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We bought an RES from Petsmart. His shell is 5 1/2 in long. He seems to be getting kind of fat so we cut back feeding. He was being fed everyday and always had green in there. Now he gets fed every other day and we stopped with putting greens in there. How much and what should he be fed? I keep reading about cuttlebone. What does that do and should mine have it? Should greens always be in the tank? He will eat and eat. Other than greens he is only getting pellets. We have mollies and tuxedo fish that are breeding can he eat those? He has 2 guppies in there but doesn't eat them. They have been in there since we got him 2 months ago. Right now he is in a 40 g terrarium tank that is half full. When we got the tank we had a 2 in turtle.

I read up as much as I can but always easier just to ask specific questions.

Please help

Mom of
William 5 yrs
Joshua 1 month
Mikey (turtle) ?

You should alternate one day pellets and one day veggies.
Cuttle bone is a calcium supplement to help shell development.Yes he should have it.
You can feed feeder fish once a week.

How often should he get cuttlebone? And with him being that big should I put in the whole chunk of cuttlebone and let him eat it when he wants?

I offer some type of plant matter/ veggie (usually leafy greens like dandelions) daily, even on the days they get pellets or another food (like earthworms, for example). If my RES eats what's been given, that's it until the next day.

How much of the higher protein food like pellets does your RES get at a feeding? (Should be a head-sized amount.)

Try putting several head-size pieces of cuttlebone in the tank once a week. I think
that should be enough.

Marissa have you ever seen the scoops in baby formula cans. I would fill it a 1/4 full. My boyfriend does half I think. But I told him it should only be 6 to 8 pellets.

SabrinaF,

I guess 1/4 of the measuring scoop in baby formula can is approximately half of
a 5" turtle's head. You can feed that amount daily along with veggies.

Thanks so much for the help. Have had him for about 2 months and trying to figure the best meals for him

Sorry, but I'm not familiar with scoops that come in baby formula. I'd just go by the number of pellets that would conservatively fit into the head (don't think of jam-packing them in). How many that would be would depend on the size of the pellet.