Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Man I'm fed up with my RES not eating romaine lettuce so I'm going to make them!

I hear people "starve" their RES until they eat... well I guess I'll try that. I didn't feed them in 4 days (their adult males) and tried... they were more interested in my finger then the lettuce. I dropped the romaine lettuce in the tank and they still didn't care. I just fed 3 baby carrots and that was it... so hopefully a few more days and they'll eat the lettuce

So is there anything special I can do? Anyone else have other "feeding" stories... it's funny because I see my RESs biting my fake plants sometimes and they won't eat the real thing

You may want to try other veggies. My turtles love a kind of bok choy that's dark green, but don't much care for napa cabbage. I figure it might be because napa cabbage tastes pretty bland. (I know it because I eat those veggies too!)They're picky!

Have you tried collards or kale? My turtle loves those. Also, I read in one of the recent posts that someone had the same problem and bought a clip from the pet store (it was in the shape of a fish, kinda like "Nemo" with a suction cup. They clipped the romaine or whatever you want, and then put the clip with the suction cup down in the water towards the bottom, and the turtles started to eat. Maybe you could do that.

I have a food clip. It looks like a clown fish - orange and white wit ha suction cup. I put the food in and place the food in the water (with the clip out of the water) and they eat away at whatever is in it. You wouldnt want to watch your food float away from you... neither do they!

If your turtle doesnt like Romaine, try other kinds. My turtles like strawberries, apples, lettuce, eggplant, chicken, tomatos, etc.

Also, have you thought about live food? Feeder fish and shrimp and a good source to add in the tank every now and then. I wouldnt rely on these completely though. But, its fun to watch your turtles becme "hunters".

~Meg

Try some different greens out on them. Try dandelion greens or chickory or even escarole. Water hyacinth or even water lettuce are some other options to try out on them too. Mine eat greens but romaine seems to be their least favorite.

Another trick is to put a couple of pellets in the water to get them into feeding mode and then drop the greens in and see what happens.