Feeding and Nutrition :: How do you feed carrots to your turtles?

[Chuibby]

I try to feed carrots to my turtles but they keep falling down and once the turtles try to get it, it slips out of their mouth and then they give up trying to eat it. I chop my carrots into very small pieces but it still drowns in the water. I want my carrots to float so my turtles will be able to eat carrots. I want them to be healthy!

[TheComputerGremlin]

My turtle gets slivers of carrot, just long, wormlike slivers. They sink to the bottom and he scarfs them down. It takes patience, your turtle is a baby and needs to learn, just like a human baby needs to learn. You don't just hand your child a bowl of food and say EAT, you teach them HOW to eat.

[AllisonChains]

Izzy has become quite spoiled in that she won't eat any veggies that aren't in her clip.

On occasion, she will eat a few carrot slices if I play with her for a minute, wiggling them around in the water, but after that first one or two she is done.

[untsmurf]

I shred them in the cheese grater. When we first introduced them to him, we had to hold it for him. Once he got used to them and realized he liked them, we were able to just drop them in there. Now we put them on his clip.

[LeslieMW]

i had to soften the carrots first. i cut them up really small, and then put them in some water and microwaved them for a bit.

[untsmurf]

If you cook them like that don't they lose some of their nutritional value? I'm not sure, but I think I heard this somewhere.

[LeslieMW]

well there not "cooked" just softened!

[untsmurf]

Sorry, I meant heated, when you heat them up.

How long do you soften them?

[LeslieMW]

well i put in the microwave for about 7 seconds. just enough time to let the water seep in.

[ScrewZoo]

I try to feed carrots to my turtles but they keep falling down and once the turtles try to get it, it slips out of their mouth and then they give up trying to eat it. I chop my carrots into very small pieces but it still drowns in the water. I want my carrots to float so my turtles will be able to eat carrots. I want them to be healthy!

Carrots should'nt be fed too often and try putting little chunks on ur basking dock that way your turtle could come up and eat em.

[untsmurf]

well i put in the microwave for about 7 seconds. just enough time to let the water seep in.

I don't think that would affect the nutritional content, but if you heated it up longer, or cooked them, would they lose it?

[LeslieMW]

yea i have heard that when you cook vegetables they loose some nutritional value. that's why you're supposed to cook vegetables as fast as you can. the crisper the better!!

but in my turtles case, he's so tiny carrots are too hard for him to eat, so i soften them in some warm water. they might lose a TINY bit of value, but nothing much at all.