Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey All

Got a few hatchlings, and have gotten some to eat on worms and pill bugs. The others aren't interested. I'm not really worried about them (yet), but it would make me feel alot better if they were eating (they hatched in early Sept.). Does anyone have any food suggestions that they have found that hatchlings find irresistable? Thanks a lot.

>>Hey All
>>
>>Got a few hatchlings, and have gotten some to eat on worms and pill bugs. The others aren't interested. I'm not really worried about them (yet), but it would make me feel alot better if they were eating (they hatched in early Sept.). Does anyone have any food suggestions that they have found that hatchlings find irresistable? Thanks a lot.

Small lobster roaches, pinhead crickets, wax worms, if they'll eat plants then finely chopped turtle appropriate salads.
Phoenix worms have been mentioned several times as a small nutritious food that younger turtles like.

My large box Charity will eat thawed out blood worms that I buy for the aquatics to eat. I've found that no matter the age, they all have their owns tastes so I feed them by trial & error. I just don't like any of my turtles eating the same food time after time so I try to find a good variety because it never fails- what one eats one day, another won't eat that day.
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PHRatz

Sometimes, with hatchlings, it's not a matter of what you feed them, but how you feed them. They will respond more readily to live moving food.
I have found that there are some hatchlings that are not as bold as thers, and seem to require a sense of security and privacy in order to eat....they may not eat if there are other hatchlings present, or they may not eat if they are being watched.
In some instances, all it takes is feeding them separately, or even just turning the hatchling so that it faces away from you as you offer food.
I have also noticed that sometimes they won't try to eat something if it is too big. As they grow a little larger this is less of a problem.

Twilightfade212,
I would think you could feed them anything that you were feeding the adults, but, here are some suggestions anyways. You could try: wax worms, small mealworms, bits of strong smelling fruit, perhaps even a small amount of the moist commercial boxie food. I must say that I'm very surprised that they wont eat worms, mine love them. It could also be the time of year (hibernation), the temp in the tank, or even the humidity. Could also be that the ones that are eating wont let the ones who aren't. Play around with it and see what happens.

Good Luck, EMWhite

I'm sorry, I didn't see that two other people just gave you almost the same advice I did! Sorry to repeat things, but I saw the message on the homepage not in the regular forums page. But still, good luck!

EMWhite

>>I'm sorry, I didn't see that two other people just gave you almost the same advice I did! Sorry to repeat things, but I saw the message on the homepage not in the regular forums page. But still, good luck!
>>
>>EMWhite

No need to apologize! There's never anything wrong with a concensus.
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PHRatz

Thanks for all the advice. Hopefully some of this works!

Update....

I found that my hatchlings (all four) love clover (very available right now, which is a good thing) and commercial box turtle pellets. Gonna try and see who'll eat some pill bugs tomorrow.

Mealworms are a beginning staple for me as they
are available in small sizes, the move around, and
they are easy to breed. I try to stick with newly
or recently molted ones and once the babies start taking
them I usually dust them with vitamin/calcium powder.
I also feed the mealworms lettuce and apple so they
get a little gutloading.

I also try rolipolis (sowbugs/pillbugs)and have a mini
compost pile going in a critter keeper made up of peat
moss, leaves and bark filled with rolipolis and small
worms I have found. I have spent a significant amount
of time collecting rolipolis, as many small ones as
possible, so hopefully I'll have a supply through most
of the winter. I only feed them the smallest ones I
have as I've found that hatchlings have a difficult time
chewing larger ones. They manage to kill and mutilate
them, but then spit them out.

I also try earthworms, although if they are too big and
too active they can intimidate young babies, so I'm trying
to collect the smallest ones I can find out of another
compost pile I have going.

As they get a little bigger and are eating well I occasionally
offer small crickets.

Thanks to PHratz for reminding me about lobster roaches, I
do have a colony going but haven't tried the baby roaches
with hatchlings yet.

As others have mentioned, its hard to depend on one single food source to start with, because some who won't respond to mealworms, might respond to rolipolies or earthworms.

I have some larger clutches where most of them are eating but one or two are not. I started marking them this year so I could keep track and I've got a couple that I'm going to try and get a little baby food chicken in their mouths if they don't start eating soon, although I don't usually start worrying too much until they are 3-4 months old.

I usually start adding a little salad after they have
been eating bugs well for a few months.

I eat bagged romaine salads everynight and I save some to
distribute a leaf or two to the babies that are inside
for the winter.

>>
>>Thanks to PHratz for reminding me about lobster roaches, I
>>do have a colony going but haven't tried the baby roaches
>>with hatchlings yet.

You're welcome. I thought about it because I know someone who had ...I forget what they're called.. one of those teensy little chameleons that never gets any bigger than your finger.
That lizard loved the baby lobster roaches.
-----
PHRatz

When I first got my hatchling I couldn't entice him to eat anything. As a last resort I tried some commercial floating sticks for baby aquatic turtles. It worked He loved eating in shallow water and chasing the sticks around. Eventually I added gutloaded pinhead crickets and finely chopped fruits and vegetables to his diet. Still, he preferred eating in the water, so I would drop the crickets in and let him chase them while they tried to swim away (He would scuba dive for non-floating fruit/veggie mixes). Worked like a charm. It seemed like being in warm water enticed him to eat when he wouldn't eat on land. As someone else already posted, sometimes it isn't what you feed them but how.

>>Hey All
>>
>>Got a few hatchlings, and have gotten some to eat on worms and pill bugs. The others aren't interested. I'm not really worried about them (yet), but it would make me feel alot better if they were eating (they hatched in early Sept.). Does anyone have any food suggestions that they have found that hatchlings find irresistable? Thanks a lot.
-----
1.0.0 Jack Russel Terrier: Skipper
0.1.0 Miniature Pinscher: Bambi
1.1.1 Eastern Box Turtles: Daisy, Dozer, and Magnum
0.1.0 Red Eared Slider: Rosie
0.2.0 Rats: Clementine and Elsie

I was reading an old issue of "Reptiles" magazine and in the Ask The Breeder column, authored by Bill Love, he said that one of the "tricks of the trade" in getting hatchlings to eat is to offer them thin slices of cucumber.

Another thing you may want to do is put them in a shallow pan with water (1/2-inch water depth) and try Reptomin turtle food. This food has fish oil, which seems to entice herps to eat it, due to its scent.

Good luck!

Tim

Third Eye

Feeding hatchlings while they are soaking in shallow water can be effective, but please note that 1/2 inch of water is way too deep for a hatchling box turtle! 1/8 inch is about all they need, since you want to make sure that they can walk around easily, rather than exhaust themselves trying to swim.