redearslider.com

Hi guys, I really could use some help. I have a red eared slider who, at the time of purchase (Aug 29 / 14), I was told was born late last year. I think I'm feeding him ok (don't actually know the sex, but I call it a he, and his name is Stanley), but I just would like some confirmation. I feed him the wardley turtle sticks, and I give him 3 in the morning (broken in half, because the full stick is too big for him) and two or three (again broken in half) at night. I recently gave him banana as a treat but he didn't really show any interest, same with lettuce. I have read though that you're supposed to pour sticks in and let them eat as much as they can for 5 min and take the rest of the food out, or give them as much as you would think could fit in their head. I'm just so confused and could really use a definitive answer.
Thanks a bunch,
A worried turtle parent
P.s. some times he "digs" in his rocks looking for food particles

What kind of tank is he in? and how's the filtration?

The reason I ask is... Feeding pellets, can be a messy thing. If you feed to much, what tends to happen is they dissolve into the water , then the turtle can't really eat it and it just makes the water dirty. Some people feed in a separate container, however from my experience , this tends to scare the turtles and then they don't eat well. But, one of the things you will be dealing with in general, with a new/young turtle, is they will be scared of lots of things.

If you find feeding in a separate container is not going to work for you ( like I have ), you can do a couple things...

One is to create a little food dish on dry land, that is directly adjacent to the water, and let the turtle grab a piece of food, then crawl off into the water to finish eating it. ( aquatic turtles have to be in water to swallow their food ) When my turtles where young, I used this method. The only tricky part is getting a nice little setup where he can get the food from the container and then get into the water, without knocking all the food out of the dish, or knocking the dish into the water, etc...

The next thing is... what many of us do, is to just put the food in the water and let the turtle eat as much as he can in 15 minutes or so. If you figure out how much he will eat in 15 minutes, then feed that amount, your task is done. If you don't know how much he will eat, you can come back after the feeding time is over, and try to scoop out all the uneaten food and throw it away. Over time, you will learn how much he will eat and then be able to make a wise choice on how much to put in.

The better your filtration is, the more sloppy you and your turtle can be at feeding time. However, it's always a time saver to not be so sloppy and only feed what they need and will eat.

@Em_13 - You should read this page: http://www.redearslider.com/pellets.html and the only adjustment I would make is to feed a little less than what's described. (The page needs updating) What kind of rocks do you have? Anything smaller than his head should be taken out. If there's not much, then take it all out.