my painted turtle isnt eating!?

Question

I found him in a pond, wild, and my boyfriend and his friend are both small animal specialists at a pet store and have helped me set up a good tank and blah blah blah.

problem 1:: every time i pick him up he hisses at me and sometimes tries to bite me. i want him to get used to people so i try to handle him every day [im very gentle with him and i use hand sanitizer after i hold him]

problem 2:: i bought him turtle food and put a carrot on his basking rock and the bf says he wont eat if im in the room so i leave him alone and when i come back hes put the food in the water. will he ever eat out of my hand? when he hisses i stick the carrot in his face so hell eat. ive never seen him eat and im worried. also i bought him a feeder fish {a rosie} and he hasnt shown any interest in that either.

any advice?


ps i think i have the best turtle name ever, Puck. as in hockey puck. i have no intentions of ever using him as a puck tho.

Answer 1

I suspect you got some 'iffy' advice.

1. Turtles DO NOT become friendly with giant scary creatures touching them. They may come to tolerate being picked up, but a healthy, happy turtle will never come to like it. (People who claim THEIR turtle likes it do not have healthy, happy turtles.) Hissing and biting is a normal defense.

2. Food- turtles do not eat carrots, and only eat in the water. They rarely eat out of your hand, although it might learn to eventually.

I don't know what the tank is like, but here are a few details you should know:

A.- Wild caught turtles make bad pets. They do not get over the trauma of being captured and trapped, and never do as well as a captive-bred turtle would. I always urge people to release these as soon as possible.

B.- A good home for this turtle would be a big tank (about 10 gallons of water per inch of shell) and
- water heated to 75-80F
- crystal clean water (BIG filter)
- good lighting (UVB recommended)
- safe, comfortable basking sites warmed to about 90F
- a cooler, shady hiding spot

C.- Diet. You do not say how big this turtle is. If it is under about 4", its diet would be about 1/2 good quality turtle pellets, and the rest live or frozen/thawed 'meaty fish foods' like worms, insects, shrimp, krill, etc. You can also try pieces of beef heart. An occasional rosie is good, but fish are not the main diet.

Over about 4" you being to add veggies- mostly dark leafy greens (they have to be underwater- either lighly cook them, or use a vegetation clip to hold them under) with some shavings of carrots and other veggies.

A daily serving is an amount that, when squished tight, is about the same size as the turtle's head. When the turtle hits about 3", start skipping feedings so it does not gain too much weight.

A good site for this is http://www.austinsturtlepage.com

Good luck!

Answer 2

newly hatched turtles usually don't eat for awhile, sometimes even a 2 or 3 weeks. but you can probably get him eating with some live bloodworms, then branch out to a lot of different foods. live bloodworms are the most enticing food for hatchlings. the 90 degree temp in the basking area is rather high, but could be okay if the water is cool. make sure you don't use a water heater so the turtle has some control over its body temperature. small turtles are frequently killed by high temperatures alone.

Answer 3

really you didn't find him in a pond you abducted him from the pond. If there was no reason to remove the critter from his habitat (pond being drained or filled due to construction) you aren't doing him any favors and he will most likely die after all of your best intentions. I really think rescuing an unwanted pet turtle from someone would be a more noble deed.
no offense intended but neither you or puck seem to be enjoying the experience.

Answer 4

Honestly you need to put him back where you found him. He's a wild animal and is scared and threatened by you. He is use to foraging for his food, he is not use to the comercial food and will likely die of starvation. Let him go and go to the pet store or adopt an unwanted turtle from some one.

Answer 5

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Painted_Turtle

Here it has some more ideas for food on the page.
You do know that you shouldn't ever take wild animals home right? They usually never adapt to captivity and die.