Feeding and Nutrition :: Baby Red Eared Slider Questions--

[OyerbidesJ]

hi, i recently recieved four red eared baby sliders from a friend they range from maybe 1.5 inches to 2 inches. they're living in a 20 gal. long tank, suffiecent water level kept at about 81 degrees F, they have their basking lamp & spots, does anyone have anything else to reccomend that might be good for me to buy?

also i have a questions about feeding if someone could help me out, i've only had them 2 days & i've tried feeding them turtle pellets [one of the turtles ate some but the rest didn't touch them] then i also tried feeding them some bloodworms that i had thawed from a frozen cube, along with small peices of broccoli florets. i know they can be stressed & not want to eat just like any other creature but will they be okay if they go a few days without eating? how long will it take them to be relaxed enough to eat? is there something else i can feed them that would be best for them that would make them eat?

thank you to whoever responds.

[cam722]

I responded to your question regarding the tank in your other post..

Do you have a heater that is keeping the water temp steady or are you just using your lights? Make sure you keep the lights on a regular daylight schedule. Which means trying to mimic the sunlight during the day. The water temp should be about 78.

Now regarding the eating issues. You're going to have to be very careful when having 4 turtles in one tank. I'd recommend you getting them used to being fed outside the tank in another contain. Sometimes one ends up being very aggressive and the others don't get time to get any of the food that's put in the tank. You can try to put food in different places in the tank so that they may all have their own feeding spots but that's going to be tough with 4.. Read up under the Feeding/Nutrition sticky with regards to what you can and cannot feed them. There are numerous posts on how to entice your turtles to eat but at this point I'd just give them some time and privacy during feeding times.

[OyerbidesJ]

yeah i have a submersible water heater, so 80 is too warm?
and i have been feeding the 2 smallest and 2 largest seperately in other containers.

[Shavannah]

80 is too warm, unless they are sick. 78 is a good temp, as stated before.
Feeding them in separate containers as you are doing is a great idea. Make sure there's some tank water in there so they can swallow their food.
Also, as recommended, read the sticky on what to feed and what not to feed. I think broccoli is under the what not to feed section.

[cam722]

As Shavannah states make sure to have water in the containers as turtles have no saliva and cannot eat out of water..