Feeding and Nutrition :: feeding your res veggies

[rtswim400@yahoo.com]

I am trying to get my RES to eat veggies. I have tried carrots and collard greens. She has tried to eat the carrot once or twice but doesnt seem to like it much. With the collard greens she takes nips at it every once in a while but doesnt seem to enjoy it much. She eats fish, crikets, pellets fine but what I have been reading she should be getting some veggies too. I only feed her pellets every other day and only put in 5 red bellies 5 days ago and there is 1 left. Also there are 2 snails in the tank but she hasnt figured out how to eat them yet, has tried tho. She is shy when I am around so ive had to watch her with her thinking i'm not around.

[missibsu]

try some red leaf lettuce, or some anacharis...it can be found at the pet store in the water plants. Also, are you cutting up the carrot? Mine won't eat it unless I cut it up in small pieces. I think it was too hard for them to eat. Keep trying and don't get discouraged. Sometimes you have to push the issue a bit by refusing the pellets until they eat the other. And it takes some time for them to adjust, so just give it some time.

[rtswim400@yahoo.com]

Thanks I will try what you said, and the carrots were cut up when i put them in. How much do anacharis cost at the pet store and what are the best ones to buy? Also if she doesnt eat the veggies right away do I leave it in the tank or tank it out?

[missibsu]

I'm not sure how much the anacharis costs, I have never used it. I just know that Marisa suggests it highly and it is on the feedling list. There are other recommended water plants on the feeding list as well. It's one of the stickys at the top of this section. I leave my veggies in the tank. At first I had to remove them after a couple of days because they wouldn't eat them and they would get slimmy, but one day I just came back in the room and the veggies were gone. From then on out, I have never had any problems. Mine don't like the collard greens though. I use a variety of the lettuces (not iceburg) and carrots, some yellow pepper occassionaly, and some fruits on a rare occassion.

[Turtleboy]

heres what i do for clark, at first he refuses to eat veggies but would gobble up the pellets, so i didn't feed him pellets for a day, i just stuck a couple different kind of salad, lettuce etc into his tank and it took him about a day to finally eat them, and he'll eat them now every time he gets bored (doesn't really gobble down the lettuce, he takes bites here and there but i'd say a good 50% is gone by the end of the day)

i feed clark his pellets near the end of the day after he's eaten his lettuce so either way he gets both if he eats his veggies!

[cam722]

It seems that if a turtle isn't started on veggies when they are hatchlings they take a bit of time to get used to it. I know I had a lot of problems with mine eating them and now they will eat just about anything I put in there for them. You can try putting the veggies in on the days that you don't give pellets or withhold pellets for a few days until they are hungry enough to eat anything you give them. Some may think this is cruel but in the wild, they don't have the variety or quantity of food our turtles have. Going a few days without food won't cause them any harm

[rtswim400@yahoo.com]

Thanks for all the help. She ate some of collards i put in today but still not interested in the carrots. I guess i will try no pellets for another day or so and try some different stuff until i find what she likes.

[missibsu]

I would say that it isn't about finding what she likes and feeding her only that. She does need to have some variety, so see if you can get her to eat more than just one thing.

[marisa]

If you're not doing so, use a peeler to make some long, thin carrot peels (make them look like worms). My turts like tender greens, but will eat collards (not as enthusiastically, though). You could also soak pieces of the leaves in the water from tuna for a while and see if that doesn't get your turtle going...

[Martha]

do you cook the carrots or put them in raw? I'm new and learning.

[missibsu]

Raw. I'm not sure, but I believe cooking them would take the nutrients out.

[Martha]

Thanks Missibsu! I was thinking the same thing. I just wasn't sure if they could eat something that hard.

[missibsu]

Cut it up in small pieces

[marisa]

You could steam them slightly to soften them (but if the peels are thin enough, you shouldn't need to). With veggies that are high in vitamin A, steaming/cooking briefly will not appreciably lower the content of that vitamin, it actually makes it more easily utilized (true for humans as well). Vit A is not destroyed by heat (unlike a Vitamin like Vit. C). I steam the squash and pumpkin that I give my turts to soften them a bit. Otherwise they wouldn't eat them. But don't overcook.

[Gordon89]

Hey guys, when you say pellets, what do you mean? Those dot like pellets, for goldfish as an example? Or those cylinder like greenish sticks?