Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My yet-unnamed 3-toed has drastically reduced the amount of food he/she eats now that the age is a little over half year. Does it sound like the turtle is moody, sick, or do they just slow their growing at this point?

Have you been feeding the same diet up until now? Turtles can sometimes lose interest over time if fed the same menu, and can benefit from some variation.

I usually give him/her a variety of worms. For a while it was acutally, week after week, every day:
1)earthworm
2)meal worm
2)earthworm
4)wax worm

Occasionally I would skip days; once I skipped a number of days, and I figured he/she would be really hungry, but the critter ate nothing. Today he finally ate a few meal worms, so I know he's not terribly sick, at least.

I haven't tried any plant foods lately... for a while would give the little fella tomato bits, but he/she would only eat them once or twice per week, no matter how often I including them at feeding time.

Have you considered expanding your repertoire to include other sources of protein, and a variety of fruits and vegetables?

Blueberries, strawberries and raspberries, mushrooms, winter squashes (butternut, acorn), summer squashes, carrot....cooked lean chicken or turkey, beef heart are good foods to offer, too.

When I make food for my turtles, I try not to slip into a routine, but rather I vary things as much as possible.

I have a limited budget and only one box turtle. To buy most of a lot of those things you mentioned, you cannot buy a small amount.... and the food gets wasted. I have tried shredded carrot and shredded apple, and the turtle did not want those.

This is partly true: many of the items I listed freeze quite well. The other advantage is that I can eat these things too (haven't tried the beef heart yet, though), so there isn't much waste around here.

To give you an example, last fall I made up a bunch of chicken, carrot, squash and collard 'salad' for a friend...he kept it frozen all winter, thawed it a couple of days ago and fed it to his turtles yesterday: they gobbled it up.

Do you have a supermarket or cafeteria nearby that has a salad bar? You might be able to just buy a little bit of this and that to try...

Is cooked lean pork O.K.? I rarely have cooked beef at home, but sometimes have pork.

It tends to be salty, so I stay away from it.

At one of the stores where I buy pork, I think the do NOT put salt into the meat before packaging.

But he seemed happy today with wax worms

That's good to hear! Just FYI, pork is saltier naturally, for some reason...

So evcn if no salt is added, is pork O.K. or not?

>>So evcn if no salt is added, is pork O.K. or not?

I haven't been in on this but I'll say this:
Unless you're giving it as just a rare treat then no don't use it.
Meats that humans eat aren't suitable as turtle (or reptile) food because when wild turtles eat meat, they eat the whole thing. Organs, bones- parts of the dead animal that we wouldn't eat & they get a lot of nutrition from that.
Just a bite of meat like we eat doesn't have the nutrition in it that turtles need.
I rarely give my turtles any meat meant for human consumption because it doesn't do them any good.
I'll give them a bite of turkey on Thanksgiving and that's about it. The rest of the year they get turtle appropriate foods, a variety of live bugs, whole live fish in the case of the aquatics, and fresh fruits/veggies.
To me feeding meat is like feeding iceberg lettuce, it's a waste of space in their stomachs, wasting space that could be filled with something nutritious for them.
That's just MHO
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PHRatz

I would avoid it.

My Three-toes eat like little pigs. Their appetites tend to grow right along with them. I've noticed no decrease except very slightly when they reach adulthood. I rarely encounter one of my Three-toes when they aren't acting starving.

It is concerning to me that your turtle's appetite has decreased. Is it defecating? Have any aspects of your husbandry changed along with the appetite decrease? Do you provide vitamin/mineral supplementation? Can you post a picture of the turtle?

Appetite loss is often the first sign of serious issues. It's good that you've noticed this and plan to address it.

I use multi-vit/mineral with earthworms and calcium with the wax and meal worms.

I would not say the "husbandry" has changed.

My turtle used to be exactly as you described: always hungry, eats like a "pig".

Is it defecating?

I remembered the two questions I forgot to answer aftere I left the computer.

I THINK for a while, every time he/she defecated, it was done in the water dish, and I haven't seen any terds in a while. 3 or 4 days ago when pulled him out of the Sphagnum and put him in a container with the food, he defecated while he was in the container.

But the good news is, he ate a few meal worms yesterday, and today he seemed back to himself: he ate 4 or 5 calcium-dusted wax worms, two of which were VERY large for wax worms.

And about the photo.... I have no digital camera, but my brother does.... he and I talked a few weeks ago about taking pics of my turtles, but we never made work of it.

One thing I occasinoally think of is, when I pull him out of the Sphagnum and put him in with vit/min-dusted earthworms, the moss falls off of him and into the container where I feed him. The way the earthworms are when dusted, they pick up little pieces of Sphagnum. Is it possible he's ingesting Sphagnum? Well, after how he ate today, even if he is ingesting the moss, he seems O.K.

you asked about changes in "husbandry"... well, I just thought of something: For a while I let algae build up in the water dish - maybe that made "him" sick? It's much cleaner now, and that allowed "him" to feel better?

Typically, if the algae is green, it is actually beneficial. It is not usually harmful.

I have had very young box turtles ingest sphagnum. It has never caused a problem for me, but that isn't to say that it can't. It is surely possible. Monitor fecal output carefully, and soak in lukewarm water if he/she doesn't have a movement for a few days. Constipation can cause a lack of appetite.

One main reason that I thought about constipation is the fact that you regularly feed mealworms. In my humble opinion, mealworms offer a much higher risk of constipation than an occasional ingestion of moss. Mealworms are very hard for the turtle to digest, and they often come out much the same way as they went in. Also, they aren't all that nutritious. I know that they are cheap and easy to obtain, but I've halted feeding mealworms entirely. I still feed adult mealworm beetles to my young ornates and deserts.

I've switched over to superworms. You can buy very small to very large superworms from several suppliers via the internet. They are much easier to digest, contain more fat and calories, and are very easy to gut load. They are pretty fatty, though, so I don't offer them as often as earthworms. It's just a thought.

I agree with Steph, it's definitely time to start varying the turtle's diet. Even if vegetable items are only nibbled on or occasionally eaten, they should be offered at least every other day. It sounds like you've been offering them regularly, so that's good.

I'm glad that the turtle seems to be doing better.

The main reason that I asked to see pictures is to observe whether there are any symptoms of calcium deficiency. It sounds as if you dust regularly, so it is unlikely. However, lighting is usually an issue also. Calcium plays an important role in peristalsis...this is basically the process by which food is moved through the intestines. Many people overlook outward signs of calcium deficiency, but it's hard to overlook a turtle that has lost its appetite due to decreased digestion.

Bio - you can feed your turtle rosies too. Rosies are a type of minnow. Mine love chasing them around their water dish! You'll get a kick out of watching it, it will provide some variety, they are cheap, and my vet said they are really good for them because they eat all the organs, bones, etc.

You can get them at any pet store (Maybe Meijer's too. I hate going to Meijer's so I never checked. lol!) They are also cheap - 10 - 12 cents each. I even had some that reproduced! Don't get goldfish however.

Also if you hit it right, Petsmart will give you all the baby snails from their fish tanks. You can also find worms, slugs, snails, etc. in your backyard!
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0.1.0 ornate box turtle
1.0.0 eastern box turtle
1.0.0 Yellow belly slider
0.1.0 Red belly cooter
0.1.0 Australian shepard
1.11.0 chickens
1.0.0 Dutch(rabbit)
3.2.0 children (do I still count the married ones?)
1.0.0 husband

Oh yeah, I forgot! 2 more cheap things my turtles like; hard boiled eggs (since I keep chickens, this is really cheap for me! lol!) and I buy a small jar of beef baby food, chop up some washed dandilion leaves and mix it with a small amout of baby food! You can also mix vegetable baby food with some chopped hard boiled egg.
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0.1.0 ornate box turtle
1.0.0 eastern box turtle
1.0.0 Yellow belly slider
0.1.0 Red belly cooter
0.1.0 Australian shepard
1.11.0 chickens
1.0.0 Dutch(rabbit)
3.2.0 children (do I still count the married ones?)
1.0.0 husband