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my turtles only eat if i put the food in the tank. if i take them out and put them in a plastic container to try to feed them the pills/worms/lettuce/ect, they simply won't eat. they just try to escape. i kind of dont want to keep feeding them in their regular tank because i don't want to dirty up the tank. should i just keep trying to feed them in the plastic container? anyoen else have these problems?

Why don't you try a feeding with something irresistable like a shrimp or some boiled chicken. That might get them used to the idea that they can eat in the plastic container.

I don't know what age your turtles are but it's possible that they are still too young and nervous to eat in a strange place. If that's what's happening, then they may still come around later when they get a little older and more confident.

I agree with SpotsMama... it doesn't always work, so I would just keep trying or wait awhile and try again. Once they realize they get food in there, it will be much easier

And just to be sure I didn't mislead anyone - you would only feed the shrimp or chicken for a short time to give the turtles the idea of good things to be had in the plastic container. Then they need to go back on their healthy diet!

they don't eat in the new tank because of a couple of reasons:
1) a sudden change of environment will increase their stress level so they won't eat right away.
2) they don't tend to eat right after being man-handled.

what i suggest is don't try to feed them anything right after you put them into the new plastic thank. leave them in the plastic thank for a few hours then put food inside. how many hours depends on how adaptive your turtles are.

If your turtles have been fed in the tank for a while, that is the place they associate with getting food. It can take quite a while before they're comfortable and realize what being put in another container is for. If they refuse to eat, don't put them back in the tank and then feed them---you will only be reinforcing eating in the tank.

You have to keep trying for a reasonable length of time, and sometimes it just doesn't work. My painteds wouldn't eat outside of the tank no matter what they were given, so they're fed in the tank.

If you do end up continuing to feed in the tank, you can always come back a few minutes after feeding and scoop out any extra food, I think that's what a few people here do. I feed my turtle in the tank, and truthfully, she's such a hog, that I really don't see the food making that much, if any, of a mess. Plus, I usually have a rosy red or two left in the tank to nibble on the scraps.

i just feed my turtle in the tank. she doesn't make a mess and she cleans up her own poop too