Feeding and Nutrition :: Feeding list! (Add yours here)

Turtle diets and eating habits discussed here.

Post Posted: Tue Feb 25, 2014 12:24 am   Re: Feeding list! (Add yours here)

I have no idea about the age but both turtles are roughly seven inches in carapace length. I feed them a head-sized amount (give or take) every other day. I make batches of "jello" shots. I try to change the batch each time but generally it consists of leafy greens (turnips and dandelions), lettuce, water plants (hornwort and ancharis), sweet potato, carrots, blueberries, and apples. I don't measure anything but I try to use about 80 percent green and 20 percent orange along with a few pellet (a handful) to offer an enticing smell. I've offered floating greens but they spit it out. Depending on the day, I combine the "jello" shots with a few bites of orange vegetable and five or so pellets. About twice a month I give them two or three small fish and sometimes I give them crickets. Other than that I give them cuttle bone and D3. The D3, in my experience, works best on a steamed vegetable such as sweet potato. The moisture allows the powder to stick.

As an aside, I have tried wheat germ but I don't like it because it seemed to constipate both of my turtles. Maybe it was a coincidence but I noticed that after giving them wheat germ neither one pooed for about a week. I used sweet potato to get them back on track. Works like a charm...
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Post Posted: Tue Feb 25, 2014 8:16 am   Re: Feeding list! (Add yours here)

What brand wheat germ did you use? And did it completely replace regular pellets when you tried it?
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Post Posted: Sun Apr 06, 2014 5:25 pm   `

When i added wheat germ to try and start some unshed scutes shedding. I got a bowl and mixed them together wsith my mazuri turtle chow so they still got atleast 50% mazuri with their pellet diet. This seems to work well for me.
2- RES
-Hester 5.25" (Female)
-Turty 4" (Female)
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Post Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2014 1:27 pm   Re: Feeding list! (Add yours here)

Iggy -> 16 years old, shell is roughly 4.5 inches long.
Rocky-> 13 years old, shell is roughly 8 inches long.

I feed them pellets more or less daily, about equal to the size of their heads combined, maybe slightly less.

Occasionally I give them other treats, like dried shrimp, or something, but easily 90% of their diet has been ReptoMin food sticks.

I do keep some fish in the tank with them, the fish usually eat most of the food that drops to the bottom. Sometimes one or both of the turtles will manage to catch a fish and eat it, but that's pretty rare.

All in all, I suspect I've been over feeding my turtles lately, but then they seem healthy, without any obvious signs of being over fed. Although the bigger one, is clearly not and has never been in danger of being under fed. I think the little one gets enough, but it is a bit of a mystery why he's not grown any larger then he has in the 16 years I've owned 'him'. Honestly , I'm not entirely sure of the actual gender of either of these turtles. I always thought the bigger one was female and the smaller male, but I really don't know for sure, as there's never been any obvious sign of gender that I have seen.

I just obtained some Mazuri Fresh Water Turtle Diet food... From what I'm seeing, it doesn't 'dissolve' in the water as quickly as the ReptoMin, I'm somewhat hopeful that I can feed maybe a little less, that the turtles will actually consume the same amount, but less of the food will dissolve in the water, fingers crossed... I hope that my water stays cleaner, filters need fewer cleanings, etc...
Long time turtle owner (15+ years).
One Painted turtle, one Yellow Belly Slider, 120 Gallon tank filled to maybe 80 Gallons
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Post Posted: Sat Oct 11, 2014 8:30 am   Re: Feeding list! (Add yours here)

I would cut down on the pellets and shrimp though. Male painteds are kind of small, his size sounds alright. Any luck with the veggies?
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Post Posted: Sun Oct 12, 2014 7:51 pm   Re: Feeding list! (Add yours here)

Turtle Age (Aprox) idk; i got her from a pet shop when she 4" noW i've had her for a year.
Turtle Size (SCL) 5'
Turtle habitat (indoor/outdoor) INDOOR
Sunday red leaf lettuce, cuttle bone
Monday red leaf lettuce
Tuesday red leaf lettuce
Wednesday pellets, red leaf letuce
Thursday red leaf lettuce
Friday red leaf lettuce
Saturday nothing

Treats (and frequency) worms, pellets, carrots 1ce a month
1 red eared slider
1 mutt
2 minnows
1 ranchu goldfish
3 sarassa comets
1 dojo loach?
3 zebra danios
1 betta
3 white clouds
3 harlequin rasboras
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Post Posted: Tue Oct 14, 2014 8:37 am   Re: Feeding list! (Add yours here)

Hey Skippah, pellets only once a month? If you use a reputable pellet, you can use it more frequently.
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steve
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Post Posted: Sun May 31, 2015 10:41 pm   Re: Feeding list! (Add yours here)

Age? - I found him in the chicken yard a month ago after a night of rain
Turtle size - SCL 1 and 3/4" long at this time
Habitat- indoor outdoor, inside in an aquarium, outside in a large tub a few hours a day

Sunday Reptomin Baby Turtle pellets- Due to size of his little head he gets 8 a day fed several at a time throughout the day. Redleaf lettuce available at all times which he takes bites plus swatted flies, a couple of small mealworms.

Monday- same
Tuesday- same
Wednesday- same
Thursday- same
Friday- same
Saturday-same sounds monotonous but this is a chow hound. Doesn't seem bored.
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Post Posted: Mon Jun 01, 2015 10:10 am   Re: Feeding list! (Add yours here)

They're very good at begging, don't let them trick you into overfeeding them. I don't know who teaches them those things.
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Post Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2015 10:52 pm   Re: Feeding list! (Add yours here)

This is a modified schedule of someone else's in the thread. I'm new to this so any and all help is appreciated.

Age: No clue, I'd guess about a year (I've owned it about 3 hours :P)
Size: Shell from head to tail is prob about 4-5"
Habitat: Indoor 40 Gallon Breeder

Sun: Lettuce
Mon: Pellets and Lettuce
Tue: Shrimp and Lettuce
Wed: Pellets
Thu: Cuttlebone and Lettuce
Fri: Pellets and Lettuce
Sat: Shrimp

Pellets are Reptomin floating sticks, Shrimp are Fluker's Freeze-Dried River Shrimp. I give head sized amount. Pellets/Shrimps are given in the morning, a piece or 2 of lettuce in the evening.
The lettuce is either red leaf or green leaf.
I’m going to try to do guppies, fruits and vegetables once or twice a month, once I get the hang of this
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Post Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2015 5:44 am   Re: Feeding list! (Add yours here)

Since she's a yearling, I would make these suggestions: you can use pellets everyday, but do not use the head-size amount, or even half. About 1/3 is fine and I prefer to offer it in the evening. Feed veggies in the morning, so she can digest better while basking. A veggie clip can help her get used to it. I'd skip the shrimps or use a small amount, but not head size and consider it as a treat.
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steve
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Post Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2015 9:22 pm   Re: Feeding list! (Add yours here)

steve wrote:Since she's a yearling, I would make these suggestions: you can use pellets everyday, but do not use the head-size amount, or even half. About 1/3 is fine and I prefer to offer it in the evening. Feed veggies in the morning, so she can digest better while basking. A veggie clip can help her get used to it. I'd skip the shrimps or use a small amount, but not head size and consider it as a treat.



Thanks. modified schedule:

Sun: Morning: Lettuce Evening: 3 pellets
Mon: Morning: Cuttlebone Evening: 3 pellets
Tue: Morning: Carrots Evening: 3 pellets
Wed: Morning: Lettuce Evening: 3 pellets
Thu: Morning: Cuttlebone Evening: 3 pellets
Fri: Morning: Lettuce Evening: 3 pellets
Sat: Morning: 1 Shrimp Evening: 3 pellets

Dumb question though. Raw carrots are ok, right?
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Post Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2015 3:32 pm   Re: Feeding list! (Add yours here)

If I recall, reptomin is pretty small. You can probably up it -- and how many would say is her "head amount"?

Raw carrots are fine. I usually cut it up into slices or sticks.
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steve
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Post Posted: Wed Nov 04, 2015 11:08 pm   Re: Feeding list! (Add yours here)

There are sticks and red pellets (which I'm assuming are "shrimp"), I would say her head about is around 8-10. I ended up giving about 5 or 6 sticks per feeding and 1 or 2 pellets total in the past 3 days.
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Post Posted: Sat Nov 14, 2015 8:20 pm   Re: Feeding list! (Add yours here)

Things are going extremely well food-wise for Squirt (not so much Herbert tho, bc he refuses to eat the veggie jello shots I made him), so heres the list I feed mine:

Sunday- a cube of cuttlebone each and a few dried crickets each

Monday- nothing

Tuesday- Jello-shot with pellets

Wednesday- nothing

Thursday- Jello-shot with pellets

Friday- nothing

Saturday- Jello-shot with pellets

This is actually my exact routine, I follow this pretty well. I do also give them the occasional bell peppers, carrots, etc. when we buy them. Squirt is loving the jello shots I made (a whole head of green leaf lettuce, some skin off an apple, some dandelion leaves, half a can of tuna in water, some mazuri pellets sprinkled on top) and he eats it within a minute! Herbert on the other hand....not so much...he doesnt even look its way. I tried not giving him any pellets for the past 3 weeks and only giving him the jello shot but he STILL refuses it! I guess i'll keep giving him pellets until the next time I make a new batch of the jello shots...
★Herbert
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★Squirt
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