Feeding and Nutrition :: Hurley stopped eating his greens

[donchewliano]

Hey Folks,
It's been a while since I've posted in here. Life tends to get in the way sometimes although I have been an occasional lurker.

I have a question. For the last week and a half, possibly 2 weeks now, Hurley decided he no longer wants to eat his greens. He'll eat anything and everything else, but no greens, just out of the blue.
Water conditions havent changed, water temp is at 78, he still swims and basks normally but he just is not interested in his greens at all. Mind you, prior to this, he would devour anything and everything that was green. Now, not so much. Im hoping that with the weather getting warmer, once dandelion greens come back into season, he will eat (those are his fave)
Anyone have advice as to maybe why? Since he wont eat his greens, his been living off of pellets every other. We've already tried the tough love approach and just leave the greens in there until he eats, but that just led to funky water and shredded lettuce.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
Dave

[theartbook35]

There are a variety of different reasons why turtles refuse greens.

I'd like to know how old Hurley is, and, are you certain Hurley is male?

Sometimes female refuse certain foods when they are gravid. I don't know much about gravid females, so, what to do about that is beyond me.

Sometimes a turtle's tastes simply change as they grow older. I would use the turtle jello recipe that's stickied here, and see how Hurley responds to it. If he likes it, that'll be a new way to get veggies into him.

He doesn't sound to me like he's behaving sick at all.

My male, Hurricane, did that at first before he started actually eating the greens. He'd just shred them up. I know he eats them, because I put in enough for both turtles, and Typhoon can't eat all that lettuce through a whole day by herself. Hurricane is such a food hog sometimes that the lettuce disappears really fast. Typhoon is a much slower, calmer eater.

[donchewliano]

Hi,
Hurley is appx 4 yrs old. Yes he is def a male. We've seen his turtle junk too many times to think otherwise. He'll eat everything else (carrots, grapes, etc). I'm also going to try a different variety of greens. If that doesnt work, I'll def give the veggie jello a shot.

There are a variety of different reasons why turtles refuse greens.

I'd like to know how old Hurley is, and, are you certain Hurley is male?

Sometimes female refuse certain foods when they are gravid. I don't know much about gravid females, so, what to do about that is beyond me.

Sometimes a turtle's tastes simply change as they grow older. I would use the turtle jello recipe that's stickied here, and see how Hurley responds to it. If he likes it, that'll be a new way to get veggies into him.

He doesn't sound to me like he's behaving sick at all.

My male, Hurricane, did that at first before he started actually eating the greens. He'd just shred them up. I know he eats them, because I put in enough for both turtles, and Typhoon can't eat all that lettuce through a whole day by herself. Hurricane is such a food hog sometimes that the lettuce disappears really fast. Typhoon is a much slower, calmer eater.

[trudykurz]

My turt will only eat collard greens and she gets off of those sometimes, I don't know why. She loves everything else I give her. I still put the greens in her tank and if she doesn't eat it I take it out after a few hours. Try the recipe for the turtle jello shots. Barnie LOVES those. She eats them frozen. I prepare mine with collard greens and can even get some romaine lettuce as well as dandelion greens along with a bunch of other stuff. I am no expert but maybe turts are just picky like we are sometimes. I wouldn't worry unless you see a change in your turts health. Do you feed Hurley any other veggies?

[donchewliano]

He'll get carrots, sweet potato, etc.. on occasion. His primary diet consists of red or green leaf lettuce everyday, and a mix of reptomin and HBH Turtle bites every other day.

Some back story for those who aren't familiar with him, my wife and I adopted him last year. He was 3, never had eaten greens and his diet was primarily junkfood (dehydrated shrimp, crickets, waxworms). We weaned him off the junkfood an onto greens (thanks to the wonderful folks here) After a bunch of trial and error, Hurley finally started eating Greens although it was only limited to Dandelion, Red and Green Leaf lettuce. He didnt like Collards or Turnip Greens. He'll eat Romaine but its not as nutritious so we skip it. Since Dandelions went out of season, he's been eating only Red or Green leaf. No other variety. My original thought was that he's just bored with it and wont eat it anymore. I just dont know if that is even a possibility. Would they all of a sudden lose interest in something that a week prior they would devour the second it was clipped into his tank?

My turt will only eat collard greens and she gets off of those sometimes, I don't know why. She loves everything else I give her. I still put the greens in her tank and if she doesn't eat it I take it out after a few hours. Try the recipe .for the turtle jello shots. Barnie LOVES those. She eats them frozen. I prepare mine with collard greens and can even get some romaine lettuce as well as dandelion greens along with a bunch of other stuff. I am no expert but maybe turts are just picky like we are sometimes. I wouldn't worry unless you see a change in your turts health. Do you feed Hurley any other veggies?

[marisa]

My turts will tire of a food they previously would eagerly eat. Try something different for a while and then go back to the food they're refusing. (It should be easier to get dandelion greens now---I've seen some in bloom already.)

[trudykurz]

Marisa is correct, sometimes my turt just turns her nose up at something but will eat it again the next day, but that doesn't happen often thank goodness. I think you should be very happy and proud that you have Hurley on a better diet. I adopted my turt last year also, she was two, and she had only eaten Wardley pellets her whole life. I'm thrilled that she eats most everything I give her. So maybe we shouldn't get too upset that they refuse something every once in a while, at least we are giving them much better nutrition and care than they had before! But do try the jello shots, they are not difficult to make, and Barnie snaps those things up!

[donchewliano]

My turts will tire of a food they previously would eagerly eat. Try something different for a while and then go back to the food they're refusing. (It should be easier to get dandelion greens now---I've seen some in bloom already.)

My local market and produce stands still dont have the dandelions. I will try the Jello shots tonight. I dont think he'll have a problem eating those things up. I also think I'll try him on the greens he didnt like last year when we first changed his diet, he may have changed his mind!

Thanks everyone for all of your help. I will keep everyone posted. I will also post new pics and see what we can do about getting hurleycam back up and running.

Off to work!

Thanks,
Dave

[koreyleigh]

hey dave --
another measure you could try are those turtle cubes they sell in refrigerators at petstores. its a combination of vegetables (though there are some proteins in them too) that my turtle goes nuts for trying to tear it open. it was about $6 for 40 some odd cubes.

gooooodluck

[Rosepruner]

I'm having the same problem with my little Sam. All of the sudden he's refusing his veggies. He won't even eat the turtle cubes like the ones they sell at PetSmart! I tried feeding him some fresh picked from the lawn (and then rinsed of course) dandelion green, and he hasn't even touched them. If you figure out a good solution to your turtle not eating veggies all of the sudden, let me know. Up until this week, he has LOVED his veggies.

[donchewliano]

hey dave --
another measure you could try are those turtle cubes they sell in refrigerators at petstores. its a combination of vegetables (though there are some proteins in them too) that my turtle goes nuts for trying to tear it open. it was about $6 for 40 some odd cubes.

gooooodluck

Thanks. I'm hoping it doesnt result to that, but I will def keep that in mind. I'm going to hit up our local produce junction tomorrow, hopefully they'll have his dandelions.

[donchewliano]

I'm having the same problem with my little Sam. All of the sudden he's refusing his veggies. He won't even eat the turtle cubes like the ones they sell at PetSmart! I tried feeding him some fresh picked from the lawn (and then rinsed of course) dandelion green, and he hasn't even touched them. If you figure out a good solution to your turtle not eating veggies all of the sudden, let me know. Up until this week, he has LOVED his veggies.

Will do!

[trudykurz]

Hi Dave, would love to see pics of Hurley and hear how he's doing. I have not tried the dandelion greens with my turt but she's still eating everything else, and she did eat some collard green tonight so I was very happy about that. I've never even seen turtle cubes at my local Petsmart, but it's a very small one they don't even have a frozen section. Where does everyone find dandelion greens?

[Rosepruner]

Hi Dave, would love to see pics of Hurley and hear how he's doing. I have not tried the dandelion greens with my turt but she's still eating everything else, and she did eat some collard green tonight so I was very happy about that. I've never even seen turtle cubes at my local Petsmart, but it's a very small one they don't even have a frozen section. Where does everyone find dandelion greens?

I get mine from the yard, which hasn't been sprayed with anything yet they're EVERYWHERE here, and well, most people consider them weeds.... so no on minds if you pull up a few dandelions and wash the leaves to feed to your turtle

[donchewliano]

Hi Dave, would love to see pics of Hurley and hear how he's doing. I have not tried the dandelion greens with my turt but she's still eating everything else, and she did eat some collard green tonight so I was very happy about that. I've never even seen turtle cubes at my local Petsmart, but it's a very small one they don't even have a frozen section. Where does everyone find dandelion greens?

I get mine from the yard, which hasn't been sprayed with anything yet they're EVERYWHERE here, and well, most people consider them weeds.... so no on minds if you pull up a few dandelions and wash the leaves to feed to your turtle

We have them all over the place here too, unfortunately I live in an apartment complex and I dont know if they treat the lawn with chemicals so I don't pick them. I am thinking of picking some of the dandelions when they are still white and planting the little feather seeds in a planter on my balcony. Then hopefully grow some of my some of my own.