Feeding and Nutrition :: Cutting Romaine lettuce??? to feed

[RiverChubbs]

My turtles are 4" I have been cutting the romaine lettuce into bite size pieces (like the size of an anacharis leaf) for them to eat...is this neccessary? It takes a lot of time plus it gets stuck in the filter. Do I need to cut it that small? Can I cut it more like 1 inch by 1 inch peices? They eaT WHOLE worms just fine...will they be able to tear pieces out of bigger romaine lettuce pieces? Thanks for an comments.

[marisa]

I don't think you have to make the pieces that small. With romaine, I usually rip the pieces in half to take out the big white stalk in the middle. With red-leaf, I usually just put the leaf in the tank and let them nibble on it/tear it up. At the size your turtles are, they shouldn't have any problems handling a leaf of lettuce.

[turrbee]

i usually just throw the leaves in and they'll chew away =P
and yaa they eat only the leaves not the stalks

[RiverChubbs]

Cool! So basically, all I have to do is cut the stalk out and ,maybe cut the leaves in quarters so that a big huge leaf doesn't block rays. Thanks.

[missibsu]

I throw the whole leaf in as well. Sometimes I cut the stalk out, sometimes I just fish it out later.

[grey goose]

I clip the romaine to the side of the tank, stalk and all.

Here's whats usually left at the end of the day:

[BullDog]

Wow! Grey goose- your turts are very good about eating the stalk! Ralph will find the smallest slightly white vein in the very top of a piece of romain

[grey goose]

I think when you have multiple turts, it's more of a competitive eating thing....if one is eating, they ALL have to eat, whether hungry or not. Maybe they're afraid they might miss something. Also with it clipped to the tank, they are more polite about it, no fighting. They all just pick a spot and start chewing.

[Kallistos]

Food clips are very inexpensive, I reccomend that you purchase of few. Go to www.bigalsonline.com or your local pet store.

[cprcheetah]

Zeke is eating his lettuce pretty good. I just throw the whole leave in, and what he doesn't finish I pull out of his tank.