Feeding and Nutrition :: Improper diet

[RDHome]

My 5 year old female ReS has been living off of pellets her whole life, she can't seem to catch the fish in her tank, although I am hoping they will start breeding soon, and she will have some more luck eating the baby fishes * maniacle laugh *. Lately I have noticed that my turtle is a fattie, and that she is starting to have the lumpy shell of an over fed turtle, I was wondering what I should do to prevent this from progressing, I am coning to the end of the container of food she has now, and I am considering changing her diet to make her life better. If there are any suggestion a as to what would be a good new food to start her on so as to not shock her system, and prevent her from continuing her fatness lol

[michaelg]

For a 5 year old RES, you should be feeding mostly veggies with maybe pellets once a week or so. Pellets are high in protien which hatchlings and 1 - 2 year old turtles need to grow quickly. I feed my 2 year old Yellow Bellied Slider a head of Green Leaf Lettuce and a head of Red Leaf Lettuce per week. There are plenty of minnows in the pond for her to snack on for a protien fix although she doesn't seem to bother with them.

My 2 RES which are about 8 months old get mostly pellets. I try to keep some veggies in their tank, mostly green leaf lettuce. I have fed them carrots which they enjoy and cucumbers which they also enjoy, but cucumbers are of very little value.

She may be hesitant to switch to veggies, but she will eventually. I wouldn't feed her any pellets at all until she starts eating veggies. It may take a few days or a week, but she should come around. Instinct will take over where habit left off.

-Michael

[RDHome]

I am not too worried about changing her diet, she eats anything that hits the top of the water lol. So carrots, what about dandelion greens, I have read that they are good for Res and that they like them?

[RDHome]

PS. Thank you for getting back to me

[michaelg]

Dandelion greens are great if you can find them. I can't find them in grocery stores around here and we don't have any that grow in our yard. If you can get them, they are very good for them.

-Michael

[RDHome]

I work for a construction business which has tons of yards with dandelion greens and no pesticides, I can just pick them out of the yards and give them to her? I am talking about the stupid weed with yellow flowers that grow everywhere in the area I live in, hopefully its all the same thing lol, if so I might try her on them tonight. How many do I give her and is it only the leaves of them?

[michaelg]

That's great, I wish I had access to that much Dandelion. We have a slight variation of Dandelion. The plant looks the same except the flower is smaller and the plant usually has mulitple blooms. The big difference is the leaves have tons of little spikes on the under side of the leaves. I was so excited when I first saw them sprouting up this spring, until I started pulling off the leaves and realized they weren't the same.

I would rinse the leaves just in case. Being in construction, there could be all kinds of dust and other particles on the dandelion leaves. The nutrition is all in the leaves, but it probably wouldn't hurt to give the flower. They probably won't eat the stem, but it can't hurt them.

-Michael

[Skyewillow]

Most people consider them a pest plant, but I've seen the greens in 2 stores Meijer, which is a Midwest/Great Lakes based store, and Whole Foods, which I believe is just about everywhere in the US. lol

[michaelg]

Dandelions are consumed by humans and they are good for you. I'm not a big salad eater, but I have had salads in restaruants that had Dandelion. Dendelions are definitely a pest in your lawn, but if grown for cultivation, they are popular.

-Michael

[steve]

Dandelions can taste bitter, so she might not readily take it like other veggies. It's definitely worth a shot.

[slider_keeper]

Toku devoures dandelions. He is like a garbag disposal! I think he would eat pizza if I gave it to him

[RDHome]

Oh its great to have something in abundance I gan give my turtle lol, dandelions are weeds here that everyone tries to get rid of, my since my turtle can eat them, my boyfriends parents are going to let them grow in places of their yard now for me lol. They never use pesticides, so I have healthy green weeds lol

[heliconiinae]

Hello, I'm looking for some advice on how to convince my RES turtle to eat vegetables!

She is about 7 to 8 inches in carapace length but absolutely refuses to even nibble on the stuff. I keep reading she should be mostly herbivorous by now. I have tried feeding her fruit in the past with varying success (grapes, cherries, plum, watermelon, blueberries, strawberries, cantaloupe, even orange once), but even then she will only take sweet fruit if I deprive her of pellets long enough, and sometimes not even then.

Aside from this she is a fattie and eats insects, pellets, shrimp, or dried and live fish with enthusiasm. So far there is not really any shell pyramiding but I am worried about the long term health repercussions and it seems that no matter how I try she rejects them...I've tried an assortment of leafy greens, dandelion leaves, romaine... I haven't tried aquatic plants because I don't have the proper lighting or substrate for maintaining them, and they are kind of expensive to feed as a one time deal (a tiny bundle for over $5??).

Unfortunately I do not have a blender at home, but I'd still like to try the turtle jelly shot idea, but I'm doubtful she will take them either. For now, I've been trying to make up for this veggie deficit by feeding her HBH turtle bites aquatic turtle food. Anyone else use this brand? I searched online and the ingredients list really varies but the list on my bottle includes: fish meal, soy flour, wheat flour, krill meal, shrimp meal, wheat starch, fish oil, spirulina algae, pea powder, beet powder, tomato powder, carrot powder, apple powder, broccoli powder, zucchini powder, calcium carbonate, brewers dried yeast, rosemary extract, and vitamins A, E, C, E, a bunch of B vitamins, d-calcium phosphate, folic acid, and a variety of minerals as well.

Not all the HBH blends are created equally and I haven't found another brand with such an impressive list of vegetables but I wonder if this is sufficient nutritionally... and if not, how to push her to eat fresh veggies?!

[CactusJohn5]

Hello, I'm looking for some advice on how to convince my RES turtle to eat vegetables!

She is about 7 to 8 inches in carapace length but absolutely refuses to even nibble on the stuff.

Aside from this she is a fattie and eats insects, pellets, shrimp, or dried and live fish with enthusiasm.

how to push her to eat fresh veggies?!

Wow, 7-8 inches and only on a protein diet! Ithink you should post a new topic instead of hijacking this one, but ill try to help you out anyways.

SIMPLE technique, most people here know and have probably used before "TOUGH LOVE" No more protein, period, until she starts to eat vegetables more. I did this with my girls earlier this year and they are back to eating vegies again. It seems like its heartless or cruel, but its not, a turtle can go WEEKS w/o eating espically if they have some added fat.

Most times, greens are the best way to start, green leaf lettuce, collard greens, dandilion green, red leaf lettuce.
take a leaf or 2 and toss them into the tank, leave it for an hour or two and remove it, repeat daily. Eventually she will start to nibble on them, TRUST me you have to GIVE it time, probably over a week may take 2 week of NOTHING but vegies. Do not cave to the begging or the thought of she is starving, In the long run, the "TOUGH LOVE" will pay off, you just have to stick with it.

[~jorjor~]

Romaine lettuce is good, the darker the better. Dandelion greens are great too and very nutrient dense, if you can find it that is, I actually think they sell seeds online(which was weird to me because I thought people regarded it as a pesty weed)