Feeding and Nutrition :: Fat, Picky Turtles

[TurtleTori]

So, after reading thru several posts I came to the realization that we had in deed given in to the begging and made our precious turtles a couple of lard butts. Sigh. Food list in hand, I eagerly strolled the veggie/fruit isle at the local grocery store in hopes of making my babies healthier. After a week, I have managed to finally get them to eat some of the selection I picked up. They both gobble up their thin sliced carrots, often snatching them away from the other turtle. The romaine leaves are either being partially eaten or turned in to confetti for the most part. Hemi has snatched a few leaves off the dock and eaten them, but mostly she just noms on them and then spits them out. Hemi also likes the two grape tomatoes she got, but since it's on the limited list I haven't given it to her again just yet. Both of them like the green grapes, but again, it's on the limited list so they haven't had much.

I'm hoping that the conversion to veggies and fruits will hurry up and become the norm instead of having them spit most of it out and beg for pellets, shrimp or worms!

[cutepanda86]

Lettuce may be a tough go at first, but do not give up! They will eventually get the hint that you aren't feeding them as many pellets and giving them lettuce to chop on. Can you post pics? How "fat" are they?

[steve]

Seems like they're off to a great start, good luck moving forward!

[apondfortimmy]

Turtles are beggars. And they are both cute and good at it.
KEEP STRONG!

I have to struggle daily with the little one. He looks so pathetic and angry when I don't immediately give him food.

[CactusJohn5]

Seems like they're off to a great start, good luck moving forward!

Dude?

I agree with the off to a good start, shouldn't be too much of an issue to move them to the correct diet.

When i got my girls they were on a pellets only diet and had some extra weight, nothing to serious.

I found the "tough love diet", and i swear by it.

Do no feed any proteins at all even if you think they are "starving" Turtles have a slow metabolism and can go weeks with out eating, so they can hold out for a while.
my girls took almost 2 weeks before they really noticed they were getting anymore pellets.

Every day, give them some veggies, carrots or greens and leave them in the tank, after a few days, maybe a week they will realize that's the new food source.

Turtles will not starve to death, they are highly intelligent and will pick up quickly on the new foods, hardest part is NOT giving in and giving proteins.

[TurtleTori]

Well, things are going much better! Hemi has decided she likes spinach and the spring mix of lettuce and will nibble on it throughout the day. Mopar is still very unsure about it, but will take a bite or two. They seem to have lost a little bit of weight, they aren't pooching out of their shells as badly as they were. They also liked the sweet peas I gave them on Turkey Day, but since it was only the limited list they didn't get too many. I'm going to try sweet potato and maybe some squash after we get back from vacation. I don't want to put too much stress on their caregiver during the week away and I figure trying to get them to eat new stuff would do just that. Picky adorable things!

They are very much beggers and make both my husband and I feel horrible about not giving them their worms, shrimp and pellets like we used to. They're just so darned cute! We have, however, drastically cut back on the amount of protein they are taking in.

[CactusJohn5]

sounds like your on your way, keep up the good work!

[cutepanda86]

Very good to hear.