Feeding and Nutrition :: Commercial Turtle Foods

Turtle diets and eating habits discussed here.

What Brand(s) of Turtle Food Do You Feed Your Turtles?

Reptomin/Reptomin Baby
26
55%
Mazuri
1
2%
Zoo-Meds
5
11%
Nutrafin
5
11%
Rep-Cal
0
No votes
Wardleys
8
17%
Other
2
4%
 
Total votes : 47

Post Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2005 11:04 pm   

We have tried the Exo Terra aquatic turtle adult food, and as Miss Lou likes it alot, it sinks, causes a mess, STINKS horribly after a day in the water and causes an excess of slime buildup on everything. Tru Story: We cleaned the tank completely, filter and all, left for a 3 day weekend, using a self feeder(a frequently used item here with never a problem), came back to a STANK Tank, had to clean the entire thing, rocks, platform, walls, filter unit inside and out of major slime, we usually do a full clean once a month and a half or so. This has never happened in 6 years with this turtle, until we started giving her that food. Our opinion: avoid it, use Reptomin or something else. So I have a full bag of the stuff(9.1oz) if anyone wants it.
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MamaLou
 
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Post Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2005 2:40 pm   

I see that Reptomin is leading in the poll. I tried this food for my RES (5") and the sticks kept getting stuck in his mouth and he couldn't crunch the sticks to break them. It was as if the food is too hard or something, (and you know there is no waiting until the food softens before eating!) He had a terrible time eating it so I switched back to Wardleys, which is about the same length but thicker and easier to crunch. Anyone else have this problem with Reptomin?
BJ ~ Rex (5" male Rescued RES)
rexsmom
 
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Post Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2005 5:55 pm   

You could just break the sticks into smaller pieces. If your turtle is a hatchling, there's also Reptomin Baby, which is a smaller size.
"You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed." -Antoine de Saint Exupery-
marisa
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Post Posted: Tue Jul 12, 2005 11:07 pm   

Yep, Marisa, tried that. The food still got stuck and he got stressed out when he couldn't get it unstuck. He just keeps waving at his mouth to get the food free with his front claws when he eats the Reptomin. He doesn't do that with any other food that I give him. He's not a hatchling and has quite a strong bite. I was disappointed that he couldn't eat the Reptomin because I think it is a good food.
BJ ~ Rex (5" male Rescued RES)
rexsmom
 
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Post Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2005 12:57 pm   

It is considered to be one of the better pellets. You might alternate them with the Wardleys (hate to see good pellets go to waste :) ).
"You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed." -Antoine de Saint Exupery-
marisa
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Post Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2005 9:13 pm   

I have a big container of the turtle food I use, so I will have to wait til it gets a little lower til I buy a bottle of the reptomin. :D
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STRAYKINGFISHER
 
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Post Posted: Wed Jul 13, 2005 10:23 pm   

rexsmom wrote:The food still got stuck and he got stressed out when he couldn't get it unstuck. He just keeps waving at his mouth to get the food free with his front claws when he eats the Reptomin.


Mine still do that.. seems to me they are just trying to break it into manageable pieces, heck they did it with boiled chicken too just tore it to shreds and then chowed it down.. didn't matter how big or little the bites were. Are you using regular size sticks or the baby reptomin??
Carol
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cam722
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Post Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2005 12:00 pm   

I was using the regular size reptomin. It would get stuck in his beak or the side of his mouth then he would freak out until he got it loose. Sometimes it looked as if he was actually going to choak. I got so nervous when I fed him the reptomin so I just returned the food back to Petsmart and stayed with the Wardleys that I had. No problems with that food.

I thought about trying the baby reptomin but I think it is higher in protein than the regular for adults, right? I thought about soaking it a little before giving it to him but he won't always eat the pellets once they get too soft. I'm going to try some of the other pellets listed in the poll too since I don't want him getting hooked on just one kind. He does get offered a wide variety of the foods listed in the sticky for what to feed, but seems to be very picky and won't even try it, or if he does like a certain food, he gets bored very quickly if it is offered too often. He wasn't so picky when we first rescued him from people that only fed him goldfish flakes!! He ate anything offered back then but guess he knows he's got it good now and now wants lobster. He absolutely LOVES shrimp!! Guess that no one else has had a problem with the reptomin being too hard. Must just be my boy. Hmmm...:?
BJ ~ Rex (5" male Rescued RES)
rexsmom
 
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Post Posted: Thu Jul 14, 2005 12:36 pm   

Reptomin Baby is 39% protein (I'm using it with painted hatchings), the container of regular Reptomin I have says its 42% protein. Reptomin Baby has a bit more calcium in it as well. I actually find that Reptomin softens more quickly than some of the other pellets--perhaps it's sticking to your turt's mouth a bit and that's why he's having difficulty eating it.
"You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed." -Antoine de Saint Exupery-
marisa
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Post Posted: Fri Jul 15, 2005 10:10 am   

Thanks for the info, Marisa. Interesting about the protein content. Maybe the problem is that it IS softening faster than the Wardleys and that's why it is sticking in his mouth. Hmmm... I'm going to try the Reptomin baby and see if that helps him. Thanks again!
BJ ~ Rex (5" male Rescued RES)
rexsmom
 
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Post Posted: Fri Jul 15, 2005 1:36 pm   

You're welcome. Yes, I find the slight difference in protein content interesting too. All I can think of is that either the protein content is lower to keep it down for growing turts (too much protein causes shell deformities and too fast a growth) but it's not that much different. OR, possibly the protein content is per pellet, and since the Reptomin Baby is smaller, Tetra can say it contains less protein (it's not specified how protein is being measured).
"You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed." -Antoine de Saint Exupery-
marisa
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Post Posted: Sun Jul 17, 2005 11:26 am   

Hey Marisa, my turt LOVES the Reptomin Baby!! No problems eating it at all. Thanks again for the info!
BJ ~ Rex (5" male Rescued RES)
rexsmom
 
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Post Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2005 1:16 pm   

You're welcome. :)
"You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed." -Antoine de Saint Exupery-
marisa
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Post Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2005 3:55 pm   

should i get more than one comercial food for my turtle? would that be better or worse for the turt?
GouzlanTheAmerican
 
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Post Posted: Mon Jul 18, 2005 4:01 pm   

When my RES was small, I used to rotate between 3 brands--Reptomin, Zoo-Med and Nutra-fin. That way he didn't get fussy about wanting to eat only a certain brand. Now that's he's a big boy (a little over 3 years) and getting pellets about every other day, I rotate between only two brands that have lower protein, and a greater percentage of his diet comes from plants.

It's up to you.
"You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed." -Antoine de Saint Exupery-
marisa
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