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What foods should I add to my turtles diet?

PostPosted: Sat Jan 11, 2014 1:17 am
by Boomer
Right now he gets fed mazuri turtle diet, zoo med turtle foods, omega one turtle juvenile food, and I got him San Francisco Bay frozen turtle food but he hasn't had it yet because I just bought and one expired in 2012 and the other expired in April 2013 so I'm going to return it. What other foods and diets should I add? Has anyone used repashy omnivore?

Re: What foods should I add to my turtles diet?

PostPosted: Sat Jan 11, 2014 1:46 am
by ljapa
How big is your turtle? I'd suggest adding some plants. Check out the nutrition section on the main site, particularly the plant section:

http://www.redearslider.com/plants.html

RES have evolved to start out as carnivores when first hatched, then become omnivores as they mature, finally becoming primarily vegetarians with the occasional prey meal. Pellets have the protein level of fauna not flora.

My son's turtle gets omega one pellets, veggies from various lettuces and aquatic plants, an occasional red cherry shrimp and the very rare frozen bloodworm treat. She's around 4" long and the plants are the bulk of the food by volume.

Re: What foods should I add to my turtles diet?

PostPosted: Sat Jan 11, 2014 1:38 pm
by Boomer
Right now my turtle is almost 6 inches. Because he is in between being a juvenile and being mature I feed him adult food and juvenile food. Right now he doesn't get much vegetation but I'm going to get more San Francisco Bay frozen turtle food (that isn't expired) and that has a lot of plants in it.

Re: What foods should I add to my turtles diet?

PostPosted: Mon Jan 13, 2014 6:09 pm
by steve
Plants would be a great idea. Also look into carrots and small amounts of fruit.

Re: What foods should I add to my turtles diet?

PostPosted: Mon Jan 13, 2014 7:53 pm
by Boomer
steve wrote:Plants would be a great idea. Also look into carrots and small amounts of fruit.

I'm going to get some dried duckweed that I found on Amazon

Re: What foods should I add to my turtles diet?

PostPosted: Tue Jan 14, 2014 7:12 pm
by steve
Why does it have to be dried? A few of us have planted tanks just for turtle goodies.

Re: What foods should I add to my turtles diet?

PostPosted: Tue Jan 14, 2014 8:46 pm
by Boomer
steve wrote:Why does it have to be dried? A few of us have planted tanks just for turtle goodies.

Because I can't get another tank (of any size) right now and I don't want want to grow live duckweed in his tank and dried would be easier

Re: What foods should I add to my turtles diet?

PostPosted: Thu Jan 23, 2014 10:12 pm
by lovemyturtles
I try to incorporate as much variety as possible. I have used Wardley sticks but I recently changed to Reptomin (seems more fortified). :D On occasion I give my turtles crickets and rosy reds (about two at a time twice a month). As a staple I use jello shots, similar to the San Francisco diet but I make them myself (so much cheaper in the long run). I try to change the recipe with each new batch but generally I use turnip greens, dandelion greens, and green leaf lettuce as a base. To the greens I add sweet potato, carrots, apple, blueberries (in small quantities), and a handful of pellets (to offer a fishy smell). The turtles really love it. Most recently I added anacharis and hornwort to the batch - it stinks and looks putrid but the turtles gobble it up! I try to stay away from kale, chard, and collards. My turtles spit out raw veggies. The only veggie they like raw is carrots, which I coat with a calcium supplement on occasion (about once every seven - 10 days. For the first time ever one turtle agreed to eating Boston lettuce raw. :D Hopefully this will continue. Creating an optimal turtle diet is challenging with so many factors to considers but overall I treat their diet as I do my own - moderation, variety, and nutrition.

Best of Luck in finding what works best for you and your turtles,

Bonnie