Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a year old yellow-belly that used to eat anything I fed him but has recently become very picky. He will only eat krill enhanced food sticks by ReptoTreat suprema (red small sticks). This food is almost identical in nutrient content to the Reptomin floating food sticks (green sticks) except that it has no calcium. I have tried food depriving him for upto 3 days hoping that this will force him to eat the Reptomin. Nothing seems to help. He seems healthy and active for now but I'm afraid that in the long run it will effect him. Does anyone know of an alternative food source that has calcium or of a way to get him to eat the Reptomin? Thanks.

Try some live fish, there's lots of calcium in the bones and the scales of whole fish.
Try a huge variety of foods, worms, crickets, other bugs, dark leafy greens such as dandelion, turnip, yellow squashes.
The widest variety of food items you can offer the better.
If this one really has lost his appetite, take a fecal sample to a vet & have a parasite test run.
Parasite testing should be done yearly anyway like we do for our dogs & cats, just to be on the safe side.
Good luck!
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PHRatz

What species? YB slider? or YB cooter? The cooters eat mostly plants in the wild. You should use aquatic plants, and stop feeding the pellets, which are too high in fishmeal proteins. Then put a cuttlebone in the tank and leave it there all the time. The turtle will eat it when the mood strikes. If your turtle is a slider, you can continue to use pellets, but add aquatic plants and the cuttlebone. But if you've got a cooter, just stop using those horrible pellets.
chelonialuv

>>What species? YB slider? or YB cooter? The cooters eat mostly plants in the wild. You should use aquatic plants, and stop feeding the pellets, which are too high in fishmeal proteins. Then put a cuttlebone in the tank and leave it there all the time. The turtle will eat it when the mood strikes. If your turtle is a slider, you can continue to use pellets, but add aquatic plants and the cuttlebone. But if you've got a cooter, just stop using those horrible pellets.
>>chelonialuv

Oh good point! I assumed YB slider but you're right if it's a cooter then he/she should go with more plants.
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PHRatz

YB cooter? What's the species name on that? Is that a local nickname for another type of cooter?

Both sliders and cooters require much higher protein content when they are young. To deprive even a cooter of animal protein at this age would be devastating! Not only that, but the odds are that the turtle won't even eat greens at this age(they should be offered anyway). Maybe it would nibble. Commercial pellets are wonderful. Having said that, you should always vary their diet. Don't just feed different pellets, offer natural foods like fish, dragonfly larvae, small crayfish, and anything else you can net out of a very clean pond or stream.

I have a young Blandings turtle that got "spoiled" on frozen and thawed fish and crayfish. It took two weeks of only offering Reptomin for the turtle to begin taking it again. This turtle was robust and healthy...use discretion when depriving food. Now, fish and crayfish are only offered once weekly.

Thanks for the advice. He's a slider. I tried putting some live minnows in but he doen't seen interested. I also tried greens and some new pellets from the pet store. I tried to get some red colored food hoping to trick him into trying something new. He puts it in his mouth then spits it right out. He will only eat the red colored reptotreats, nothing else. I don't think hunger is a factor because he'll eat a lot of the reptotreats. The nutritional content of the reptotreats is almost identical to the food pellets except for the lack of calcium. I was thinking about coating the food in reptocal powdered calcium. Do you think that'll work. Also, what is cuttlebone and where can I find it?

Please ignore the cuttle bone question. I looked it up on-line and am assuming that I can find it at any pet store that carries bird feed.

The problem with using powdered calcium is that it just washes off the food. Fish is on the menu for a wild slider but unfortunately when they are babies you sometimes have to maim the fish for them so that they can catch them. OR you can try putting the small slider in a small critter keeper then put the fish in with him because he'll have an easier time catching them in a small confined area.
If they chase the fish but can't catch them they'll often give up.
Really the widest variety of foods you can get one to eat the better for 2 reasons:
1 is you have a better shot at him having a truly balanced diet.
2 is you have a better shot at having a turtle who is not finicky as an adult.
Finicky is not a great way for an adult to be partly because it's so frustrating to us humans!
As for cuttle bone, not only can you buy it in any pet store but you can also buy it in any grocery store that has a pet food aisle. Cuttle bones are dirt cheap.
Good luck with this little guy.
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PHRatz