turtle question?

Question

I have a 4 year old red ear slider turtle, and I was wondering what I should feed it? Currently I've been feeding it 'Hatchling Aquatic Turtle Pellets', which is what the guy at the pet store gave me when I previously bought another turtle. The 4 year old seems to love it. Is there something better for it, or something else it could also be eating? And also, how do I know how much and when to feed it?

Answer 1

The best turtle diet is one you prepare yourself with fresh ingredience. here is some red ear slider diet info that I got at http://www.austinsturtlepage.com

Throughout their lives, Red-eared Sliders are omnivores progressing from predominant carnivory as juveniles to predominant herbivory as adults. That said, even adults prefer meaty foods when carnivorous & herbivorous fare are offered simultaneously. Their raw drive to gorge on higher protein foods makes it easy for keepers to feed too much protein (causing very rapid growth & a pyramided shell, & suspected to cause liver & kidney damage & shorten life span). Keep a check on the turtle's diet and ensure it gets a low-volume well-rounded diet. There are many foods they eat: Mazuri and ReptoMin, Reptile/Pond 10, Cichlid Sticks, feeder fish, feeder crickets, earthworms, krill, blood worms, occasional crayfish & ghost shrimp, aquatic plants (such as Water Lilies, Water Hyacinth, Duckweed, Anacharis, Water Lettuce, Water Fern, Pondweed, Water starwort, Hornwort, Water milfoil, and Frogbit), some vegetables (such as Zucchini, Squash, Collard Greens, Beet Leaves, Endive, Romaine, Red Leaf Lettuce, Kale, Escarole, Mustard Greens & Dandelions) and some fruits (i.e. Banana). Many keepers use a good brand name commercial diet (usually Mazuri or ReptoMin Aquatic Turtle Diets) for a substantial portion (say, 25 - 80%) of the carnivorous portion of the diet, & round that out with treats of crickets, earth worms, crayfish, ghost shrimp & krill, & use Romaine lettuce (chosen over iceberg for higher fiber) & Anacharis as mainstays for the herbivorous portion of the diet. Since wild RES likely don't encounter fruits often we don't recommend use of Bananas & other fruits except as rare treats. Some people offer hairless mouse pups to turtles on occasion; never feed hairy animals to animals who don't naturally eat them (like RES) since hair is poorly digestible & can form trichobezoars (hairballs) & cause G.I. obstruction in some animals (so in theory perhaps RES).

One critical point: if you keep your turtle indoors & don't provide UV-B lighting (i.e.: a ReptiSun 5.0 or 10.0 fluorescent bulb), be sure you provide adequate dietary Vitamin D3. This involves either using a commercial pellet food that includes it, or a powdered supplement like Rep-Cal for feeder insects. Beware using large amounts of food containing Retinol, a form of Vitamin A that (unlike β-Carotene) can interfere with Vit. D3 absorption in the body. UV-B doesn't penetrate glass well so sunlight coming through a window won't do.

Another critical point: you must provide adequate dietary calcium. The ratio of calcium to phosphorous (preferably 2 or more to 1) is important. Typical feeder insects have a poor calcium to phosphorous ratio, meal worms have a terrible ratio, & it's thought by some advanced keepers calcium-containing 'gut load' feeds may not add enough calcium to feeder crickets.

Insufficient Vit. D3 or calcium over time can cause soft shell & skeletal disfigurement (Metabolic Bone Disease).

Answer 2

I have one that is about 1 1/2 yrs. I read that just one type of food won't give him/her all the nutrients they need. I'd expect you can get some turtle pellets at the store to compliment the hatchling food. When red ear sliders get older, they start to want vegies. Try some lettuce or soft bananas... Also, there is an item you can buy at a pet store that you put in the water-it releases calcium that helps them digest their food. You don't leave it in the tank, but when you clean the tank put it in for a bit..
Also, my turtle likes (yuck) flies, gnats, tiny insects... They start out carnivores and end up herbivores as they grow older.
Check out this website!

Answer 3

The company that makes the 'hatchling' pellets almost certainly makes bigger 'regular' pellets that would work.

What else? Crickets, worms, small fish, snails, dark leafy greens, various insect-based fish or reptile foods, etc.

How much? A serving is about the size of its head.

How often? Every 2 or 3 days is good for an older turtle. It is REALLY easy to overfeed turtles!

Answer 4

i have two turtles one is a red ear like yours the other is a fresh water musk ((( uglyyyyyy))) they both have an individule diet but i do use just plain ole turtle food that i buy at wal mart i bought them for my kids becuase i was a truck driver and at times i could be there but on weekends they say you can go two weeks with out feeding them.. the red ear i have is in a 55 gallon tank pretty much full of water with a roost at the top for him to sunbathe since mine has more exercise room now i feed him once a week and a rule of thumb is what he can eat in two minutes anything more you just scoop out , i also from time to time buy feeder minnows about 20 at a time which cost about .12 cents each at the same time i buy ghost shrimp which are about 0.33 cents each . this works for two reasons to keep your turtle active and it is a natural life food becuase turtles do out grow there inviroment will eventually need to be freed . also you can try ,i have been unsuccseful as my tutles eat it faster then they can grow get some plants from pet smart even if your red ear eats it as fast as mine no harm as they are not that expensive. btw my red ear is six years old was about the size of a quarter and now "she" is about 8 inches across and has just dropped her first two eggs. monitor your turtles shell for soft sides if you find a soft area you should check the tank for anything that could be making your tutle sick or look back at what you fed it. although it is a tutle vets will check its health and check it for simanella which is often carried by farmed turtles for a very little fee

Answer 5

At 4 years old he really needs to have most of his diet (at LEAST half I'd say) be vegetation. Use the food sticks sparingly, they're pretty high in protein (the hatchling stuff might have even more)... You can also feed goldfish, meal/superworms, boiled turkey etc... but also make sure to give him plenty of greens (collard, mustard, endive, etc... NO iceburg lettuce or spinach-very bad) as well as pieces of veggies or fruit (squash, carrots, etc.. just make sure they are the right size for him). You can also get aquatic plants for him, just make sure it's edible first. I got some anachris(plant) for mine and he destroyed it in minutes! Check out http://www.allturtles.com for a good diet and excellent all-around info. good luck!

Answer 6

I reported an episode of Franklin (the turtle) the position he changed into afraid to sleep in his shell at evening. WTF is with that? If the shell comes off, why even difficulty going decrease back in that slimey aspect to sleep? Use a blanket. i don't think of turtles come out of their shells. it is like ripping each and every of the exterior off your decrease back, isn't it?

Answer 7

Get a book. Books have to be fact checked while anyone can and does write anything on the internet.
Go to the petshop that helped you before. Not Petco or Petsmart, those people are idiots.
There is really to much info to type here, please get a book.

Answer 8

If u feed it with small fishes. The water will get very smelly. They too change it more often.

Answer 9

It's your turtle out of all people you should know.

Answer 10

They love feeder comets(fish) or if it's a smaller turtle.. guppies are ok.