Painted Turtle, Why will he only eat chicken/turkey/tuna but not commercial Turtle pellets?

Question

water is good
so is heating lighting basking etc

there are also feeder fish 7 orignally and now only 6 (he ate one the first day i had him) this is now 3 weeks ago. i got it at the pet store (legally w/ purchase of tank equipment) they have another one and it eats pellets os it's not a breed thing it this turtle thing and i was wondering if any one had multiple HEALTHY turtles that wouldn't eat pellets for some reason and if this ever stopped. he's about 4 inches. it's a eastern painted turtle. the one at the pet store was identical in size and species.

so to recap only eats tuna boiled chicken and turkey
not feeder fish, pellets, or lettuces (romaine)
WHY?

i started to feed it pellets and it wouldn't take so after a 4-5 days i tried chicken and he took to that. also this past weekend i didn't feed anything but lettuces and pellets stickes and little balls and it wouldn't take even when not fed anything else. i gave it tuna today and it ate like it had't eaten in days. it might bite at the pellets but it jst spits them back out. why???

one more thing it eats based on looks if i stick my finger in there he goes after it becasue it looks like a piece of white chicken to him. why wil he only eat food that look like that but not lettuces or pellets?

by the answers i recieved thus far it is apparent that he is picky. how do i get him not to be picky. he can live on meat alone. he won't get the right nutrients from it as he would from vegtables or pellets. i need 'training' tips on how to make him not act like a five year old and to get him to eat something besides meat....
he might act like a five year old but unlike them i can take away the tv so i dnt know what to do to make the pellets and lettuces look more appealing.

oh and i tried boiled eggs and he went for that both the whites and the yolk....

Answer 1

well it sound like it didn't eat right away ad you somewhat panicked and now it's spoiled. try using some of the water off the tuna can and soaking the pellets in it to give them the flavor and slowing mix in un soaked pellets to curb his tastes.

Answer 2

1. They don't 'need' the nutrients in plants as much as you think. Good 'turtle' meats have all they need.

2. Use 'tough love'. 4-5 days of no bad foods? Come one. A healthy turtle can go a couple weeks without a serious hunger pain. STOP feeding it the tuna, chicken, and turkey.

3. Feeder fish are OK, but not really a big part of a Painted's diet. What we would rather see is insects, worms, shrimp, krill, and the like.


You have a picky eater with bad habits, and it has an owner that is enabling these habits. Just practice some tough love and only offer it good stuff.

It WILL eat when it gets hungry!

Answer 3

Feeding should be done every other day with all they can eat in 45 minutes. Remove all food after that time, except for the greens. Just because they beg for food does not necessarily mean they're hungry, this is a trained condition. Diet should be at least 65% - 85% meat consisting of commercial turtle food, trout chow, beef heart, cooked chicken, fish live or fresh caught (not frozen). Meat should be dusted once a week with a good herp vitamin containing D3. Dark green leafy vegetables can be used to fill the rest of the diet.
Make sure he has a uvb on him 8-12 hours per day, and replace those bulbs every 6 months, the uv lining wears out after 6 months of minimal use.
Cut down to just chicken and try out some of the other things I suggested, at the store I work for, we kinda wrap the chicken and beef heart in the lettuce to get the turtles to get the hang of lettuce, and then they decide they like it and we dont have to wrap it anymore.

Answer 4

Your turtle has YOU trained. It knows that if it doesnt eat you are going to give him/her something else instead.
Stick to the feeder fish..please no goldfish they are high in Biotin which robs your turtle of the calcium it needs. Rosey reds are a good choice, so are feeder guppies.
Turtles can go weeks without eating...also I have found with my turtles they will not eat the sticks. Mine love the Flukers Aquatic Turtle Formula..I enclosed a link to where to get it. Even my wild rehab turtles will eat it within the first few days.
Give him a while on the foods you choose...and no more tuna it is to high in mercury for turtles..salt too..Shaz

Answer 5

I used to have a turtle that did not eat the pellets because he was not used to them.......he/she is new to this. You can do what I did and just forget about the pellets. And a tip.......DO NOT feed the turtle sardines....the grease gets the turtles sick and it takes for ever to wash it out the tank.

Answer 6

Maybe that's just what he likes. Sometimes reptiles can be very picky. I would get a vitamin supplement for turtles and mix it in with said foods, to make sure he's getting everything he needs. Also, try taking him to a vet.

Answer 7

If someone fed you chicken/turkey/tuna... then pellets... which one would you like best?
Thats one spoiled turtle!

Answer 8

lol you have a smart turtle. It sounds like he's eating what he prefers including the fish. If he appears well and healthy than you might have to get a second job to support this turtles discriminatory taste buds.(grin) If you are concerned contact someone who know turtles, your vet could help you finding someone. Enjoy your turtle

Answer 9

You have a little diva, don't you?!? I trick mine into eating pellets by mixing brine shrimp in with the pellets, about 1 part brine shrimp to three parts pellets. They smell the brine shrimp, but their eyesight is so poor they eat the pellets by mistake!

Answer 10

Babies are more carnivorous than adult turtles. It's perfectly fine for him to eat only meat when he is little.