Without a doubt, hatchlings are more interested in moving (live) food, but we can't always provide it for them consistently enough (I know from experience).



Have you tried making other food items move? My favorite implement to keep handy when feeding hatchlings is a thin bamboo skewer: it is long enough for me to use without having my hand enter into the hatchling's field of vision.



What I do is I use the skewer to manipulate bits of food to make them wiggle and move by poking whatever it is I'm trying to get the baby to eat. It helps if the hatchling is facing away from me, too. I'l make the tidbit wiggle enoughto get the hatchling to snif at it, and the I'll move the food away from the hatchling and it will follow it. That's when I know the hatchling is interested...

It requires patience but you should give it a try, since your little guys are dealing with some health problems.



Typically what happens is, after a while, the turtle will apparently recognize food items by sight and smell, and the skewer routine is no longer needed.

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