red eared slider wont eat anything but pellets and bloodworms?

Question

i tried feeding her romaine lettuce shreds 3 times, pieces of a banana once, carrot shreds once, and she doesnt even seem to inspect them but she gobbles up bloodworms. I havent had her more than a month but her shell looks like its pyramiding. i know young turtles are highly carniverous but she needs some plant matter. any ideas?

Answer 1

Are you putting the bloodworm in with the lettuce?? If so don't!! Just offer lettuce for the day.....It works....Some turtles are very picky eaters. Mine do not like carrots but they love corn....Go figure!! You just need to figure the turtle out is all...

I agree with loco..the plants are messy and get in your filter. I tried the plants and mine wouldnt touch them at all.....But you could try...If you want to get rid of the plant if they are not eating them just get a net and scoop them up....

As far as the romaine lettuce..you don't need to shred it. I have 3 young ones and one adult. My young ones crawl on top of the lettuce leaf and float around on it. It is hard to believe but they do it. If (S)HE is a baby still pellets are fine for now. Try the shrimp for turtles mine love it to as a treat. My young ones love snails as well, but I crush the snail b4 putting it in because I have had an issue with snails in my fish tanks and do not want them to take over my turtle tank as well!!!! They eat the shell and all...once squished.

Mine also like cuttlebone and egg shells as a source of calcium....Just make sure that you break them up enough.....

Here is my own personal list of food that I have made up....Hope it helps as (S)HE gets older.....Good luck

Safe Feeding List
Commercial Foods (This is just a few of them on the market)

• Tetra Reptomin
• Zoo Med’s Aquatic Turtle Food
• Exo Terra
• Wardley's Reptile Premium Sticks
• HBH Turtle Bites

Frozen/Canned (For treats)
• Spirulina-enriched Brine Shrimp
• Bloodworms
• Plankton
• Krill
• Zoo Med’s Can O'Crickets, Grasshoppers, or Meal Worms

Live Foods (Carnivorous)
• Aquatic Snails/Apple Snails/Water Snails
• Crickets (Gut-Loaded)
• Earthworms, Night Crawlers
• Ghost Shrimp
• Guppies or Rosey (no goldfish they are too fatty and have very little nutritional value)
• Mealworms
• Pinhead Crickets (for smaller turtles)
• Slugs
• Wax Worms, Super Worms

**be careful about Wild-Caught foods, they can carry parasites that can be transferred to your turtle. Freezing Wild-Caught foods for a month will help to kill off some parasites.

Fruits (small amounts for treats only)
• Apples
• Bananas
• Cantaloupe/Common Melon
• Figs
• Grapes (remove skin so it’s easier for them to pick at)
• Mango
• Melon
• Papaya
• Pear
• Tomato
• Strawberries
• Water Melon (Feed rarely)

**should be cut up in small, bite-size or match-like sticks that will be easy for the turtle to bite into and not choke on.

Vegetables
• Beans
• Beetroot
• Carrots
• Squash
• Sweet Potato [cooked - boiled/ steamed/baked]
• Peas
• Pumpkin
• Zucchini


Greens & Other Leafy Products
• Collards Greens
• Dandelion Greens
• Kale
• Mustard leaves
• Radish leaves
• Red Leaf Lettuce
• Romaine Lettuce
• Turnip Greens


**Stay away from Spinach. Make sure to cut the veggies in bite-size or match-like sticks so your turtle can eat them easily. Iceberg lettuce is good filler, but contains little/no nutritional value!

Aquatic Plants
• Anacharis
• Duckweed
• Hornwort
• Water Hyacinth
• Water Lettuce
• Water Lily
Copyright Myst

Hatchlings up to 3-4 inches
once a day
1-2 pellets, treat of protein, offering of plant matter, small 2 cm block of cuttlebone every 3 days

Sub Adults 4-8 inches
Feed every 1-2 days
2- 3 pellets, protein
large plant section
cuttlebone 3-4 cm every 3-4 days

Adult 8 inches or larger
feed every 2-3 days
3-4 pellets, protein- medium amount ex....couple of greens dandelion leaves
whole cuttlebone

Answer 2

Baby sliders are almost 100% carnivorous, but this changes to almost 100% plant based as they get older.
They take a lot of work and need very specific care. Please see

http://www.austinsturtlepage.com/Care/caresheet-red_ear_slider.htm

for complete care info. Basics are a 10 gallon sized tank for each 1 inch of shell length, a basking area to climb out of the water on, a basking lamp, thermometer to monitor basking temp (digital thermometer a must), a water heater, a water thermometer, a powerful water filter, a UVB bulb which must be within 12 inches of the basking area and changed every 6 months, and change the water very very very often. Feed a variety of foods in a separate tank to help keep things clean. Do not use plants or gravel in the tank. Gravel will cause fatal impactions.

Answer 3

you know what ya could do is put some water plants in there you can buy em at petsmart petco pets plus anything like that there pretty cheap but there really messy... i usually go with the small brine shrimp they love em and eat them quick..mine like pellets. and also i got this new thing from the store it's called aquatic turtle yummies they eat that really quick it's about 6 bucks but they love it

Answer 4

Be thankful, I spent $10 on some turtle pellets and my Ninja will have nothing to do with them. I have to catch june bugs and dig up worms for him.