Feeding and Nutrition :: Re-adjusting my turtles diet

Turtle diets and eating habits discussed here.

Post Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2017 3:15 pm   Re-adjusting my turtles diet

My two pals will soon be 1 year old, and since they are 3" to 4" I'll start to feed them as adults. I wanted to have some opinions and tips about their new diet. I also have a few questions.
Here is what I'm thinking:

Monday: Pellets (head size) + lettuce
Tuesday: Lettuce
Wednesday: Jello shot (head size)
Thursday: Lettuce
Friday: Jello shot
Saturday: Lettuce
Sunday: Lettuce with a little bit of veggies

My jello shots are mostly made of lettuce mix, a baby carrot, two tomato slice and half a can of tuna. I sprinkled a small amount of pellets. I also added 500mg of calcium to the mix. For now my turtles aren't interested in veggies at all this is why I'm giving them the jello shots.

I also have dried shrimps and used to give it to them twice a week. But I cut a lot on that. I am not sure when to give it to them now ? Is it okay to give them as a treat? Once every two weeks or something.

Also, I cannot find cuttlebones here or anything like it. Should I add more calcium in their jello ?

And, two last questions about veggies:
1) Would it be okay to freeze their veggies and let it defrost before giving it to them ?
2) To make lettuce last longer, I wrap them tight in an aluminium foil. Would it be bad for the turtles ?

I'm sorry about my long post !
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PokePony
 
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Post Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2017 3:31 pm   Re: Re-adjusting my turtles diet

OH YEAH I ALMOST FORGOT !

I have one last question, I swear it's the last one lol. Is it okay to feed them fish pellets instead of the turtle ones ? Just asking because it is so easy to find different sizes of fish pellets here while the only turtle pellets I'm able to find are small (like you feed that to babies). They still eat them but it's a bit annoying.
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Post Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2017 5:04 pm   Re: Re-adjusting my turtles diet

If you want them to eat more veggies, cut back on the jello shots. Offer those as a treat, same with the dried shrimp. I'd give them one or two every 2 weeks. You can entice them to eat the lettuce by rubbing turtle food on it or tuna juice, to give it an appetizing smell. Cuttlebone is common for birds - and it's the same thing as the "reptile cuttle bones". See if you can find a place that sells pet bird supplies. If not, sprinkling their pellets and lettuce with calcium can help. See if you can make "jello shots" from just lettuce. Carrot, tomato, and tuna should see moderate/rare usage, maybe once a week, or even less than that. Yes you can freeze veggies and let them defrost. Boiling them makes them lose a lot of their nutritional value. No, it's not bad for the turtles to wrap the lettuce in aluminum foil.

Usually, fish food is not designed to be the same as turtle food, as turtle food is usually higher in calcium. Take a look at this on the main RES page, if you haven't already:

http://www.redearslider.com/index_nutrition.html

"Calcium content should always be offered in a greater quantity than phosphorus."
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Post Posted: Sat Sep 02, 2017 1:09 am   Re: Re-adjusting my turtles diet

I think you can use pellets everyday, just make sure you are not overfeeding... always better to be conservative with pellets. I agree with rambologic, cut back on the jello shots. Try a veggie clip with the lettuce/greens. For me, lettuce seems to keep better when dry and in an air tight container or cover.
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Post Posted: Sat Sep 02, 2017 2:56 am   Re: Re-adjusting my turtles diet

As I said, cuttlebones and the like cannot be found here unfortunately. I will also diminish the tuna in the jello next time and little by little I'll only make lettuce jello, thank you ! I'll sprinkle calcium on the lettuce as well. I'll also order a veggie clip !

Do you have any suggestions for veggies I can give them ? I feel like whenever I read that something is good for them, on another website they tell me it is not ideal.

I will cut down on the pellets and will give them 4 times a week with lettuce until December.

Btw, if they do eat 100% lettuce jello shot, is it okay to give them that instead of veggies or should it still be given as a treat ?

Thank you for the quick responses !
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Post Posted: Sun Sep 03, 2017 8:34 am   Re: Re-adjusting my turtles diet

What's the powdered calcium you are using? Red leaf or green leaf lettuce are very good, romaine is good too.
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Post Posted: Sun Sep 03, 2017 1:11 pm   Re: Re-adjusting my turtles diet

Alright :)

It's just calcium I bought at the pharmacy. There is nothing else in it !
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Post Posted: Sun Sep 03, 2017 7:54 pm   Re: Re-adjusting my turtles diet

Red leaf/green leaf is recommended because it has a lot of calcium. That along with a good pellet and you won't need any cuttlebone/calcium supplementation.
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Post Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2017 3:26 am   Re: Re-adjusting my turtles diet

The problem with my pellet is that it does not indicate the percentage of calcium. The brand is "Super-Gold", Ingredients: High class fish meal, wheat meal, alfalfa powder, soya meal, fish oil, lecithin, calcium carbonate, cereals, spirulina, multi-vitamins and supplement trace mineral Guaranteed Analysis: Crude protein - minimium 35% Crude fat - minimium 3% Crude ash - maximium 12% Moisture - maximium 10%

I like it because it does not have an excessive amount of protein and has spirulina in it.

The other brand you can find here and I buy sometimes is Sanyu, but it isn't always available.
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Post Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2017 10:34 pm   Re: Re-adjusting my turtles diet

I would just check for veggies that have a good calcium:phosphorus ratio. Are you completely limited to what is local?
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