Feeding and Nutrition :: Possible Food Plan

[Wonwill]

So, realizing the current diet for my turtles wasn't that grand after looking at the shell of one of them I came here (like I always do when I want to get advice ). Up until now I've only been feeding my turtles pellets and I obviously need to change that a bit. But before I get any set plan up and going I wanted to run my ideas through here so that my turtles get the best diet they can. I have two turtles, both of which are over six months old. One of them is about 4 inches long and the other is 6-8 inches. So here's the general idea I had:

Feed them pellets every other day and give them veggies every day. I also planned on giving them feeder fish once a week and some fruit maybe once every two weeks.

So that's what I had in mind, how's it sound? Throw awesome comments my way , rip it apart , or do whatever . Some input would be rockin' though!

[missibsu]

Sounds like a good plan...variety is the key. Make sure they are getting different veggies each day, or smaller amounts and different veggies together on the same day.

I have ziplock baggies marked for each day of the week. On Sunday evening I lay out all of my turts meals for the week. That way I can look at the bags and see that there are different things to choose from each day. Helps me remember too, because I was having a hard time remembering when the last time was that I had given certain foods.

[steve]

I have ziplock baggies marked for each day of the week. On Sunday evening I lay out all of my turts meals for the week. That way I can look at the bags and see that there are different things to choose from each day. Helps me remember too, because I was having a hard time remembering when the last time was that I had given certain foods.

Wow, that's obsessive When I wasn't sure how many pellets my turts were getting (and people were sneaking them snacks), I would presort them in a pill box. I don't need to do it anymore since everyone knows I'm the official pellet dispenser

[missibsu]

I don't do the pellets, I just sort the veggies, fruits, etc. The pellets I can handle on an every other day basis. Besides, I like to think of myself as organized, not obsessive, lol.

[steve]

I've always thought I was organized and I consider anyone more organized than me to be obsessive

[sonyj]

...Feed them pellets every other day and give them veggies every day. I also planned on giving them feeder fish once a week and some fruit maybe once every two weeks...

If they are that big at six months old they have been seriously overfed. I would skip the feeder fish weekly (just adding extra protein) and the fruit every two weeks (extra sugar). Go more like once a month on both. Otherwise I'd keep the rest the same.

[missibsu]

Sonja, the comment mentions them being OVER six months old. I took it to mean that it was just to distinguish to us that they aren't needing the pellets every day. BUT, I could be wrong, that was just my take.

So, Wonwill, How old are you turts?

[Wonwill]

First of all, thanks for the input!

The 4 inch turtle is about 10 months old I believe and the the 6-8 inch one is about 1 year and 4 months.

[sonyj]

OK, I took it to mean they were just a little over six months by your post.

I'd still not feed the feeders weekly though, since they should be an occasional treat/supplement to an overall diet. Fruits can be fed monthly, but not more often than that. With that said, I sometimes feed fruits more often than that when they are fresh or on hand, but then go quite a while in between feeding fruits at other times to balance it out.

[DanielRES1180]

I think I have another food plan here-

Feed Reptomin pellets every two days with veggies every day. Feed fruit every first Monday of the month. Feed rosy reds and guppies as treats the first weekend, snails the second weekend, crickets the third and bloodworms/whole shrimp the fourth, all with their share of Reptomin. Doing that continuosly, all treats will be offered approximately once a month each.

So what do you think?