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Hello -

My res won't eat any veggies I've given. I've tried carrots, red leaf lettuce (everyday), green beans, zucchini, tomatoes, and blueberries. He won't eat any of it. I've tried soaking the lettuce in tuna water, but that didn't help. He found a pellet that I put in with the food I gave him that was surrounded by all these veggies floating on the top, but he still didn't touch the veggies! I cut them into smaller chunks, but maybe that was not a good idea? I'm at a loss. I started feeding him like 20 pellets a day, but then read this website! I thought for sure my little dude was going to have kidney failure or something.....so I cut back drastically on the amount. 6 or 7 pellets every other day, while the lettuce just floats around. I think all he's ever been fed has been pellets. He's 4.5 inches long, so I assume he's at least a year old if not more. Does anyone have any suggestions on what to give him? Should I be giving him more pellets? I thought that if he got hungry enough, he'd start to eat the vegetables floating around. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you!

Veggie Clip - It'll keep his lettuce in the same spot. It's easier for you to clean up if he doesn't show any interest.

Aquatic Plants - You can just leave them in there and they'll serve as decorations if he doesn't eat them

Withhold Pellets - You can try the tough love approach with a healthy RES. They'll always want pellets, so you can't give in to the endless begging.

I have the same problem with my little guy too. He'll eat some things rarely like banana, crushed raisin,crushed dates and dry apple but nothing else. He hates vegetables and all he need to do is take half a bite and he'll spit them out in total rejection. I really want him to start eaten healthy cuz his skin is constantly peeling and i'm sure it's because of to many pellets. It seems he has a sweet tooth but i dont want to give him that kind of stuff, i've tried almost everythin. Any suggestions?

He'll have a sweet tooth if that's what you offer. Let him go without pellets for a few days and offer only lettuce. Don't worry he'll be okay if he chooses not to eat them at first. I would offer one of those sweets just once a month if at all. In my opinion.

Yeah, I'm going to do the same starting tomorrow. Not offer any pellets at all, but give lettuce and turtle jello shots. I made a bunch of that crap and he's not eating it! I broke my freakin blender doing so!! hahaha! I hope he starts to eat that stuff too. I think I might end up trying live plants. I'm getting a 90 gallon tank on Tuesday and I hope to incorporate a lot of plants into that tank. Maybe he'll eat that.

I'd just try offering nothing but red leaf lettuce for a few days. It's a proven good green to feed them and I think it's best to get him used to it as soon as you can.

When my turts were about 4"-5" they wouldn't eat veggies at all. Sometimes they just nibbled on a carrot. They didn't even want pellets! Just shrimp and krill. Now my turts are all over 5" and eat their veggies... I think most young RES are tough when it comes to feeding veg.

The aquatic plant idea is a good option though!

@za94 - Did you read my post that's above yours?

I have this forum to thank for helping me get my RES to eat his veggies! He used to never eat his veggies (except carrots and strawberries, in moderation of course) but I started using red leaf lettuce and a veggie clip and now he gobbles the stuff up!

Boy did I get lucky! My turtle eats his veggies with a vengence. I started giving them to him when he was 6 months old and he went right after then with no hesitation.

A Petsmart opened up in a town close by and they have aquatic plants. I bought some ancharis and a grass plant. He has snapped at both! I think that's a start.

I wish my local petsmart/fish store sold Anacharis. I havent found any in all of ontario, and I dont want to pay $60 shipping for a $2 plant
-Matt.steve