Feeding and Nutrition :: Home made diet?

[turtlelover95]

My 3 sliders are about 8 yrs old. They are eating like crazy lately. Does anyone have any recipes for food that I could make at home that would replace the pellets? Or is that a bad idea? I've had them since they were hatchlings and they've always had pellets, but I thought I'd try something different.
Thanks!!!!

[untsmurf]

Here you go, start with this:

http://www.redearslider.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5

[turtlelover95]

Thanks!! I was just wondering if there is anything I could make that would replace the pellets? They just seem to be eating like crazy lately. They never seem to be full. Should I kepp feeding them until they don't eat any more? I read that there were risks of over feeding (which I didn't know about before) but they just seem to be so hungry. They are all between 7 and 8 years old and they have never acted like this before. Any suggestions?

[octpusgirl8]

Don't feed them pellets untill they are full (do they ever get full?), only give them an amount about the size of thier head every other day. Are you giving them lots of veggies along with the pellets? Vegetables are really important for them, and you can give them a lot more vegetables than pellets. You should be giving them veggies everyday. There is a sticky at the top of the feeding and nutrition section that says some good ones to feed. My turt is a notrious beggar, he starts up as soon as he notices i'm looking at him. It's hard to resist, but you gotta do it!

[DavidY]

he he...my turtles are always begging for more food when I come up to the edge of the tank. But when I sit in my chair and just watch them for a while they eventually stop begging and go about their playful swimming and exploring (I assume they're looking for any stray food that they might have missed). That is after all what most wild animals do... eat...sleep...hunt...eat...sleep...hunt...eat...sleep...mate...sleep...hunt...eat...sleep....

[megcornell]

I'm pretty sure if I fed my turtle until she stopped begging she's eat to death. haha. I don't think turtles possess a very good ability to ration out food or to know when they are full-- not captive turtles at least. So its up to their owners to do so. I follow the typical feeding guidelines this site gives- pellets every other day (sometimes I give them every day, I lose track), and vegetables everyday. I also give treats every few weeks or so that are high in protein like feeder fish, it's a good exercise for Leo to catch them. I do find though that when she has lettuce to nibble on she begs much less so perhaps if you added a few water plants to your tank you'd have less active begging

[untsmurf]

Don't they keep eating because in the wild they don't have a constant supply of food, so they have to stock up when they can find it. Obviously the difference being that in nature, they might not eat for a week or so after that, while as with us we feed them all the time. So if they ate like that all the time, they would die.

[marisa]

Yes, they're opportunistic eaters, and in the wild will overeat because they might not be getting another meal for a while. But captive turtles don't know that they do have a regular food source and it's the keeper who has to limit how much they eat.

[turtlelover95]

Thanks for all of the tips!!! So how do you meausre out the food if you have more than 1 turt in a tank? What if one hogs it?

[SpotsMama]

If you've got more than one in the tank, then you are right - one will probably try to hog all the food and it will get big and the other(s) will stay small!

When there's more than one turtle, it would be best to separate them for feeding. You can take the more aggressive one out and feed him in a separate container while you feed the shy one in the tank.

[steve]

Definitely try the separate feeding container SpotsMama mentioned. You can see if both are willing to eat in there (at separate times), then that will help your water stay a bit cleaner