Feeding and Nutrition :: Turtle eating like there is no tomorrow plant wise

[daredevilgirl013]

Ok, Michelangelo is going awall on the plants. Before he wouldn't touch them, now he's going through plants like there is no tomorrow. Every week I am out buying as much as I can afford to feed this guy. Just this Tuesday I went in, bought the biggest Amazon Sword they had and a bunch of anacharis. The amazon sword was huge. He has already eaten that and half the anacharis. Now granted he does have snails and guppies in there but not that many to kill the plants just like that because this hasn't ever happened before.

I can't keep constantly running back and forth to the pet store for plants as it's costing me over 20 bucks a week (the amazon sword is 6.00 and the anacharis is 5.00 a bunch, not including tax) so it all depends on what I get. And the bigger the amazon the bigger the price.

What can I do to get him to reduce his intake? This week I am also finally cutting him down to getting fed every other day as I figure he's probably a year old now (not since I've had him but from what would probably be when he was born) And I know that is going to make it worse.

I don't know if he eats carrots, I put those in the tank and usually the snails literally pounce on those like there is no tomorrow. But I know he's eating the plants because I've seen him and there are obvious turtle bites on the amazon.

Any advice would be appreciated. Dandelions are just now coming in (thank goodness) and I will use all the leaves off of them I can get. By the way on the leaves, it's the leaves that are there when they are yellow right? Like the ones on the ground? Like on this pic..
http://alfalfa.okstate.edu/weeds/winbro ... ion-02.jpg

If so can he eat as much of that as he wants because if so thank goodness that'll save me money and I'll run around to all the neighbor's yards and collect the stuff. Also can snails eat the leaves? If not it'll still save me money if I just have to buy plants for them.

So like I said any advice would be appreciated as the pet store pretty much knows what I need when I walk in as lately I'm in there every single week getting plants cause of mr. bottemless pit.

[missibsu]

Mine eat red lead lettuce...found in the fresh produce section, as well as yellow pepper, green leaf lettuce and radish tops. In my opinion based on the prices you mentioned above, the fresh produce is a better way to go. I have avoided the water plants because they are so expensive. Have you thought about trying to take starts from them and grow your own? I hear ya on the dandelions. I have already picked and washed a few, they went nuts with those too!

[cam722]

I have to agree with missibut.. I'd go with the veggies on the food list and save the aquatic plants for treats. I went through what you did with buying all those plants to have them devoured almost immediately and they made a heck of a mess out of the tank and the filter, especially the anacharis.

[daredevilgirl013]

Yeah the anacharis is horribly messy which is why I have amazon swords in there now instead of the anacharis when I can get all the amazon swords I need.

As for the produce route, this little guy won't eat most of it. Lettuce he won't touch why I don't know but he won't and the carrots like I said, the snails go for those. As for peppers, if he wants to eat the really really hot kind that's all we have as no one here really cares for just peppers. He's a really picky eater when it comes to human food.

[steve]

Mikey shouldn't have an unlimited amount of veggies to devour. My female RES would eat 24/7 if she could and I've noticed her waste would foul the water quicker if she eats too much veggies. She would also vomit is she ate too much in a short period.

I scatter bits of lettuce throughout the day for them to chomp on.

[missibsu]

I wasn't refering to hot peppers. I was talking like green sweet pepper, only the yellow variety...mostly because my turts love anything yellow red and orange.

[sonyj]

Be careful picking dandelion leaves. You don't know what pesticides others might have used around their yards that could be harmful if ingested.

[missibsu]

We have 30+ acres...I know it isn't a problem here, but that is very true for others who live with people near by. Does anyone know how far the effects of pesticides can carry? Just a curiousity thing.

[daredevilgirl013]

I know here the farmers haven't sprayed anything yet and neither have we in our yard.

And yesterday my big Amazon Sword plant was eaten down to nothing. I put in his tank two baby carrots chopped up and the snails had like a homing beacon on those things and went after them as soon as they hit the water. So I don't know if Michelangelo ate any of them or not.

And usually the water plants are his veggies and that's why I have them, but now he's also eating my fish, and that's never happened before (especially whne he eats my 12.00 fish....at least I know not to buy another one of those because he'll eat it) So I don't know if he is going through a growth phase where this is what he'll do now or what. But I know I'm going to have to get more plants on Tuesday and if he eats all the plants before then he'll just have to wait.

[marisa]

If you pick the dandelion leaves before they flower, the leaves won't be as bitter. Once the plant flowers, the leaves get really bitter. Try for tender, green leaves...

[daredevilgirl013]

My little guy is still going nuts. My mom cannot believe that he is now reduced to biting at the snails constantly, biting at the fish constantly, and everything else. He is just soo hungry. I bought him another big amazon sword plant..gone in one day. I picked a big handful of dandelion leaves..gone in one day. He's just going nuts! He's just constantly wanting food and no I'm not giving him his pellets whenever he wants them. But there is always plants in the tank and he just goes awall on them now. I mean in all honesty I can't go out and buy him a 7 dollar plant every time I turn around and there are only so many dandelions to be had!

[sonyj]

I buy a head of red leaf or green leaf lettuce every two weeks for around $1.50. Separate it, wash it, dry it, and then put it in a Ziploc. Koopa gets some everyday and it always lasts for the 2 week period and much more economical than the aquatic plants. After purchasing anacharis once and seeing how fast it was gone for the cost I decided not to go that route again.

[Spookster]

I've just put anacharis in our tank for the first time. Our turtle loves it. She hasn't devoured all of it like that but she nibbles on it several times a day since it's been in there. Just like yours though she doesn't really like any veggies we buy at the grocery store. I might go look for some dandelions in the yard. Anacharis is hard for me to get here. It is outlawed here in South Carolina so no pet stores can carry it. I have another house in North Carolina though so whenever I am there I can stop at the pet stores on the way here and pick some up.

[cam722]

I'm with sonyj on this one.. I gave up on buying the aquatic plants because it became too darn expensive. I now buy red leaf lettuce, escarole etc at the grocery store and it lasts for awhile when stored properly.

[daredevilgirl013]

That's the problem with Michelangelo, he won't eat lettuce. I've tried it with him and it will sit in that tank and rot. I did try planting some in the garden so we'll see if he likes the fresh garden type. Maybe it all depends on how he likes it, but of course it will take time for that to grow. I just know I am going to be picking dandelions like there is no tomorrow. I just wish he would snap out of this stage soon.