my turtle wont eat fruit and veggies, only the turtle food.?

Question

it gives her problems to digest, and makes her less active. i tried giving other kinds of food to her, like apples and carrot but she wont eat it. her shell is becoming a lot less flat, it is becoming a lot of a shape of a triangle, or sumthing. please help, p.s. she is young I got her on 20.10.2007.
it's a red eared slider

Answer 1

hatchling turtles tend not to eat veggies until they are older.
Visit http://www.redearslider.com for more feeding information on how to get your turtle to eat different kinds of things or the forum where you sign up and can ask questions about your turtle or anything you like- http://www.redearslider.com/forum

Answer 2

Where would a slider get apples or carrots in the wild?

Young sliders eat meat until they get too big and slow to chase it as well anymore.

Try a mix of 1/2 good pellets* and 1/2 live or frozen/thawed 'fish foods' like small fish, insects, worms, shrimp, krill, etc.

Good pellets are things like ReptoMin, Mazuri, T-Rex, etc. A lot of cheaper foods are bad for the turtle.

Answer 3

Stop feeding her the turtle food all together. They are generally high in fat and have too much of some things and not enough of others. Turtles may be picky, but if you feed them what they are supposed to eat they will eat once they are hungry. Kind of like a child.

Red eared sliders should have no more than 25% of their diet being comercial foods. I suggest the pellets and sticks, put them into the water. They are made specifically for aquatic turtles and don't decompose in water quite as fast. Also, since it's put into the water it will be softer and easier to eat. They should only be fed as a treat, if at all.

For young turtles, most of their diet should be animal matter. Small live feeder fish, small crickets, earth worms, meal worms, can all be tested out to see what he enjoys most. Feeder fish are harder to catch, but it will give your turtle exercise. Don't feed earthworms from your yard because they could potentially have pesticides or bacteria that your turtle isn't immune to. Buy them from a pet/reptile store, not from a fishing bait store.

For plant matter you can use edible aquatic plants, different fruits like melons, berries, apples, and other fruits are fine too, depending on what he likes. For greens only feed dark healthy greens like collard, mustard, or dandelion.

Feed a young turtle everyday. Usually in the morning when you turn on the lights, or in the middle of the day/early evening. It's best to feed them the same time everyday. Feed more animal matter compared to plant matter. As he gets older, you should be feeding more plant matter than animal matter.

If you have any questions feel free to e-mail me. [e-mail]

Answer 4

i bought 2 turtles a month ago. they don't eat veggies or fruit yet they only want meat untill they get older. turtle food is not good basic food give them mealworms motlarves etc and the turtle food only 1 or 2 pieces a day. if his shell is growing another shape you should give her calcium fast! if they don't get calcium his body will take the calc. from his bones and shell that's how they get criple

Answer 5

Sliders eat mostly small fish and insects so fruit and veggies won't have much appeal. Try small pieces of earth worm, baby crickets or give bits of cooked veggies or very soft fruit.

Answer 6

Its fine feeding turtle food is good. Try feeding SERA foods it contains the perfect amount of minerals and vitamins for what a turtle needs.

Answer 7

peas are a prized food( skin them first, and half them) almost anything will eat peas,also im not sure for your turtle but some small meaty food may be ok?

Answer 8

Turtles don't always need treats just give it it's food.

Answer 9

she needs chopped up greens daliy use lettuce chicken meat zucchinni tomatoes no spinich keep feeding she will eat give her greens every other day i feed mine everday but she is in a pond