Feeding and Nutrition :: little piggies

[cam722]

Just saw something with my turtles I've never seen before.. thought I'd share it. As we all know turtles are little pigs when it comes to eating. Today was pellet day. I usually feed them 10 pellets each every other day, with veggies every other day and occasionally a treat with their pellets. Well today they got some yellow peppers and only 5 pellets.. and my goodness.. they are BULDGING at the seams so to speak. They just looked like fat pudgey little turtles. Now mind you, once they eliminate all that, they'll be back to their normal slim turtles, but I just couldn't believe the change in them .. I'd never seen them like that before. There was no way they were going to be able to pull in their heads or legs.. so now I know what a FAT turtle looks like

If only I could get them to stay still for pictures.. but NOO.. oh and btw, they are still begging for food

[sonyj]

Too funny! I have to really be careful with feedings around here now. Everyone wants to help and if I'm not careful before I know it Koopa has had 2-3 servings of pellets. (which is ok with him, but not me). I'm thinking about making a sign for the aquarium... one side could be "Feed Me" and the other "I'm Full".

[cam722]

Hmmm good idea..

With the extra "help" around the house I keep getting asked, "Do they get fed today or not"?? That sure would help answer that question.

[RESCHIU]

same thing happened here, I didn't know that turtle could gain weight like in 1~2 days
I mean, I had my turtle woke up from hibernation(for medication purpose), and one time I went home for the weekend and had my boyfriend feed him and he said my turtle ate all 6 food sticks at once, and when I came back the next day, my turtle gain so much weight by just looking from outside, I was so surprised!!!

[alkaiser]

I feed my turtle a hell of a lot of pellets and he's just fine.

About three times the size of his head, it's the damndest thing. I mean I know it could be overfeeding him but he looks like he really needs them whenever I walk by.

I mean I know they beg and all, but I have no idea whether he's really hungry or not and that makes me nervous.

[cam722]

You'll have to pardon my bluntness, but intentionally overfeeding your turtle is totally irresponsible. If you've read any posts in this forum with regards to feeding, you'd note that turtles are consumate beggars and will keep eating until they vomit because in the wild they have no idea when their next meal will be. We as turtle owners MUST be conscientious about feeding them properly because their health and well-being depends on us.

I feed my turtle a hell of a lot of pellets and he's just fine.

How do you know this? Have you taken your turtle to the vet, can you see his insides to make sure you aren't damaging his internal organs by overfeeding? Just becaue he appears "fine" to you, doesn't mean you aren't causing damage to him now and in the future. So you may want to rethink your feeding amounts.

[alkaiser]

The problem is there isn't really turtle vetrenarians around here and I had to do most everything myself. All the baby cans say to feed them for like 15 minutes and well mine's just a really fast eater, I could not have known.

I'll limit it though, and I'll start feeding him in the morning if that helps.

What caused all of this is when I see him chomp at his own feces from time to time as if he's starving (Yes, I clean out the tank but it's not always perfect so this tends to happen.

[RESCHIU]

another good method is that when your turtle still keep begging for food after good amount of food that you feed him, you can try something else different like lettuce, or carrot. Or make sure your turtle get plenty of exercise to compensate over eating....

it is normal that turtle eat their own feces, and I'm sure by doing that, they learn not to do it. (mine eat it when he was a baby, but now he never do it)

[alkaiser]

What did I do to deserve all this trouble, I should be more than qualified for this?

I wish I had a herp vet to help me out, I could probably avoid a lot of the guessing. I find that sometimes this site is awfully vague on a lot of things, no offense.

Garbleblast

Maybe I'll go to like 8 pellets a day since thats what looks like it will fit in his head.

To tell you the truth this whole thing kind of depresses me, I can't ever do anything to help him/her and whenever I try I just end up screwing up.

His shell is far from perfect, it's completely different than the pictures I'm always seeing on this site and yet it's just the way he's growing. He's about 3 months old and he's about 3 inches now. His scutes are the weirdest ever, they are small but the 'edges' stretch out for a quarter centimeter until the next one. (Not stacked or pyramiding, just streched out horizontally :Shock: ) To be fair, I've tried everything but it just doesn't seem right. (Don't worry! He/She looks very happy regardless of how it's shell looks so I think it may just be cosmetic in a way, it's had an odd shell since I've had it and having talked to a turtle doctor on the phone it apparently wasn't sick or anything, at least not then.)

Maybe leaving a light on too long or overfeeding could cause such things, but this site has never directly implied that

Sorry to dump on you, but I'm trying my hardest up here!

[RESCHIU]

sounds like over-eating to me
what you mean by you've tried everything? do you happen to have a picture of it?

[alkaiser]

sounds like over-eating to me
what you mean by you've tried everything? do you happen to have a picture of it?

As soon as I get a good digital camera I'll do so.

Tried I just mean I looked everywhere.

Sorry if I was being a bit whiny, but my turtles health is important to me.

[Giddy]

The pellets also swell and swell a lot. A pellet can easily get 5 times it's dried out size. If you are feeding abunch of dried pellets and the turtle is choiwing it down quickly, enough to fill the tummy basically dry, it will expand terribly in their system.

[cam722]

alkeiser: The shell issue could be from growing too fast. As I said in my earlier post, overfeeding can cause a myriad of health issues, one of them is pyramiding of the shell which is a visible sign, there are many others internally that we can't see. These things if taken care of soon enough can be stopped although not all things can be undone. Cutting back on their food is a good start.

You say that your turtle is 3 months old and 3 inches? How big was it when you got it? IF he has grown 2+ inches in the time you've had him, he's grown way too fast and you'll definitely need to cut back and be strict with his food intake. I have 2 turtles that are nearly 2 yrs old and a little over 4".. I too didn't feed them properly the first year but once I found this site and followed the instructions and advice I read on here, I've seen a major difference in their growth, as it slowed down tremendously. Too much protein will cause them to grow too fast. What are you feeding him and how much? Do you offer any veggies at all? Do you have a calcium source?

Maybe leaving a light on too long or overfeeding could cause such things, but this site has never directly implied that "

That statement is totally wrong. There are at least 2 pages of topics with regard to overfeeding your turtles and the harm it can do. There is information regarding food and lighting on the main website. If you haven't seen this information before on here, then you've not looked hard enough. Maybe it's time to go through things again to make sure you're doing everything properly? or you could just ask questions if you don't know the answers.

[marisa]

His shell will grow in part the way he's fed. Overfeeding taxes the system, particularly the kidneys, and will lead to a shortened life.

You need to cut down on the feeding and learn to ignore the begging once he's been fed. Try a piece of red-leaf lettuce or a leaf of dandelion to give him something to nibble on that's not high protein. Drop another small piece of cuttlebone in the tank.

[alkaiser]

His shell will grow in part the way he's fed. Overfeeding taxes the system, particularly the kidneys, and will lead to a shortened life.

You need to cut down on the feeding and learn to ignore the begging once he's been fed. Try a piece of red-leaf lettuce or a leaf of dandelion to give him something to nibble on that's not high protein. Drop another small piece of cuttlebone in the tank.

Ah, I see

Cam722- I was using one of the hatchling pellet diets and anarcharis for a long time but I ran out of those pellets and had to switch to Nurtrafin Turtle Gammarus Pellets (medium, about the size of Reptomin Baby but not as thick) and Anacharis. I'll cut down to 7-8 and see how that works, since that looks like what could fit in his head. Cuttlebone I've been working with but with no positive results, If he needs calcium I usually just coat something in that Reptocal stuff.

I'm sorry I didn't reallymean to get defensive or anything I'm just really nervous, I hope my turtle can have a normal shell for the most part.