Feeding and Nutrition :: RES won't eat his veggies

[bananaspit]

Hello,

I've been feeding my RES green and red lettuce. At first, he ate quite a lot but now he just stopped taking them in. It started after I put him in a separate tub for eating only. And today, I offered dandelion but he's also just sorta poking at it, not really eating it. He's very hungry for the food pellets though. Is there any reason why he might have stopped eating his veggies?

Thanks!

[steve]

They can get picky sometimes, how long was he eating them for?

[bananaspit]

Just 4 days. He would try eating maybe a bite, then spit out the bit of leaf he bit off. Am I supposed to rip the leaves into bits or let him bite it himself?

Edit: I tried putting his leaf back into his large swimming tank. He's willing to eat it in his tank. Such a spoiled turtle haha! Is there anything I can do to make the leaf more... edible in the other tub?

[Listen97]

Some try soaking in tuna juice.

[steve]

And try using a veggie clip. (Fish section in a pet store.)

[mcpree]

Mine doesnt eat the lettuce i throw in immediately, takes quite awhile.
And there are lots of bite marks on my aquatic plants, poor plants.

[CactusJohn5]

why would you eat a salad when you can have a pizza? Stop feeding the pellets and watch how quickly he goes back to eat the lettuce. Pellets win out over everything!

[PridgNYC]

Agreed, you won't be successful getting him to eat any significant quantity of lettuce when you are feeding in a separate tank. Just attach a few leafs to a clip in his main tank and let him snack on them throughout the day. It's like having live plants in his environment without the frustration of watching him destroy any live plants you put in there.

BTW, the only veggie clips I have found in the local pet store are the ones shaped like a little fish, and that one will break very quickly. I have had good luck with the ocean nutrition ones I got off of amazon. (search for seaweed clip) I prefer the wide mouth to be able to hold more than one leaf of lettuce.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_ ... Caps%2C210