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My turtle never stops begging!!!

PostPosted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 11:59 pm
by Ler36
Does anyone else's turtle constantly beg for food!!!? I definitely feed her enough and a mixed variety of food, but whenever I walk into the room she swims to the side of the tank like I'm going to feed her!! She's a begger, and sometimes I do give in, just a little, because she's so cute, but she's unbelievable!!

PostPosted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 12:31 am
by Caphits
Yeah, I think pretty much all turtles beg. At least mine do. :)

PostPosted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 12:34 am
by octpusgirl8
Yeah, both of my turtles would have me believe that they're constantly starving. I could feed them the whole bottle of pellets and they'd still beg like crazy. It's important not to give in and overfeed them. They're hardwired to eat whatever they can get, you know better. It's hard though, i know!

PostPosted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 12:46 am
by Chrisbarnett
Mine too. I usually just call him a fat @$$ and walk away :lol:

PostPosted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 3:38 am
by novroz
hahaha mine too....trust me you better not give in or she'll ended up like this http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=19873

PostPosted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 12:55 am
by Raphulk
"My turtle never stops begging!"

and your turtle will NEVER stop begging haha
if I didn't find this forum a long time ago, my turtle would have been gigantic and maybe dead.

PostPosted: Thu Jan 29, 2009 5:33 am
by biomanz
I always tap them at the nose and the top of the head, kinda petting them. Now they sometimes let me grab their head w/o freaking out.

PostPosted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 1:24 am
by javablog
My turtle is the same way. I actually use it to my advantage, when ever I need to pick him up and take him out of the tank, I'll pinch my fingers like I'm about to drop food in the tank so he'll swim to the surface then I grab him. It's a lot easier then shoving my whole arm in his 75 gallon tank.

PostPosted: Fri Jan 30, 2009 12:43 pm
by Ler36
Ahh! I do that too. I don't like to stick my hand in her tank so I feed her pelletsone by one from my hand so she doesn't get the cage all messy by only eating parts of her pellets, but sometimes I lead her onto her basking area with a pellet so she comes out of the water to grab her food. Then when I want to take her out of her tank, I trick her by pretending I have a pellet for her and making her come out of the water then I pick her up. She's fine with it now, at first she didn't like coming out of the water as much, haha. But then I give her a pellet so that I don't tease her with her food. And I'm sure this is part of the cause of her excessive begging, but she doesn't get fed too much, don't worry!

Re: My turtle never stops begging!!!

PostPosted: Sat Oct 28, 2017 8:08 pm
by ScorchedDragon
My baby snapping turtle doesn't actively beg , like swimming around frantically mod snapping, he just calmly raises his head and stares me down with his big baby eyes, started ever since I put him on his diet because I noticed he was getting too chubby for his own good.

Re: My turtle never stops begging!!!

PostPosted: Sun Oct 29, 2017 6:14 am
by litefoot
What is his diet now ?
If water temp's are off this will affect him , especially with the change of seasons coming. Also what are you using to get those temps ?
May be sick if to cool /cold ? What is the temp of the water now ?

Re: My turtle never stops begging!!!

PostPosted: Sun Nov 26, 2017 6:22 pm
by PCelestia
My turtle thinks my finger is shrimp. Every time I put my finger on his cage he swims over and try’s to bite it. Is that begging? :lol:

Re: My turtle never stops begging!!!

PostPosted: Sun Nov 26, 2017 11:41 pm
by litefoot
Celestia hello and welcome,

Yes to a point but he may just want to play. It's instinct in a turtle. Wild turtles are always hunting and not successful on every attempt. Never seen a fat wild turtle. Captive turtles associate you with food so yes they beg. Sorry they only get better at it with age . It's your job to offer it a well varied , balanced , and nutritious diet in the proper amounts. Over feeding a captive turtle will lead to all kind of health problems. Better to under feed than over.
Once Piggley's amount is done and he stills beg's I play with him to get his mind on the playing not more food.

Re: My turtle never stops begging!!!

PostPosted: Thu Mar 12, 2020 9:14 am
by Kingbird44
Mine too, but I think the best thing to do is to only feed at the same time every day. If you feed at haphazard times, they will beg all the time because they have no cues of when to expect food. Won't stop them from begging, but should calm them down a bit... Sedge begs frequently but only goes nuts in the morning before breakfast (the only time he normally eats).

Re: My turtle never stops begging!!!

PostPosted: Thu Mar 12, 2020 10:03 am
by litefoot
A schedule is the first thing a turtle teaches us , some learn that by observing well , some learn it later. Who teaches who in this hobby , turtles rule.