there.

Yes, turtle are reptiles. I think 3-4 days is fine to go without food. My turtles would not agree.

Having someone check would be a good idea to make sure the filters/lighting and everything else is operating. Sorry to hear about your neighbor!

[TheComputerGremlin]

How long will you be gone for? There are pet sitters in almost every area that you can pay to check in on your animals. I think my pet sitter charges $10 each day she comes by for fish/reptiles. They wouldn't need to come by every day, maybe every couple days.

I know people have had success with automatic feeders, but it's usually recommended that you get it a few days beforehand and play around with it to make sure it's dispensing the food correctly.

As for putting extra fish in, turtles can't budget their food, so they will tend to gulp down the fish right away and (possibly barfing them back up) starve the remaining days.

[imderanged]

I like that idea of pet sitters, I see them advertize on craigslist.com all the time.

[Aok]

Are automatic feeders expensive? Im thinking on buying a turtle for my back pond and am not sure what to do when I am gone because $10 a day for a pet sitter is a bit steep.

[TheComputerGremlin]

A good automatic feeder will run you around $40, so it's not super expensive. You just have to watch because some of the feeders won't work with the large turtle pellets.

[scripta_elegans]

I bought this one to ensure that my babies were getting enough food while I was gone. I had a friend check in on them every 3rd day too, but I was gone for 2 weeks. It worked very well for the reptomin sticks and Mazuri pellets.
http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS/ct ... fishfeeder