Feeding and Nutrition :: Picky Eaters, Anyone?

[IamNotJasmine]

My turtle will ONLY eat boiled egg whites (his fave), grapes, guppies, pellets, and crickets (but I hate crickets because they are so messy!). I've tried to feed him EVERYTHING. I've even tried only presenting him with the foods I wanted him to eat and not giving him anything else, but I thought he was just going to starve himself to death. I don't know what to do with the boy! He's 5 years old and spoiled rotten! Any suggestions? Anyone else have a picky eater?

[Love of Animals]

You can try the jello shots stickied in this section. Or you can try tough love. Put something in his tank like red leaf lettuce (my turtle loves this) or dandelion leaves. Leave them there for 24 hours then take out and replace. He'll eat them eventually. He won't starve himself. Res can go a couple of days without eating and do so in the wild. After a couple of days only give him a couple of pellets then try again.

[steve]

I also recommend tough love. Use a veggie clip (holds plants in one location).

[IamNotJasmine]

Thanks. I'll try that. He has fish right now though. Should I take them out first? I have a separate tank that I can put feeder fish in, so it would be no problem.

[steve]

You can do that. He won't like it though

[turtlesrmom]

Can you get a veggie clip in a pet store or can I make one? Krush won't eat greens. And he's even picky about which type of food he eats. However he likes minnows and grasshoppers! I'll try the tough love after I find a veggie clip.

[Love of Animals]

You can get veggies clips in the pet store or you can just put the greens in the tank. They float. My turtle loves chasing his lettuce.

[turtlesrmom]

I ordered 3 books and they all came in yesterday. In one of the books, it lists tons of things to feed a turtle and what not to feed them so I tried apple today and he didn't like it but he ate a slice of carrot. He won't eat Romaine lettuce or celery leaves but will eat parsley. So now I have some idea of what to feed him. I read that some of the veggies are okay in small quantities, such as parsley.

[steve]

Keep trying romaine or red leaf, it has good amounts of calcium in it.

[turtlesrmom]

Thank you, Steve.....so glad to be a member of this forum! I found out he loves bananas.

[siranlea]

I really need big time help with my 3 terrapins. Kids got them couple of months ago, and only one doesnt seem to grow. Initially we fed them pellets in the tank, big mistake, not only i had to clean the tank everyday but it stank to high heaven. Now, a little smarter (I hope), I transfered them to a bigger tank and feed them in the another tank. Problem is that none of them want to eat when I transfer them there and all 3 try to claw their way out. This feeding tank used to be their first home! We bought some live guppies and fresh prawns, only the biggest terrapin seems to be eating it well but the other two seldom eat. I'm worried cos I dont want them to starve and I'm not about to give in to feeding them in the big tank when they come begging lol And is it common that terrapins eat their own crap??

[Love of Animals]

Siranlea, do you have rocks in your tank? They can trap debris and cause a smell.

[PridgNYC]

What size tank? Do you use any kind of filtration?

[siranlea]

Hi guys. not using gravels anymore but got 5 mid sized rocks now. I had an aqua plant in there, the terrapins shredded it when i stopped feeding them in the tank. Using power filter and the tank is about 40cmx28cmx30cm and I filled the water to slightly above the half mark. I also have a question about them shedding skins. How does it look? Anything like angel-like wings, papery thin and whitish? There's a lot in the tank and we all thought it was some form of algae, or nitrate or protein buildup. We thought they were crapping the undigested guppies' fins and tails at first lol even after changing water, there's more the next morning. It wasnt until I put the biggest terrapin by itself in the feeding tank, that i saw more of these white films around her. So what could it be? The biggest terrapin seems to look fat when he pulls in his back leg, it looks like a huge chubby roll ) I'll try and upload some pics once I get the hang of posting it. Cheers and thanks for whatever advice you give.

[Love of Animals]

Sounds like you have them on a high protein diet. The general rule for feeding is enough pellets that would fit in their head if empty, every other day. Fresh greens can be feed everyday. Feeder fish and other high protein foods should be fed as a treat occasionally. Being to chubby can hurt a turtles health. If he's that chubby a low protein diet might be in order. please upload some pics. We'd love to see them. How big are they?